Japanese developer Idea Factory has introduced IFChronicle, a new label dedicated to visual novels and text adventure games, with its first project ICONOLOGY. The title is scheduled to release on PC (Steam), Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch Lite, featuring full English support.
ICONOLOGY is a crime suspense adventure where the protagonist collaborates with detectives to tackle sophisticated crimes. The gameplay centers on a novel concept of extracting suspects’ thoughts as “paintings” and scrutinizing them for hints.
The narrative unfolds in a near future plagued by increasingly intricate and brutal crimes. The Metropolitan Police Department has covertly formed the Experimental Task Force, which leverages the “White Cube,” a groundbreaking device that extracts mental images from individuals in the form of paintings. However, interpreting these “mental landscape images” demands a unique skill set.
The heroine, Haruho Tsubakiya, is an art student whose remarkable talent for deciphering paintings draws the attention of the task force, leading to her recruitment as a special investigator. Having lost her parents in a ghastly unsolved case a decade prior and fueled by a desire for retribution, Haruho joins a roster of quirky detectives to participate in investigations, treating suspects’ minds as a “second crime scene.”
During White Cube investigations, players will examine the stunning yet warped “mental landscape paintings” derived from suspects’ minds. Using the insights gained, they will question suspects about their motives and psychological scars during interrogations. As suspects are pressured into admitting their crimes, they become more likely to yield critical evidence.
ICONOLOGY features multiple endings, with outcomes shifting based on the player’s interactions with the investigation team and other characters. Errors in interpreting paintings or selecting incorrect options during investigations may result in a case stalling, culminating in an unavoidable bad ending.
As previously noted, IFChronicle is a fresh label under Idea Factory, known to gamers primarily through its Compile Heart and Otomate divisions. The new visual novel label aspires to become a “global brand originating from Japan,” aiming to deliver dialogue-driven adventure games to audiences worldwide.
For its inaugural title, IFChronicle has assembled a distinguished team, with character designs by Teita, recognized for their work on Fate/Grand Order and Charade Maniacs. The scenario is penned by Makoto Fukami, who has contributed to the PSYCHO-PASS anime series as well as the Resident Evil CG films Resident Evil: Vendetta and Resident Evil: Death Island.
ICONOLOGY is slated for release on PC (Steam), Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch Lite.