Mysterious world-hopping adventure game from “Natsuno Kanata – Beyond the Summer” dev to get English release 

Kamitsubaki Studio and Yokaze announced on May 25 that they will be publishing the coming-of-age isekai fantasy Moonless Moon. The contemplative, story-rich adventure game is being developed by Kazuhide Oka, who was responsible for the cult hit Natsuno Kanata – Beyond the Summer. Unlike the previous game, which to date has only been available in Japanese, Moonless Moon will receive official English and Chinese translations. It is set to be released on Steam (PC and Mac) sometime in 2024.  

Like Natsuno no Kanata, Moonless Moon is a text adventure at heart- brought to life through anime-style illustrations and music. Main character Yomichi is a normal student by day, but at night she travels through various mysterious worlds, making friends and discovering more about herself and life. When night falls, she is transported to real-world logic-defying places such as a desert on the Moon, a coffee shop inside a tunnel, an island in the sky. But when her nighttime adventures start to mean more to her than her daily life, Yomichi finds herself questioning her existence and the nature of reality. The player must guide Yomichi through this journey- which will unfold like a “music video you can play through.” Moonless Moon promises several original songs, animated sequences and unforgettable artwork, which will make the player feel as if they have been transported too. 

As well as exploring the world by interacting with various people and places, Moonless Moon’s gameplay features a “Riddle” system. In the Riddle parts of the game, you will have to piece together the next part of the story yourself, by slotting key words into sentences. These intuitive puzzle-like sections will alter the course of the story. Consequently, the game will branch out towards different endings depending on your choices. 

Moonless Moon is created by Kazuhide Oka, the individual Japanese developer behind Natsuno Kanata – Beyond the Summer, and Piano at 5am. These previous games have garnered much praise on Steam with Natsuno Kanata boasting an Overwhelmingly Positive rating (95% of 818 reviews are positive) at the time of writing. Currently, both games are only available in Japanese, however Natsuno Kanata has attracted a cult following of English-speaking gamers who have tried playing the game using translation apps. Fortunately, non-Japanese speaking fans of Oka’s work can look forward to Moonless Moon having an official English release. Various artists and composers, including those from Kamitsubaki Studio, have contributed to this game- their visuals and music complementing Oka’s story.  

Moonless Moon is scheduled to be released on PC and Mac (Steam) in 2024. 

Written by. Verity Townsend based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2024-05-25 17:30 JST)