{"id":52404,"date":"2025-09-27T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=52404"},"modified":"2025-09-26T18:03:06","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T09:03:06","slug":"yomawari-fans-shouldnt-expect-horror-elements-from-nippon-ichi-softwares-new-game-devs-say-but-creepy-hints-in-the-promotional-material-suggest-otherwise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/yomawari-fans-shouldnt-expect-horror-elements-from-nippon-ichi-softwares-new-game-devs-say-but-creepy-hints-in-the-promotional-material-suggest-otherwise\/","title":{"rendered":"Yomawari fans shouldn&#8217;t expect horror elements from Nippon Ichi Software&#8217;s new game, devs say. But creepy hints in the promotional material suggest otherwise\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Nippon Ichi Software (NIS) <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/nippon-ichi-software-faces-losses-over-prolonged-contract-work-for-other-companies-announces-further-shift-to-its-own-ips\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recently announced<\/a> that they will be focusing on developing more in-house titles \u2013 and one of them will be <strong>Honogurashi no Niwa<\/strong>, set to release next summer. Although it inherits the visual style of NIS\u2019s survival horror game series Yomawari, the upcoming game will be taking on a much more lighthearted approach as a cozy farming simulation game \u2013 or so the devs say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"432\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/20250926-524040001.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-52407\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/20250926-524040001.jpg 768w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/20250926-524040001-380x214.jpg 380w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In a recent interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.famitsu.com\/article\/202509\/53125\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Famitsu<\/a>, game designer Yuu Mizokami and development supervisor Mio Katsumata discussed their plans to make the new game \u201clighthearted and cozy\u201d with no horror elements. However, the clues they\u2019ve left throughout various promotional material suggest the upcoming farm simulator could be a bit more sinister than the devs are letting on.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\u307b\u306e\u66ae\u3057\u306e\u5ead [Nintendo Direct \u30bd\u30d5\u30c8\u30e1\u30fc\u30ab\u30fc\u30e9\u30a4\u30f3\u30ca\u30c3\u30d7\u00a02025.7.31]\" width=\"1160\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7AJIJ847PNo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Honogurashi no Niwa gained much online traction among Yomawari fans after its first trailer was released during the Nintendo Direct this July \u2013 and it\u2019s easy to see why. While showcasing what seems to be a cozy, cute life simulation game, the trailer ends with the main character holding a flashlight in their hand in an empty dark road, with a creepy shadowy figure suddenly appearing behind them. This led many to believe that Honogurashi no Niwa is going to introduce some horror elements as well. The most recent promotional trailer further reinforces this theory, as it ends on an even creepier note (there\u2019s even a low-key jumpscare).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\u300e\u307b\u306e\u66ae\u3057\u306e\u5ead\u300f\u30d7\u30ed\u30e2\u30fc\u30b7\u30e7\u30f3\u30e0\u30fc\u30d3\u30fc\" width=\"1160\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/E3kk4YQgskw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>However, the developers openly denied the game having any horror elements. \u201cWe added the flashlight scene in the Nintendo Direct teaser trailer because we thought Yomawari fans would enjoy it. But I don\u2019t remember adding any horror elements other than that\u2026,\u201d Katsumata explained. The two developers admitted they were quite surprised by the online response of fans, especially the hype for the \u201chorror aspects\u201d of the game. \u201cWe get that some of our fans are expecting more horror elements, but we don\u2019t really understand why that is,\u201d Mizokami added. \u201cIn the first place, our plan for Honogurashi no Niwa was to make a lighthearted game, not a dark one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignfull size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"599\" height=\"409\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, 599px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/20250926-524040002.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-52409\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/20250926-524040002.jpg 599w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/20250926-524040002-380x259.jpg 380w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>While we do want to say \u201ctrust the developers,\u201d all the evidence laid out before us suggests that Honogurashi no Niwa could very likely be a Yomawari in disguise, presenting itself as a cute, relaxing farming simulator game only to be hiding something more sinister underneath. One thing to note is that in the Nintendo Direct trailer, the game had a tentative 15+ age warning, hinting that the story may contain some heavier themes. Furthermore, the recently announced limited edition box set available on NIS\u2019s official online shop features some items that are ominously scribbled out with red paint in the preview image. Is Nippon Ichi Software trying to subtly hint at a big creepy plot-twist somewhere throughout the game\u2019s story? There\u2019s still around a year until we find out the truth, but with all the little creepy clues the developers are dropping, it seems like Honogurashi no Niwa might be a treat for Yomawari fans, and all other horror enjoyers alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Honogurashi no Niwa is set to release on July 30, 2026 for PC (<a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/3934250\/Honogurashi_no_Niwa\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Steam<\/a>), PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2. Please note that as of now, there hasn\u2019t been any official announcement about English language support for the game, but with NIS America listed as the publisher, it could just be a matter of time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yomawari developer Nippon Ichi Software says their new game is just a lighthearted farming simulator &#8211; but can we trust them?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":52406,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-52404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Yomawari fans shouldn&#039;t expect horror elements from Nippon Ichi Software&#039;s new game, devs say. But creepy hints in the promotional material suggest otherwise\u00a0\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Yomawari developer Nippon Ichi Software says their new game is just a lighthearted farming simulator - but can we trust them?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/yomawari-fans-shouldnt-expect-horror-elements-from-nippon-ichi-softwares-new-game-devs-say-but-creepy-hints-in-the-promotional-material-suggest-otherwise\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Yomawari fans shouldn&#039;t expect horror elements from Nippon Ichi Software&#039;s new game, devs say. 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