{"id":55085,"date":"2025-12-18T11:54:40","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T02:54:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=55085"},"modified":"2025-12-18T11:54:42","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T02:54:42","slug":"kyoto-time-leap-murder-mystery-visual-novel-dusk-index-gion-announced-for-january-2026-steam-demo-out-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/kyoto-time-leap-murder-mystery-visual-novel-dusk-index-gion-announced-for-january-2026-steam-demo-out-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Kyoto\u00a0time-leap murder mystery visual novel\u00a0Dusk Index: Gion\u00a0announced for January 2026.\u00a0Steam demo out now\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Game developer&nbsp;Cherrymochi&nbsp;(the&nbsp;studio&nbsp;behind&nbsp;Square Enix\u2019s Tokyo Dark)&nbsp;and publisher&nbsp;Bushiroad&nbsp;have announced&nbsp;<strong>DUSK INDEX: GION<\/strong>, set to&nbsp;launch&nbsp;on January 29,&nbsp;2026&nbsp;for PC (Steam), PS5, Switch and Xbox.&nbsp;A free demo is available on&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/3907190\/DUSK_INDEX_GION\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Steam<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/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=\"\u3010DUSK INDEX: GION\u3011Official Trailer\" width=\"1160\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fz0Ik0ry3xo?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>Named after Japan\u2019s&nbsp;most&nbsp;famous Geisha district,&nbsp;Dusk Index: Gion is a suspense murder mystery visual novel that spans two timelines \u2013 modern-day Kyoto and Meiji-era&nbsp;Kyoto&nbsp;(1868 to 1912). The story follows two pairs of investigators&nbsp;from the&nbsp;different&nbsp;eras&nbsp;as they&nbsp;pursue&nbsp;two&nbsp;chains of&nbsp;murders committed in&nbsp;a&nbsp;strikingly similar pattern.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the present-day timeline, old-school detective Daiki Katsuki joins forces with Rio Quinn, a prodigious engineer&nbsp;known for designing \u201cEchoes of Kyoto,\u201d immersive AR technology that can simulate the city as it existed a century earlier.&nbsp;To investigate the case, they step into the artificial world created by the&nbsp;technology, but&nbsp;find the boundary between virtual and real&nbsp;beginning&nbsp;to blur.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1459\" height=\"817\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1459px) 100vw, 1459px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251218-55085-001.jpg\" alt=\"DUSK INDEX: GION,\" class=\"wp-image-55088\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251218-55085-001.jpg 1459w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251218-55085-001-380x213.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251218-55085-001-768x430.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1457\" height=\"817\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1457px) 100vw, 1457px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251218-55085-002.jpg\" alt=\"DUSK INDEX: GION,\" class=\"wp-image-55089\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251218-55085-002.jpg 1457w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251218-55085-002-380x213.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251218-55085-002-768x431.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, in Meiji-era Kyoto, the cool-headed Masayoshi Nagahama investigates a&nbsp;chain&nbsp;of brutal&nbsp;murders alongside Saki, a renowned geisha with hidden ties to the case.&nbsp;As the mystery unravels,&nbsp;you\u2019re&nbsp;tasked with finding out whether the&nbsp;repeating murders are simply the work of a copycat criminal, or if the past has really started \u201cinvading\u201d the present.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>DUSK INDEX: GION releases on January 29,<strong>&nbsp;<\/strong>2026&nbsp;for PC (Steam), PS5, Nintendo Switch and Xbox. A free demo is available on the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/3907190\/DUSK_INDEX_GION\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Steam&nbsp;store page<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>\u00a9DUSK INDEX: GION<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DUSK INDEX: GION is a &#8220;complex murder mystery&#8221; visual novel that takes place across two diverging timelines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":55087,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-55085","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>Kyoto\u00a0time-leap murder mystery visual novel\u00a0Dusk Index: Gion\u00a0announced for January 2026.\u00a0Steam demo out now\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"DUSK INDEX: GION is a &quot;complex murder mystery&quot; visual novel that takes place across two diverging timelines.\" \/>\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\/kyoto-time-leap-murder-mystery-visual-novel-dusk-index-gion-announced-for-january-2026-steam-demo-out-now\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kyoto\u00a0time-leap murder mystery visual novel\u00a0Dusk Index: Gion\u00a0announced for January 2026.\u00a0Steam demo out now\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"DUSK INDEX: GION is a &quot;complex murder mystery&quot; visual novel that takes place across two diverging timelines.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/kyoto-time-leap-murder-mystery-visual-novel-dusk-index-gion-announced-for-january-2026-steam-demo-out-now\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-18T02:54:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-18T02:54:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251218-55085-header.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1463\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"821\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Amber V\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Amber V\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Kyoto\u00a0time-leap murder mystery visual novel\u00a0Dusk Index: Gion\u00a0announced for January 2026.\u00a0Steam demo out now\u00a0 - 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