{"id":61919,"date":"2026-03-05T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=61919"},"modified":"2026-03-05T16:40:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T07:40:13","slug":"ai-the-somnium-files-and-triangle-strategy-devs-new-game-is-a-morally-grey-akutagawa-inspired-noir-fantasy-in-which-the-players-will-hate-the-choices-they-make","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/ai-the-somnium-files-and-triangle-strategy-devs-new-game-is-a-morally-grey-akutagawa-inspired-noir-fantasy-in-which-the-players-will-hate-the-choices-they-make\/","title":{"rendered":"AI: The Somnium Files and Triangle Strategy dev&#8217;s new game is a morally grey Akutagawa-inspired noir fantasy in which the players will &#8220;hate the choices they make&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Keiichi Yoshida, whose past credits include writing the scenario for Square-Enix\u2019s <em>Triangle Strategy<\/em> and planning on Spike Chunsoft\u2019s <em>AI: The Somnium Files<\/em>, has released a new game with his team at TENDA Games that forces gut-twisting moral choices upon its players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kokutoto, the company\u2019s first self-published original title, was released on Steam in January. The game centers on a short narrative that takes place in a world where \u201cjust living eats away at your dignity.\u201d Indeed, one of the central mechanics is a \u201cdignity meter\u201d that is constantly ticking down as time passes. In an interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gamespark.jp\/article\/2026\/02\/24\/163165.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Game*Spark<\/a>, Yoshida and TENDA president Ryohei Asaoka spoke about what went into crafting this urban nightmare.<\/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=\"\u9ed2\u6d1e\u3005\uff5cKOKUTOTO\" width=\"1160\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3Qz1eVzp2ZQ?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>Kokutoto was selected from among several game proposals for development because of its unique concept of \u201cquestioning the boundary of good and evil,\u201d and its narrative-driven nature allowing Yoshida to flex his writing chops as he did on Triangle Strategy. The game\u2019s light survival mechanics such as the aforementioned dignity meter are balanced with the flow of the gameplay to ensure players can experience the story and reach all of its 13 possible endings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Talking about the game\u2019s tone and aesthetic sense, Yoshida and Asaoka cited several influences, among them Inio Asano\u2019s manga Goodnight Punpun and films that make creative use of monochrome with spot coloring such as Sin City and Schindler\u2019s List. However, the primary influence cited by them both is the works of renowned author Ryunosuke Akutagawa, particularly his 1915 short story Rashomon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While it lends its title to the Akira Kurosawa film of the same name, Akutagawa\u2019s Rashomon is a largely unrelated story about an unfortunate servant and an elderly woman who are both forced by their circumstances into making morally questionable choices in order to survive. In fact, the title of \u201cKokutoto,\u201d a literary term that roughly translates to \u201cpitch-black darkness\u201d is borrowed from one of the final lines of the story. &nbsp;According to Yoshida, the project that evolved into Kokutoto began with the question, \u201cWouldn\u2019t Rashomon be interesting if it were adapted into a visual novel?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260305-619190001.jpg\" alt=\"Kokutoto gameplay.\" class=\"wp-image-61925\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260305-619190001.jpg 960w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260305-619190001-380x214.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260305-619190001-768x432.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>To reflect the game\u2019s concept, the devs conceived a \u2018dangerous-looking\u2019 cast of characters representing the dregs of society such as nightlife workers, yakuza, and back-alley doctors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The protagonist\u2019s design \u2013 which bears a resemblance to the lead character of the aforementioned Goodnight Punpun \u2013 was described by Asaoka as \u201chis inability to objectively recognize himself, the culmination of a life lived without a strong sense of self, never affirming nor denying anything.\u201d At Asaoka\u2019s request, each of the other twelve characters in the game were designed with a similar intent of having their external appearance hint at their internal turmoil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While the designers wanted to force players into uncomfortable choices, Yoshida and Asaoka both reassured readers that the game was designed to be approachable first and foremost. Asaoka said \u201cThis game offers a large number of endings, but the overall experience is compact. It may sound contradictory, but I want players to enjoy making these difficult decisions in a carefree way. I hope people can come away thinking \u2018Wow, that sure was tough!\u2019\u201d Yoshida echoed the sentiment, saying \u201cI want people to think \u2018I don\u2019t want to pick either of these options!\u2019 I\u2019d like players to experience the simultaneous guilt and self-affirmation that comes with convincing yourself that you have to do whatever you can to survive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While at the time of this writing Kokutoto is only available in Japanese, Yoshida stated that a multi-language localization is in development alongside a port to home consoles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the language barrier isn\u2019t an issue for you, you can pick up Kokutoto for yourself right now on <a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/4223230\/KOKUTOTO\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Steam<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Related articles:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/from-madness-with-love-dev-drops-creepy-but-soothing-new-game-that-even-men-who-have-diarrhea-for-2-hours-straight-after-seeing-horror-would-want-to-play\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">From Madness with Love dev drops \u2018creepy but soothing\u2019 new game that \u201ceven men who have diarrhea for 2 hours straight after seeing horror would want to play\u201d<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/overwhelmingly-positive-indie-visual-novel-magical-girl-witch-trials-surpasses-500000-units-sold-and-25000-reviews-less-than-a-year-after-launch\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>\u201cOverwhelmingly Positive\u201d indie visual novel Magical Girl Witch Trials surpasses 500,000 units sold and 25,000 reviews less than a year after launch<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Studio TENDA just released KOKUTOTO, a morally grey visual novel inspired by Ryunosuke Akutagawa&#8217;s classic short story Rashomon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":61922,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[39,17],"class_list":["post-61919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-indie-games","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>AI: The Somnium Files and Triangle Strategy dev&#039;s new game is a morally grey Akutagawa-inspired noir fantasy in which the players will &quot;hate the choices they make&quot; - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Studio TENDA just released KOKUTOTO, a morally grey visual novel inspired by Ryunosuke Akutagawa&#039;s classic short story Rashomon.\" \/>\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\/ai-the-somnium-files-and-triangle-strategy-devs-new-game-is-a-morally-grey-akutagawa-inspired-noir-fantasy-in-which-the-players-will-hate-the-choices-they-make\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"AI: The Somnium Files and Triangle Strategy dev&#039;s new game is a morally grey Akutagawa-inspired noir fantasy in which the players will &quot;hate the choices they make&quot; - AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Studio TENDA just released KOKUTOTO, a morally grey visual novel inspired by Ryunosuke Akutagawa&#039;s classic short story Rashomon.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/ai-the-somnium-files-and-triangle-strategy-devs-new-game-is-a-morally-grey-akutagawa-inspired-noir-fantasy-in-which-the-players-will-hate-the-choices-they-make\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-05T14:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20260305-61919-header.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1344\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"756\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Emmett Harris\" \/>\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=\"Emmett Harris\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"AI: The Somnium Files and Triangle Strategy dev's new game is a morally grey Akutagawa-inspired noir fantasy in which the players will \"hate the choices they make\" - 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