Tatari

Prologue arrives on PC for Tatari

Full version of paranormal mystery based on Japanese urban legend “coming soon” on Steam

Missing persons cases are difficult to solve at the best of times, but imagine how much harder they’d be if supernatural forces were involved? Well, you don’t have to imagine, as that’s exactly what players will be confronting in Hidden Tower Studios’ upcoming Tatari.

You play Akio Matsumoto, a detective with the Tokyo police assigned to investigate the disappearance of a young man from the Morinosato campgrounds. What’s strange is that this is the fourth such recent occurrence there, with no apparent connection between cases. Once you’ve gathered up your things, you’ll head out to the camp in search of clues, but you’ll soon begin experiencing troubling dreams and other events that you cannot explain. From the secluded campsite you’ll make your way to a creepy, long-abandoned old village, thrusting you ever deeper into an “enigmatic and paranormal case connected with a Japanese urban legend.”

Tatari is a first-person, free-roaming 3D adventure, though the protagonist will prevent you from ever roaming too far off course. Expect plenty of atmospheric murk and mist, and at times you’ll need to fire up your trusty lantern to illuminate the darkness around you. The only way to uncover new secrets relating to your case is to explore and solve puzzles – some inventory, some logic-based brainteasers like sliders (which appear to come with an “autosolve” option for any giving you fits). Curiously, the developers urge caution, as “some of the puzzles are more cunning than they seem and may cost you your life.”

For a sample taste of what to expect, a playable prologue called “The Arrival” is available now on Steam, comprising the first three areas. There is no firm target release date for the full version of Tatari, but it’s ready for wishlisting and “coming soon” to Windows PC.