Veteran Capcom Dev Returns After Six Years with Hand-Drawn RPG on Steam

The life story of Yoshio Nishimura reads like a modern folktale. The seasoned game developer, after years of bustling city life, chose to retreat to a quiet mountain village in Japan during the pandemic, seeking a calmer pace that ultimately inspired him to establish his own indie studio, Digitalis Publishing, and devote himself fully to a long‑dream project.

Having lent his talents to iconic titles such as Monster Hunter, Odin Sphere, and 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, Nishimura has now brought to life a role‑playing adventure that will debut on July 9th for PC via Steam. The game marries the charm of classic interactive novels with contemporary gameplay mechanics, offering a branching narrative that shifts with every choice, hundreds of hand‑drawn illustrations, and more than twenty hours of a truly distinctive experience.

According to Nishimura, his departure from the renowned Vanillaware studio in Osaka was amicable and well‑supported. The tranquility of his rural home provided the perfect backdrop for turning a side‑project into a full‑time endeavor—a journey that spanned six years. The result is Veritas Tales: Witch of the Dark Castle, a title that seamlessly blends visual novel storytelling with traditional RPG elements. Players will engage directly with a virtual book on screen, rolling dice, making tough decisions, and confronting foes as they navigate a story rich with multiple paths and endings.

When you flip through the pages of this book, you’re no longer just a reader—you’re an adventurer. The Steam description promises a fantastical journey in the vein of The Neverending Story, inviting players to step into a living narrative.

According to a report by Automaton, the game draws heavy inspiration from James Herbert Brennan’s classic novel The Castle of Shadows. The title embraces the unforgiving difficulty of older titles, where a wrong choice can trigger instant death without warning. To balance this challenge for modern audiences, the developers have added essential features such as save points, fully voiced characters, and a top‑tier soundtrack by Hitoshi Sakimoto, famed for his work on Final Fantasy Tactics.

In an era dominated by automated entertainment, Nishimura deliberately chose a human‑crafted approach. The campaign is enriched with over 300 hand‑drawn illustrations, created entirely with pencil and brush by Nishimura himself. He brings the same artistic mastery that once shaped the environments of the Monster Hunter series.

The creators have been explicit in their marketing: no artificial intelligence was used to generate content during development. They proudly claim that the game possesses a soul and warmth that only truly handmade work can deliver.

Veritas Tales: Witch of the Dark Castle will open its mysterious castle to players on Steam on July 9th, inviting anyone eager to experience a passion‑driven, patient‑crafted adventure from the heights of the Japanese mountains.