Yoshio Nishimura, a background artist with credits on Monster Hunter, Odin Sphere, Dragon's Crown, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim and Muramasa: The Demon Blade, is launching a new reading-style fantasy adventure titled Veritas Tales: Witch of the Dark Castle on Steam.
The project is notable for its handcrafted presentation: Nishimura produced more than 300 individual illustrations over six years, and the Steam listing describes the experience as a narrative-driven game that blends art and text.
Project scope and production
Veritas Tales is presented as a reading-style fantasy adventure that combines extensive artwork with a branching narrative.
The Steam page notes the title contains over 15,000 words of text and promises more than 20 hours of playtime across its branching story paths.
All visual assets were created by Nishimura over a multi-year development period, and the entry explicitly states the artwork was produced without any automated image-generation tools.
Rewritten quote for clarity
Nishimura’s Steam listing emphasizes the handmade nature of the work, stating that the game’s visuals were produced entirely by the artist himself and that no generative AI tools were used at any stage of production.
The page further conveys that the project aims to preserve a distinct creative character inherent to handcrafted art, asserting the title’s aesthetic possesses a particular "soul" achievable only through traditional, manual creation.
Music and collaborators
For audio, Nishimura has reunited with composer Hitoshi Sakimoto, who is providing the soundtrack through his Basiscape studio.
Sakimoto is a long-established composer in the industry, and Basiscape has a history of working on both indie and larger-scale Japanese game projects.
Platform and release status
Veritas Tales: Witch of the Dark Castle is currently listed on Steam for PC.
No release date or additional platforms have been announced on the Steam page.
While many narrative-led indie RPGs also find audiences on Nintendo Switch and via eShop or promotion through events like Nintendo Direct, there is no verified information at this time indicating plans for Switch or other console versions.
Why it matters
The combination of a Vanillaware alumnus leading art direction, a Basiscape score, and a long-form handcrafted visual approach positions Veritas Tales as a title of interest for fans of art-forward independent RPGs.
With a sizeable word count, branching gameplay and a commitment to hand-produced imagery, the project is notable for its artisanal approach in a market increasingly populated by mixed-production pipelines.
Next steps
Developers have not provided a release date; interested readers can add Veritas Tales to their Steam wishlist to receive official updates when they are posted.
The project is notable for its handcrafted presentation: Nishimura produced more than 300 individual illustrations over six years, and the Steam listing describes the experience as a narrative-driven game that blends art and text.
Project scope and production
Veritas Tales is presented as a reading-style fantasy adventure that combines extensive artwork with a branching narrative.
The Steam page notes the title contains over 15,000 words of text and promises more than 20 hours of playtime across its branching story paths.
All visual assets were created by Nishimura over a multi-year development period, and the entry explicitly states the artwork was produced without any automated image-generation tools.
Rewritten quote for clarity
Nishimura’s Steam listing emphasizes the handmade nature of the work, stating that the game’s visuals were produced entirely by the artist himself and that no generative AI tools were used at any stage of production.
The page further conveys that the project aims to preserve a distinct creative character inherent to handcrafted art, asserting the title’s aesthetic possesses a particular "soul" achievable only through traditional, manual creation.
Music and collaborators
For audio, Nishimura has reunited with composer Hitoshi Sakimoto, who is providing the soundtrack through his Basiscape studio.
Sakimoto is a long-established composer in the industry, and Basiscape has a history of working on both indie and larger-scale Japanese game projects.
Platform and release status
Veritas Tales: Witch of the Dark Castle is currently listed on Steam for PC.
No release date or additional platforms have been announced on the Steam page.
While many narrative-led indie RPGs also find audiences on Nintendo Switch and via eShop or promotion through events like Nintendo Direct, there is no verified information at this time indicating plans for Switch or other console versions.
Why it matters
The combination of a Vanillaware alumnus leading art direction, a Basiscape score, and a long-form handcrafted visual approach positions Veritas Tales as a title of interest for fans of art-forward independent RPGs.
With a sizeable word count, branching gameplay and a commitment to hand-produced imagery, the project is notable for its artisanal approach in a market increasingly populated by mixed-production pipelines.
Next steps
Developers have not provided a release date; interested readers can add Veritas Tales to their Steam wishlist to receive official updates when they are posted.