Over the course of six years, GrimGrimoire OnceMore director Yoshio Nishimura designed the game in a remote Japanese mountain village, handling direction, planning, and scenario writing. The full game also contains over 300 of his hand-drawn illustrations.
Starting out, players choose either the gladiator Havelock or mage Paneri as the protagonist. Progressing through the story takes the form of turning pages in a book and rolling dice to determine the outcome of encounters, which can take the form of combat, negotiation, or evasion.
Player choices create various branching paths that influence the course of a second playthrough as the alternate playable character. For instance, the gameplay mechanic determines that certain items collected by during the first run will be unavailable during the second, similar to the “zapping” system encountered in Resident Evil 2.
A free demo is on Steam, published by 15 Industry. The Original Soundtrack by Hitoshi Sakimoto is published via Steam, with streaming available through Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube Music. A crossfade trailer can be viewed on the Basiscape YouTube channel.
From the Steam product page:
Once you open this book, you are no longer just a reader. A "reading-style" fantasy adventure in the spirit of The NeverEnding Story — handcrafted over six years by a 30-year veteran from Vanillaware. 100% handmade, from the first page to the last.Veritas Tales: Witch of the Dark Castle - Original Soundtrack - Apple Music / YouTube Music
▼『暗黒城の魔女 オリジナル・サウンドトラック』配信サイト一覧はこちらhttps://t.co/Zkw2kyATFO
— ジギタリス出版 (@digitalis_pub) August 9, 2026