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Gangsta. Manga Creator Kohske, Trace Memory/Hotel Dusk Writer Rika Suzuki Reveal New Mystery Game

IzanagiGames, Inc. announced on Friday that Gangsta. (manga) creator Kohske, and Trace Memory and Hotel Dusk: Room 215 writer Rika Suzuki are teaming up for a mystery adventure game titled Dark Auction - Hitler no Isan (Dark Auction - Hitler's Legacy). IzanagiGames is developing the game for the Nintendo Switch and Steam.

The project will be funded through a campaign on Campfire, a Japanese crowdfunding site similar to Kickstarter. The campaign began on Saturday and, at the time of writing, has reached 3,282,000 yen (about US$22,500), which is 164% of its 2,000,000 yen (about US$13,670) initial goal. The campaign is currently set to run until October 31.

The crowdfunding page describes the game as an authentic mystery adventure game. The protagonist is a young man living with his eccentric father, who is in constant search of items related to Hitler. He enters a strange auction in an old castle, where guests may only bid for the items with their memories. Alongside the other bidders, he works to solve the mysteries related to Hitler's legacy hidden in the auction items. All the while, his own father's secret slowly comes to light.

The voice cast for the game is (name romanizations not finalized):

Kengo Kawanishi as Noah, an 18-year-old man in search of himself. He was abandoned by his mother as a child, and can no longer trust people due to the trauma. He is repulsed by his father's selfish way of living, but can't bring himself to fully hate his father.

Rikiya Koyama as Leonardo, Noah's 55-year-old father. A strange author who is unsuccessful, with the one exception of his best-seller titled Maria no Shinjitsu (Maria's Truth). His wife left when Noah was a child, so he's been raising his son as a single father.

Daisuke Namikawa as Edgar, a calm, 20-year-old genius physician. He graduated university early and obtained his medical license.

Nobunaga Shimazaki as Kristoff, a lonely, 19-year-old descendant of aristocrats. He is interested in Noah.

Shunsuke Takeuchi as Otto, a good-natured, 18-year-old public servant. The toughest of the guests at the auction.

Maaya Uchida as Karla, a bashful, 16-year-old high-school student. She sometimes shows a childish side, despite possessing a calmness beyond her years.

Yui Ishikawa as Lorraine, a 21-year-old American actress who is currently selling well.

Akira Ishida as Hel, the librarian of the old castle's library. His age is unknown. He's always found at the reception of the library with a book in hand.

Shō Hayami as Auctioneer, the mysterious auctioneer wearing a parrot headdress.

Some of the campaign rewards include providing a cameo voice line, or even designing a character with Kohske.

According to the schedule, rewards will be fulfilled in October 2024.

Kohske has been working on an irregular schedule after revealing in 2021 she had lost an eye and was experiencing paralysis in her fingers due to health complications from systemic lupus erythematosus.

The Gangsta. (manga) last went on hiatus in September 2018, and returned in March 2019 with the 55th chapter. The latest chapter is the 56th chapter, which debuted in December 2020. The manga also went on hiatus in November 2015 due to Kohske's health, but it resumed in May 2017. Shinchosha published the eighth compiled volume in May 2018.

Trace Memory (known as Another Code: Two Memories in Europe and Another Code: Futatsu no Kioku in Japan) debuted on the Nintendo DS in 2005 and was developed by Cing. The game spawned a sequel for the Wii in 2009 titled Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories (Another Code: R – Kioku No Tobira). Unlike the previous game, the sequel was released only in Japan and Europe.

Hotel Dusk: Room 215 was developed by Cing for the Nintendo DS in 2007. The game spawned a sequel for the Nintendo DS in 2010 titled Last Window: The Secret of Cape West, which never saw a North American release.

Sources: Dark Auction's Twitter account, Famitsu, Dark Auction's Campfire