A new adventure awaits for Maomao and Jinshi as KOEI TECMO Games, in partnership with development studio GUST, have announced that a game based on The Apothecary Diares is in development for Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5 and Windows PC.
Introduced as The Apothecary Diaries: The False Imperial Brother during the Nintendo Direct presentation, the game will allow players to experience brand new stories and characters which have been conceptualised by series author Hyuganatsu. Fans familiar with the light novel and anime series will be excited to learn that apothecary will play a role within the game, but core gameplay is actually helping Mamo solve mysteries through investigation and deducation.
About: In The Apothecary Diaries: The False Imperial Brother, players follow Maomao, a pleasure-district apothecary who now works in the rear palace. She finds herself investigating the Five Mysteries and Five Curses, two chains of strange phenomena and conspiracies causing chaos throughout the rear palace, the pleasure district, and streets of the capital. During her investigation, she stumbles upon the would-be-suspect, a masked man calling himself the “imperial younger brother”. As rumours swirl, Maomao is roped into an investigation that will lead her to uncover a shocking secret that could destroy the imperial court.
Familier Faces and New Characters: Players will follow Maomao and will be joined by familiar figures such as Jinshi, the influential eunuch of the rear palace, as well as new characters such as Guanyu, a travelling actor whose fame is growing in the capital. To uncover the truth behind the Five Curses and the identity of the “imperial younger brother”, fans will need to explore, gather evidence, and organise the information at their disposal to make deductions, while also gathering apothecary ingredients to concoct medicines to resolve the incident.
Investigation Phase: During the investigation phase, players will not only be able to explore the scene but also the surrounding city and the rear palace to find clues or interview witnesses. By venturing outside the city, Maomao will be able to gather the ingredients needed to concoct medicines that can serve as evidence or enable her to help her friends. Once the players have gathered enough information and evidence, they will be able to review them in the deduction phase.
Deduction Phase: During the deduction phase, Maomao will review clues and succinctly summarize the facts to help her unravel the mystery and present her theory. However, simply presenting deductions will not always be enough, and fans will need to be able to present solid proof as the other party argues back. They will need to carefully select their answers by reviewing the information, present the relevant evidence by looking into Maomao’s notebook, or combine information together to convince the other party. The more information players gather, the more evidence they will be able to produce, helping them to solve the case.
The Apothecary Diaries: The False Imperial Brother is currently in development for Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5 and Windows PC and is planned for a 2027 release. The game will also only be playable in Japanese with English subtitles.
