《药师日记：虚假的皇弟》将于2027年3月18日登陆Steam、Nintendo Switch、Nintendo Switch 2与PlayStation 5发售

This week, developer Gust and publisher KOEI TECMO in conjunction with TOHO CO., Ltd. announced that ‘The Apothecary Diaries: The False Imperial Brother’—their collaborative project that brings the popular “The Apothecary Diaries” franchise to home consoles and PC for the first time ever— will launch on PC via Steam, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and PlayStation 5 consoles on 18 March 2027.

Fans will discover a new exclusive story and characters conceptualised by series author Hyuganatsu. The game will feature Japanese voices with English text, and more info can be found on the game’s official website here. Additionally, a new trailer has been made available:

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.

Everyone who purchases a physical or digital copy of the game before 31^st March 2027 will receive the “Apothecary’s Starter Kit and Modest Accessory Pack” as an early purchase bonus. Please note that the content of the early purchase bonus is also included with the pre-order bonus (digital version only).

In addition to the standard edition, fans can pre-order the Digital Deluxe Edition which features the base game, a Formal costume pack for Maomao and Jinshi, a Fantasy costume pack for Maomao, and a Fashion accessory pack for Maomao (Cat).

Everyone who pre-orders a digital copy of the game by 17 March, 2027 will receive the “Apothecary’s Tasteful Accessory Pack” as a digital pre-order bonus. Please note that the content of the early purchase bonus is also included with the pre-order bonus.

To conduct their investigation, 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.

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.

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.

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