IN a tweet released over the weekend, indie developer-slash-publisher Chilla’s Art announced the upcoming title Parasocial, a Japanese horror game with a heavy live-action theme feature. Parasocial is set to launch exclusively on PC via Steam this year, with a tighter release window or date yet to be determined.
Chilla’s Art is a small but impressively prolific indie developer in Japan, consisting of “just two brothers who make Japanese horror games,” according to the studio’s official bio. Twitter page. Although it is not publicly known when Chilla’s Art was founded, the studio’s first game, Evie, was published on Steam in February 2018. Since then, Chilla’s Art has released no fewer than twenty-four unique titles, the latest of which is horror game The Karaoke, which launched exclusively on Steam earlier this month.
Chilla’s Art’s newest project, Parasocial, will include all the VHS effects, late 90s PlayStation era graphics, and Japanese horror elements that are staples of the developer’s visual style. Like all previous titles in Chilla’s Art’s back catalogue, Parasocial’s environments are fully inspired by the architecture and atmosphere of classic Japanese horror films, while also reflecting the culture and technology of the modern era.
The games Closing Shift and The Karaoke featured a modern Japanese coffee shop and karaoke bar, respectively, so it looks like Parasocial will be mostly urban, with glowing city lights, a night skyline, and modern conveniences like streaming equipment and vending machines.
While not much is known about the game at the time of writing, the description is listed in the game Steam page, and the selection of screenshots currently available for viewing seem to suggest that the game will feature similar gameplay to previous releases from Chilla’s Art.
Despite the lack of information, fans of the developer are still excited. “Love the last one, glad we’re getting more,” says a Twitter user @reddoliche in response to the announcement’s original tweet, which was eagerly shared by many of the developer’s fans.