After a delay earlier this year, Sekai Project has now published the visual novel WAS –The Hourglass of Lepidoptera- on Steam.
It’s made by SRL, a group of Japanese freelance artists, who formed in 2012 and went into full production on WAS soon after, releasing it in Japan in August 2014.
Another thing about WAS is that it’s a piece of “content tourism,” meaning it’s a game that’s meant to “introduce players to sights and locales within Japan.” Specifically, it promotes one member of SRL’s hometown, Tottori.
As to the story you’ll follow in WAS, it’s summarized by its creators as such:
“The keyword for this game is dystopia. The game is set in Post-War Japan, yet this Japan is unfamiliar and strange compared to the one we know from history. Journey with the characters as they meet new people and encounter high drama that will forever change them and uncover the mysteries of the world they inhabit.
In this dystopian world, nothing is what it seems. Though the character seem to be in a land of peace and plenty, we quickly discover that nothing could be further away from the truth. Though WAS might appear to be a bishoujo game, we wish to present a brand-new interpretation of the concept.”
