Sanfu A dead boy on live television

This plays like a visual novel at heart: the story carries everything, told through illustrated scenes, dialogue and staged moments rather than action. You follow a large cast, not just the two playable leads, and the game treats it as an ensemble piece about an era, with the lost, the devoted, the fanatical and the opportunistic all circling the same mystery. There is no voice acting, and the sparse, well-placed music makes the quiet moments land harder. Fair warning from many who finished it: the ending divides people, and some find the final act rushed. The ride there is the reason to come.

You work the case as an investigator: a dead boy's face on live television, rumors that his ghost hijacked the signal, and a bureau ordering answers. As the inquiry deepens, a crime gang hiding in the dark comes into view, and the story traces how they built a boy into a miracle worker in the first place. Puzzles are tied directly to the plot, so solving one moves the story forward instead of pausing it. Playing as two characters in different eras and viewpoints widens what you can work out: what one learns in the past becomes a piece of the picture in the present.

The art draws from Chinese propaganda posters of the last century: sometimes eerie and strange, sometimes vivid and bright, always hand-drawn with a hazy texture that adds to the mystery. Detailed posters, shop signs, lush plants, uneven steps and stacked buildings build a fictional mountain city that feels close to a real place. The camera work gives it a film-like feel, and the whole thing is a nostalgic trip through a very specific summer. One puzzle that stands out has you juggling three groups of people at a restaurant, shifting their numbers to change who talks to whom as time passes.