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A Ming-era bandit escorts four girls across famine-stricken China as branching choices test his loyalties and shape their fate.
Released 22 Apr 2024
Escort Four Girls
Uncover a Hidden Scheme
Follow Two Interwoven Stories
He is a bandit who sells lives. She is a mute girl seeking revenge. In a famine-ravaged ancient China, a ruthless trafficker escorts four girls to a demon's feast. But when a deadly secret is revealed, a cold transaction turns into a journey of redemption. A dark visual novel about an unlikely bond.
Developed by 零创游戏(ZerocreationGame) · Published by 零创游戏(ZerocreationGame), 2P Games
Set amid famine and unrest in the late Ming Dynasty, the visual novel follows Liang, a bandit hired to escort four girls from Huazhou to Luoyang. During the journey, Sui warns him that the mission is not what it seems.
Players read illustrated scenes and dialogue, making choices at key moments that affect Liang’s decisions and the course of the trip. The story centers on the group’s shifting trust, survival, and competing motives.
A second, interwoven storyline follows Sui before she meets Liang, adding context to the journey. A flowchart lets players revisit scenes and choices across the story’s nine endings.
Positive reviews often praise the emotionally affecting story, especially its depiction of famine and the pressures of survival, along with the changing relationship between Liang and Sui. Players also appreciate the voice acting, music, and illustrated presentation, and many describe wanting to explore the different endings. Other reviewers find some character developments or ending shifts unconvincing, and several criticize scenes they view as sexualized framing of a young character.
The year is 1632. The Ming Dynasty faces its final days amid internal strife and foreign threats. Years of disasters and harsh policies have triggered famine and rebellion across the land.
A bandit named "Liang" accepts a job escorting four young girls from Huazhou to Luoyang. He assumes they'll be sold as daughters, but a girl named "Sui" reveals the truth: the buyer is a thousand-year-old Swine Demon who devours children annually. Sui's sister was already killed. Sui begs Liang to abandon the mission and help her kill the Demon for revenge. But Liang discovers Sui hides darker secrets...
A Dark Tale of Redemption —— A story of hope flickering amid famine, trafficking, revenge, and cannibalism in a brutal world.
Multiple Choices & Endings —— 160,000 words across 9 different endings where every choice matters.
Authentic Visuals —— Realistic art style with researched Ming period clothing, architecture, and environments.
Premium Voice Acting —— Full Chinese/Japanese voice acting with renowned actors like Rie Kugimiya and Hanser, plus original music for movie-like experience.
Play as Liang, the main character and protagonist. His family has run a successful business for years, but Liang never saw himself as his father’s successor. Instead, he would rather travel the world as a hero and visit as many new locations as possible. The day of the Great Tianqi Explosion in 1626, was the day Liang lost everything. After becoming a refugee with nothing left to his name, he turned to a life of crime. Liang became a bandit and makes a living by killing others for loot.
Sui, a nine-year-old mute born in Luoyang. Her sister was killed by the swine demon that also dwells in Luoyang. To avenge her sister’s death, she intentionally let her self-become abducted to get close to the demon and assassinate him. Some, or all of the above statement is false, part of Sui’s untrustworthy nature.
Liang’s partner Tongue, the silver-tongued devil who is motivated by greed. When they work jobs together, Liang executes their target's lives while Tongue works on securing loot.
A girl from an authoritative family that was abducted by human traffickers. It is said to be a distant relative of governor general Yuan.
One of the two sisters from Northern Shannxi who was sold by her parents in a year of turmoil. She is full of vigor and an honest person, who cares deeply about her sister.
One of the two sisters from Northern Shannxi, also sold by her parents. She is charming, pure of heart, and is also very dependent on her older sister.
An old friend of Liang, who owns an inn outside of Haizhou city.
In the fifth year of Chongzhen (1633), a rebel leader came to Jin from Shan and called himself the "Dashing King".
The swine demon disguised as a wealthy lord that devours young girls on his birthday for thousands of years, according to Sui. He is also the one who has commissioned Liang to escort the four girls to the city of Luoyang.
| Platforms | Windows |
|---|---|
| Achievements | 16 |
| Age ratings |
|
| Controller support | Xbox |
| Controller required | No |
| Demo | View demo on Steam |
| DLC / extras | 2 listed on Steam |
| Metacritic | 79/100 View on Metacritic |
Games similar to The Hungry Lamb: Traveling in the Late Ming Dynasty
