The Hungry Lamb: Traveling in the Late Ming Dynasty coming to Switch on March 13

Publisher 2P Games and publisher and developer Zerocreation Games will release visual novel The Hungry Lamb: Traveling in the Late Ming Dynasty for Switch on March 13, the companies announced. It will support English, Japanese, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese language options.

The Hungry Lamb: Traveling in the Late Ming Dynasty first launched for PC via Steam on April 22, 2024.

Here is an overview of the game, via its Steam page:

About

Trek across ancient China in a dark, boundary-pushing visual novel inspired by traditional Chinese art with modern animation. Escort four girls to the prosperous city of Luoyang in a branching narrative with themes of revenge, cannibalism, involuntary servitude, and more on a redemptive journey.

A Collapsing Empire

During Chongzhen’s Reign (A.D. 1628-1644), land annexation reached unmitigated extremes, the country faced domestic issues and foreign invasions, coinciding with the catastrophic Little Ice Age. After many years of horrid disasters in succession one after another, the Ming court continued to impose inhumane policies resulting in widespread starvation and leading to the rise of multiple rebellions against the court.

A Travelling with Desperados

Liang the bandit, and his companion are commissioned for a job from an unsavory merchant and must escort four girls to a wealthy lord in the city of Luoyang. They must pass through Huazhou, Wenxiang, Shanzhou, and finally reach their destination of Luoyang.

Liang initially believes that the girls he is escorting will be sold to the wealthy lord as adopted daughters to begin a new life. However, one of the four girls named “Sui” reveals the hidden secret of their journey to Luoyang.

The lord is a swine demon who has practiced devouring young ladies for over a thousand years. Every year on his birthday, he dispatches human traffickers to abduct girls from Shan in celebration of his special day. Sui’s sister was among the many who have fallen victim to the demon’s appetite.

Sui is hopeful that Liang will end the escort and join her in assassinating the swine demon to avenge her sister, and those who have perished in recent years. Although Liang wants to believe Sui, there are too many inconsistencies in her story. Throughout the journey, Liang will gather information, unravel the truth, and make his decisions accordingly.

Lamb that Chooses to Be a Wolf

• Liang – 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 (voiced by Rie Kugimiya in Japanese, Hanser in Chinese) – 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.
• Tongue (voiced by Kazuma Horie in Japanese, Lengquan Yeyue in Chinese) 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.
• QuiongHua (voiced by Risa Shimizu in Japanese, Hualing in Chinese) – A girl from an authoritative family that was abducted by human traffickers. It is said to be a distant relative of governor general Yuan.
• Hong’er (voiced by Hiroko Watanabe in Japanese, Shi Yan in Chinese) – 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.
• Cui’er (voiced by Yuina Yamada in Japanese, Liu Yilei in Chinese) – 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.
• Kite (voiced by Hiroko Watanabe in Japanese, Yu Shan in Chinese) – An old friend of Liang, who owns an inn outside of Haizhou city.
• The Dashing King (voiced by Kazuma Horie in Japanese, Cheng Zhichao in Chinese) – In the fifth year of Chongzhen (1633), a rebel leader came to Jin from Shan and called himself the “Dashing King.”
• Swine Demon (voiced by Katsuya Miyamoto in Japanese, Wang Xigua in Chinese) – 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.

Unescapable Karma

There are a variety of different endings and branch options, but good deeds cannot be rewarded during times of war. Pay for the crimes Liang has committed and suffer the consequences.

In addition to a rich storyline, our goal is to achieve the highest level of quality in a Chinese visual novel. Implementing a unique combination of traditional Chinese art and animation style, focusing on impasto painting technique. We rigorously follow the clothing, architecture, environment and other elements of the late Ming Dynasty, to bring both the historical atmosphere and visually appealing aesthetic to our audience.

We also strive to achieve the highest level of authenticity in terms of sound quality. Music and sound effects will be composed by Lin Fangzhou, alongside our producer who will also provide direction and creative input. Leng Quan Ye Yue will lead as the voice recording director, working alongside talents like Hanser, Hua Ling (Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail), and others.

Key Features

• A mystery horror story around dark themes.
• features 260,000 words of non-repetitive text and nine different endings, providing players with a high degree of decision making
• Full voice-over lines with a professional cast.
• Experience the Chinese culture by immersing yourself in the history, the art, the music & the amazing voice-over acting.

Staff

• Production Team: Zerocreation Games
• Producer / Script/ Performance: Zero
• Character Design (for main and supporting characters): Hutao-o-Jiazi, Haishen
• Scene Design: fronzenX
• CG Director: Pazidinglu、Hutao-o-Jiazi, Huoji
• Character Design (for NPCs): Ziyinyin
• Diagram Design: Chazi
• Programming: Yaoshu
• Script / Performance Assistant: ice935, Jiuyue
• Art Assistant: Huoji, Xiaogutou
• Interface Design / Art Promotion: Xiazhongmao
• Sound Design: Lin Fangzhou
• Chinese Voice Recording Director: Lengquan Yeyue
• Chinese Voice Cast: hanser, Lengquan Yeyue, Hualing, Shi Yan, Liu Yile, Cheng Zhichao, Wang Xigua, Yu Shan, etc.