BA-KU's Black Sheep Town Gets a Fresh Look in Automaton Column
The column frames BLACK SHEEP TOWN as a work where the absence of player choice is the point, and confirms BA-KU is already developing a new title.
Reporting from 1 source: Automaton.
Automaton's column spotlights BA-KU's visual novel BLACK SHEEP TOWN, released on Steam in September 2022. The piece examines the game's gang and mutant setting, its multi-perspective storytelling, and the lack of player agency that leads to unavoidable tragedies, while noting the developer's next project, HYAKUHYAKU.
Automaton's ongoing series on overlooked domestic Steam titles turns its attention to BLACK SHEEP TOWN, the visual novel BA-KU released in September 2022. The column focuses on how the game uses its gang and mutant premise to explore everyday struggles rather than spectacle.
The story follows multiple residents of the Y district, including protagonist Xie Liang, his friend Michido Michio, and former detective Roji Kuniaki, through a zapping structure where reading one scenario unlocks another. Automaton notes that the game offers no choices to avert tragedy, leaving players to watch characters follow their beliefs to the end.
The piece also mentions that BA-KU announced its next project, HYAKUHYAKU, on August 6.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.