Humanity is Counting on You: Donutal, an Adventure about Interrogating Aliens, Announced
The Arc System Works studio, known for the Guilty Gear series, decided to step away from fighting games and introduced a new game — Donutal. It is a narrative adventure where you need to interrogate aliens.
What is Known
The events of Donutal unfold in 2206. The International Space Station has turned into a major spaceport — through it, aliens arrive on Earth. The main character wakes from cryosleep and unexpectedly gets the position of an alien inspector. There's no refusing: the character is burdened with a significant debt that grows more each day.
The Earth hopes for the help of advanced civilizations to deal with issues left over from the 21st century, and on the day the hero awakens, official interplanetary relations begin. Formally, the task is simple — let peaceful guests through and detect potential threats, but in practice, any mistake can be costly for humanity since the decisions made directly affect the development of the story and the fate of the Earth.
Gameplay is centered around checking groups of aliens. In one game day, you can study up to eight beings, analyzing their data and searching for inconsistencies. The interrogation room allows inviting two, whose conversation might reveal hidden intentions. There's no paperwork: success depends on the player's attentiveness and ability to notice discrepancies.
The behavior of characters changes depending on who is nearby: allies, rivals, and representatives of warring races react differently.
The inspector will be assisted by an android named DOLPHIN — it conducts briefings and advises the hero, but final decisions remain with the player. Among the visitors to the spaceport, you will encounter various species: from Martians, who are unable to lie, to technologically advanced Pictor and enigmatic Octo with internal conflicts.
Donutal will be released on PC (Steam) in 2026. Already now, everyone can install the demo version of the game.
Source: Steam, arcsystemworks