BrokenLore: Ascend

BrokenLore: Ascend is a first-person psychological horror game about Ren and Yui, two famous Japanese rooftop climbers who chase fame by pushing their limits. Their channel, SKYLIMIT, has made them icons among fans of illegal urban climbing. They set out at night to climb Elysium Tower, Japan’s tallest skyscraper, and make what they intend to be “the ultimate video.”

The climb

As you climb higher, the ascent becomes a nightmare. The supernatural Rokurokubi—a woman with a serpent-like neck and an ornate mask—haunts the tower’s shadows. Her presence also embodies Ren and Yui’s fears of being forgotten, becoming ordinary, and losing their relevance.

You use realistic free-climbing mechanics to cling to narrow ledges and explore the tower vertically. Stealth sequences require you to hide from the Rokurokubi’s gaze and plan each movement carefully; every breath, handhold and sound could mean life or death.

Ren and Yui

For Ren and Yui, falling means more than dying: it means losing the spotlight, validation and the only sense of identity they have known. Their climb becomes an escape from themselves, with the possibility that breaking free means stopping.