Chiaroscuro Lovers

Chiaroscuro Lovers is a story about memory, trauma and love, told through Chu Hebai as she enters a reality that is slowly falling apart. Eleven years after losing her memory, Hebai returns to her homeland following news of her grandfather’s death. She must face the aftermath of the Great Collapse, long-buried memories and an unfinished farewell, while trying to understand a world that has changed beyond recognition.

Story and setting

The Great Collapse is a global geological disaster caused by increasingly intense tectonic activity. Its effects continue to spread, with no sign of stopping. Hebai’s family corporation, the Chu Group, has grown wealthy through extreme-environment protection technologies and biomedical science, but its success has brought internal and external threats, and new challenges continue to emerge.

For eleven years, Hebai has lived abroad in quiet isolation. Within her mind are the Lamplighter, the Psychologist and the Consultation Room: figures and places with their own intentions, who nevertheless offer her a guiding light when danger comes.

The characters

• Chu Hebai: The 22-year-old second daughter of the Chu family was once known as a prodigy. She has psychogenic blindness and frequently experiences auditory and visual hallucinations.
• Chu Heyu: Hebai’s 23-year-old older sister and the current head of the Chu family. A brilliant strategist who governs with precision, she is gentle toward Hebai, but avoids confronting certain things.
• Yu Lin: The 22-year-old director of Chu Medical is a disciplined, deeply rational medical genius who trusts science, logic and observable truth. Hebai represents something she cannot fully explain, and that uncertainty begins to change her.
• The Lamplighter: A presence only Hebai can perceive, the Lamplighter helps illuminate memories, fills in gaps and explains what does not make sense. Carefree, talkative and amused, she seems to know more than she says and never answers questions directly.

Narrative features

The game focuses on an emotion-driven narrative, with multiple endings and CG artwork.