Ghostwire: Tokyo's free visual novel introduces KK and his supernatural detective squad

Tango Gameworks' action-horror game Ghostwire: Tokyo will be out later this month, and to get everyone appropriately fired up for the big day, the studio is releasing a prelude visual novel, free for everyone, called—wait for it—Ghostwire: Tokyo Prelude.

Ghostwire: Tokyo Prelude will tell the tale of the mysterious KK and his team of supernatural detectives, who stumble upon something sinister as they investigate a disappearance that's already pretty strange in its own right. Interactions with KK and his squad will help piece together their stories in what the blurb describes as "GhostWire's unusual prequel."

The trailer doesn't reveal much about what's going on, except that it's "the start of a supernatural crisis," which is never good. There's clearly a very different vibe to the visual novel than Ghostwire: Tokyo itself, which promises a beautiful, weird, and actively violent rendition of the Japanese cityscape and the Yokai weirdos who prowl its streets. But the narrative setup promises to fill in at least a few of the many blanks implied by the game description on Steam:

Tokyo is overrun by deadly supernatural forces, perpetrated by a dangerous occultist, causing Tokyo’s population to vanish in an instant. Ally with a powerful spectral entity on their quest for vengeance and master a powerful arsenal of abilities to unravel the dark truth behind the disappearance as you FACE THE UNKNOWN in Ghostwire: Tokyo.

Ghostwire: Tokyo Prelude is available now, and free, on PlayStation 4 and PS5 platforms, but have no fear because it's coming to PC just a week later, on March 8. Ghostwire: Tokyo itself is set to launch on Steam and the Epic Games Store on March 25.