HoYoverse, the developer behind incredibly popular gacha games such as Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, has officially announced their brand-new game Varsapura. The game departs from the fantasy and sci-fi roots of its predecessors, appearing to be more of a psychological thriller or horror game. 

Varsapura was announced via a 31-minute gameplay trailer uploaded to YouTube. Throughout the trailer, we follow an unnamed player character as they join an organization referred to as the Shadow Emergency Alliance (SEAL). The player wishes to join SEAL in order to get revenge on the murderer of their “past self,” with the murderer allegedly being a current SEAL agent. 

As for SEAL itself, the organization seems to specialize in the elimination of a phenomenon known as Mindrot. Mindrot seems to destroy property and turn it into an inky black substance, although SEAL claims it can at least partially undo this damage. The organization is currently dealing with a phenomenon known as the “Mindrot Incident.” After being initiated in SEAL, it appears that the story will follow the player handling this phenomenon while simultaneously searching for their murderer.

On the surface, Varsapura’s gameplay appears very similar to HoYoverse’s previous open-world title Genshin Impact. The player has a basic attack, a burst attack, and some sort of combo move or “H-Attack.” The player character themselves wields a spectral umbrella and seems to be a melee unit with some minor projectile attacks. The second and third playable characters the player obtains, Sayuki and Dokki respectively, also appear to be damage dealing units.

Unlike Genshin Impact, which allows the player to have 4 characters in their party at a time, Varsapura seems to have a limit of 3 party members. The most stark change from its predecessor, however, comes in the form of exploration. Instead of running or using character skills to traverse the landscape, Varsapura players will be able to explore the city by car. 

At the end of the gameplay trailer, HoYoverse puts up information regarding different roles that currently need to be filled in the Varsapura team. These roles include programmers specialized in Unreal Engine, game designers, artists, and marketing specialists.

Varsapura is the third announced but currently unreleased HoYoverse project, following the announcements of their cozy life-sim Petit Planet and creature-collector Honkai: Nexus Anima. There is currently no information available regarding the release date of Varsapura’s beta or the game as a whole.