Nie no Machi, also known as The Town of Nie, is a BL visual novel created by Zombilica. Thanks to dramatic create (HuneX), it is now available in English on both Steam and the Nintendo Switch!
The story follows Hisora Kiyozumi, who one day chases after someone who dropped a bouquet of flowers and suddenly finds himself in the world between the living and the dead. He becomes a temporary resident of an apartment complex full of odd individuals while searching for the one who brought him there, and a way back home.
There are four main love interests:
• Mio – the aloof, carefree older brother type
• Asuku – cold, violent, catlike
• Koko – mature, dependable, charming
• Naruomi – supportive, nice, youngest of the group
The game includes multiple bad, normal, and good endings (even some with NPCs). Some can be grotesque and gore-filled, so fair warning if you’re playing the Steam version. The Switch release tones this down, with censored scenes for a lighter experience.
My Experience (Spoilers)
I originally played Nie no Machi in Japanese and never thought I’d see it get an English release, so when dramatic create (HuneX) announced it along with the fandisc Iromusubi, I was ecstatic. I was waiting at release day to play it.
This game is very close to my heart. Even when I first played it in Japanese and could barely understand what was happening, it still left a huge impact on me. Replaying it in English only made it more unforgettable.
I really liked Hisora as a protagonist. He’s a bit dense and naively kind, but also hardworking and strong in his own way. A ray of sunshine with a pure innocence you don’t see often, and though he doesn’t need protecting, the things that happen to him make you want to protect him anyway. His character development was probably my favorite of all the boys, going from a listless worker with no view of the future to someone who faces his trauma and past head-on. By the end, I was tearing up. Oh Hisora, you are so loved…please be happy.
I also replayed on Nintendo Switch. Since the Switch censors explicit content, a lot of the more graphic scenes are gone, but I honestly didn’t mind. Having already played the uncensored version, I ddn’t feel the need to see some of those scenes again (shivers).
Route Impressions (Main Game + Spoilers)
• Asuku: I started with him because I love cat-coded characters who are cold but slowly open up. He was much meaner than I remembered…nearly killing Hisora multiple times and even having a bad ending like that. But it was worth it to see him grow, face his fear of the dark, and realize his love for Hisora.
• Koko: I picked him next out of favoritism, since he was the most mysterious. He hides behind a mask and reveals little about himself, but he’s also the dependable one who cooks for everyone. His mature, smooth flirting with innocent Hisora was fun. His route was about peeling back his layers and watching Hisora get closer to him.
• Mio: His route has one huge problem. A non-consensual scene that soured me on it. But aside from that, Mio really grew on me. Seeing him stand up for Hisora, take revenge, and finally come to terms with his guilt made his story powerful in its own way.
• Naruomi: Sadly my least favorite. He’s sweet, supportive, and always on Hisora’s side, but he’s also literally a minor, very stalkerish, and the most over-sexualized. That said, I liked the twist connecting his story back to Hisora, and I can respect his persistence in pursuing his first love.
Iromusubi (Fandisc)
Iromusubi is the fandisc that includes after stories for all the boys, plus a “what if” scenario where Hisora decides not to go home and becomes a permanent resident of the inn. It even continues certain bad endings, which was unexpected but interesting.
Route Impressions (Spoilers)
• Asuku’s After Story: Everything I wanted! His love for Hisora is so loud even dense little Hisora can’t miss it. Asuku was willing to abandon everything for him, and it was heartwarming to see them work through miscommunication together.
• Mio’s After Story: My favorite. Watching Mio fall in love with Hisora again, all while getting jealous and fighting his feelings, was adorable. It was satisfying and emotional, making me like him even more than the main game.
• Koko’s After Story: The darkest of the bunch. It starts with him in a very broken state, but gradually he faces his insecurities and trauma with Hisora’s help. Seeing him eventually flaunt his lover Hisora proudly as a celebrity was surprisingly fitting.
• Naruomi’s After Story: Didn’t do much for me. He comes back with no memories, lies about remembering just to keep Hisora close, and is surrounded by questionable side characters. Hard to care about, though I can admit it had emotional beats for those who like him.
• 35: The extra story introduces 35, a mysterious character revealed as a spider monster tied to Hisora. He was unsettling but memorable, and I liked how protective the others got when he appeared.
Criticism
The NPC routes were unnecessary. Serial killer, incest, and especially Akari!!! Why did he even get a route? They added little besides making Hisora suffer, and as a completionist they were rough to get through.
Overall
• Story: A beautiful mix of BL romance, mystery, gore, supernatural themes, and grief. At its heart, it’s about love, from others and yourself.
• Characters: Hisora shines as a protagonist, with moving growth and emotional impact. This also included all the other boys as well!
• Music: Gorgeous. Some of my favorite soundtracks are here, especially the opening, which I still listen to.
• Art: Lovely CGs with expressive coloring and dynamic angles. Some dislike the muscular designs, but I thought they were fine.
• Gameplay: Standard visual novel style with lots of choices and plenty of endings. Easily 30+ hours of gameplay.
• Price: A little pricey, but worth it, especially if you buy the bundle with Iromusubi.
Final Verdict
Nie no Machi is not as widely known, but it deserves to be. It’s a BL VN with unforgettable characters, a hauntingly beautiful story, and themes of grief, love, and healing.
Review: Nie no Machi & Nie no Machi -Iromusubi- (+ Nintendo Switch Port)
I decided to edit this post a little bit and included a review of both the first game and the fandisc, and also some information about the Switch port which was released in 2024. The original game for PC was released in 2018 by √ZOMBILiCA, making it the company’s first game. Nie no Machi is a game which I’ve already replayed a few times now (on PC but also on the Switch) and I think it’s really fun. I wouldn’t say it’s really a ‘horror’ game, but it does have a lot of gory scenes and interesting bad endings, so if you’re not into that it might be better to play something else! The review is mostly spoiler-free.
Story
Protagonist Hisora lost his family when he was a teenager, and now works multiple part-time jobs to make a living. One day after work, he sees a young man wearing mourning clothes dropping a white bouquet of flowers. Wishing to return it to him, Hisora follows him, but loses sight of him in the dark alleyway. Suddenly, he finds himself in another world. "Why did I come to a place like this?".
This game has 4 different routes, who are all characters you'll meet almost immediately (Mio, Asuku, Koko and Naruomi), though you can get bad endings with a few other characters too. Each route has a neutral normal end, a true end, and some bad ends. I played the game in the following route order: Asuku > Mio > Koko > Naruomi, though none of these characters are really considered a 'true route' or anything and they all get pretty much treated equally. This game has quite some gory content and really goes all-out with their bad endings, so if that's not something you're into, it's maybe not the best game to play. Every character does get a happy ending, so it's not one of these games in which even the good endings are sad.
Hisora spends most of his time at work, working for a distribution company during the day, and at night he has another job at a construction site. His supervisors worry that he's overworking himself and not getting enough rest, but Hisora ensures them that he's fine with this kind of lifestyle. One day while walking to work, he suddenly gets a severe headache and sees a figure in mourning clothes in front of him. The man drops a bouquet of flowers and Hisora chases after him with the intention to give the flowers back to him. After what seems like an endless hallway, he ends up in a world he doesn't recognize. He enters a mysterious inn and is greeted by a white haired boy, who later introduces himself as 'the landlord'. He invites him to stay at the inn, but Hisora isn't interested and thinks it's a misunderstanding and leaves lol. He soon learns that wasn't a good idea as he runs into a creepy looking girl covered in blood, who chases after Hisora and keeps telling him how good he smells. Afterwards Hisora wakes up at the inn and is confused what happened, but it seems like someone saved him.
After meeting the others who reside at the inn, Hisora realizes that there's something very wrong with this place, and the landlord eventually explains him that this isn't the same world where Hisora came from. All the residents of the inn do exist in the other world, but are currently in a state of comatose, so their real bodies are not actually there. People are able to return to the real world, however how they can return is something they have to figure out themselves. Hisora is kind of an exception as it's not just his soul who came to this world, which is why the people outside the inn, so called 'irregulars' (or freaks in the English version) are attracted to his smell and want to... eat him.
The first route I played was Asuku's route who is one of my favorites. At first, Asuku doesn't seem like the nicest character and his attitude towards the other characters is quite hostile (especially whenever Mio does something that annoys him lol). When Hisora arrives at the inn, Asuku smashes Mio's head with a baseball bat and Hisora runs away thinking he just witnessed a murder. Shortly afterwards, it's explained that any injury will quickly heal itself, so even though the characters do still feel pain, it's not life-threatening and they also can't die. This is because their real bodies are still located in the normal world. Of course Hisora is the exception so he needs to be extra careful. Asuku is very distant and doesn't like it when Hisora tries to ask him something personal, yet he's sometimes surprisingly nice when asked for a favor. I enjoyed slowly learning more about him!
Moving on to the second route I played which focuses on Mio, a guy who's immediately super nice to Hisora and seems to like him a lot. He's very social and cheerful, and also likes drinking alcohol a little bit too much lol. There are some scenes in this route that I wasn't really sure how to feel about, but I think the ending does kind of redeem this route for me. It also helps that I played his fandisc route already which ended up being one of my favorites. The side character which is most important in this route is Totonoe, and every time he showed up I got a bad feeling, which well... kind of accurately predicts his role in this story and his connection to Mio.
The third route is Koko's route, a friendly and attractive man who's also a bit of a playboy (...maybe 'a bit' is an understatement). He loves cooking and doing housework, and he's always looking after the other residents of the inn. Whenever he's not there, the other residents can barely look after themselves because they're so used to Koko doing everything for them lol, I'm not sure how they would survive without him. Thinking about it... I might have forgotten this detail, but I'm not sure if they actually need to eat or if they just do it because it's what they are used to. Komachi, one of the side characters you meet in this game, plays an important role in this route too, however I don't want to spoil anything. This route was really sad but it ended up being my favorite!
The last route I played was Naruomi's route, though I don't think any of his endings are locked or anything, so I think technically his route can be played anytime you want (?). Naruomi immediately acts overly-familiar with Hisora, to the point where Hisora wonders if they have met each other before. Naruomi seems really possessive of Hisora and also desperately wants to spend time with him in the other routes, but in the other routes Hisora kinds of ignores him... which is funny. In this route you do get to spend time with him but things get rather weird LOL. The side character who appears a lot in this route is Akari, who's also up to no good and did some awful things in the past, but I guess his character writing is definitely...unique and disturbing in an interesting way. After finishing all endings you unlock a secret ending, which I highly recommend playing too! This one also has a continuation in the fandisc.
Thoughts and impressions
I don't know if it's intentional or not, but a lot of the dialogue in this game is really funny to me. Often Hisora will promise the characters that he's not going to do something stupid (like going outside alone) and then 3 seconds later he immediately does it anyway LOL. I guess in the end he's just a regular guy who somehow ended up in another world… like an isekai anime almost, except instead of a magical world it's one in which everyone tries to kill him. I think it's definitely an interesting concept which I haven't seen used much in other BL visual novels. The world itself in this game is rather gruesome too, sometimes the CGs don't really show it but the game makes sure to give you rather graphic descriptions of that the residents of this world look like, for example a kid playing with their decapitated head, using it as a ball. They expand on this in the fandisc in which they visit a couple of new areas where they witness more messed up things.
The Nintendo Switch port
Next I wanted to mention the Nintendo Switch version of the game and the English translation. Honestly the English translation is mostly fine and it doesn't seem machine translated, unless it's maybe heavily edited (?) A lot of the jokes looked like they were translated by an actual person, as this isn't really something machine translation can do. However, I think this game definitely needed some proofreading before it was released, as it has some spacing issues in the script which look a bit odd, and some typos, especially in the common route. It could be worse, but that's just something I wanted to mention as I had a similar problem with the Switch port of Akaya Akashiya Ayakashino. Somewhere early into the game the text also randomly changes to Chinese for a second… Once you get past the common route it's not that bad anymore though. So not bad, but if they patched the typos I think that would make it better!
As for the 18+ scenes, the Switch port doesn't completely remove them since it's rated 17+, but it kind of shortens them and edits the CGs to not show any explicit content. So you still know what’s going on or what happened, you just... don’t get to see any of the details. I guess story-wise players aren't missing out much if they only play this version, but if you can read Japanese I still recommend the PC version since you get the full uncensored experience. A lot of endings which feature body horror are still in the Switch version of the game (even an ending CG with a tentacle monster lol) so it doesn't really affect the endings super much, Right now the PC version of this game hasn't been localized yet, so there's no translation of the 18+ version. I wonder if a company like MangaGamer could still pick it up, but I guess it also depends on what Zombilica, the company that released the game wants.
Nie no Machi -Iromusubi- review
Moving on to the fandisc which was originally released in 2022. This one’s actually also getting a Nintendo Switch port this year, so I might replay it then. Most routes in the fandisc are a direct continuation of the ones you played in the first game, though they also added some new original stories which were interesting to read! The first time you play this game only one of the new routes is available (開幕/Opening). In this route Hisora is still staying at the inn with everyone who you met in the first game. This route also introduces a new character called Sanjuugo, whose name literally means…35 and that’s because Hisora thought that would be a good name for him (….yeah, don’t even ask). Sanjuugo/35 has two endings, but you can play most of the other endings after finishing his main ending (the one with the CG). I of course recommend getting them all because you probably need all endings to unlock the final route.
After finishing this route you unlock many new stories, I summarized the three different categories below:
Sequels (後日譚): Will Hisora stay at the inn, or will he return to the real world? These are direct continuations of all the good and normal endings of the first game.
Side Stories (外伝): These stories focus on the side characters, but in most of them you’ll also see some other characters. Akari, Totonoe, Komachi, Kuro and Sata all have their own new stories.
If (いふ): These are continuations of the first game’s bad endings, though only the ones in which Hisora is still alive of course. In this case that’s both of Naruomi’s bad ends (Akari end, Shiro & Kuro end), Koko’s bad end, Asuku’s bad end and one of Mio’s bad ends (Totonoe ending).
You’re free to play them in whatever order you want, but some of the bad endings and side stories can get pretty dark, so be prepared for that! (but if you played the first game you of course already expected that). Once you finish all of these two other stories unlock! Especially the final one is pretty long and almost feels like a whole new route. In this route the choices you pick matter because you can get a few different endings, though there’s only 3 choices so it’s pretty easy to figure out.
Impressions
I really enjoyed this fandisc! In my opinion fandiscs are always a bit of a hit or miss, some of the other ones I’ve played felt a bit short and others didn’t add the bad ending continuations I would love to see. However, Iromusubi is a pretty long fandisc, I think it took me at least 30 hours to finish everything, which is comparable to the length of the first game. Iromusubi is also a bit cheaper than the original game too, so I think pricewise it was a good deal.
Apparently they changed the writer for this game, but I didn’t really notice it? Of course Japanese isn’t my first language and it has been a while since I finished the first game, so maybe I just don’t remember. The first game had a lot of gory content and the fandisc definitely had a lot of this too. Not every scene had a CG, but sometimes you didn’t even need that because the descriptions were already graphic enough. I’m not complaining though because I’m a big fan of horror VNs!
I was surprised that one of my favorite endings was actually Mio’s good end, because I don’t think he was my favorite character in the first game. I also really liked the side stories because not only do you learn more about the side characters, they also show a couple of new scenes with Koko, Naruomi and Mio. While the first game only has one ending with Hisora’s brother Sata, he has a whole route in this game, though it does feel like a completely different timeline in which things aren’t really like any other route, almost like some alternative world.
I do recommend playing the fandisc if you enjoyed the original game! You can buy the digital version here, DLsite usually has discount coupons, so I think I got it for 30% off too. If you still want to buy the first game, they also sell a bundle which contains both games here! All pictures in this blog belong to Zombilica and were posted on the official website.
