Lucid9: Inciting Incident

About

Lucid9: Inciting Incident is a visual novel that unfolds in reverse. You start with the aftermath of a crime and rewind through the days leading up to it tracing a series of disappearances at an elite boarding school. Each chapter peels back layers of the protagonist’s figuring out sanity as they navigate shifting alliances cryptic clues and a city teeming with secrets. Dialogue choices and investigative decisions shape how past events collide with present consequences blending mystery with psychological tension. The game’s backward narrative structure stands out as both a storytelling gimmick and a mechanical hook. Players piece together cause and effect in a way that feels fresh despite the genre’s usual predictability. Fallen Snow Studios crafts a tense atmosphere with its fictional metropolis Isamu and the insular school setting. Though the first of three planned installments it establishes a foundation that fans of cerebral visual novels have found compelling. The 2016 release remains a quiet but thoughtful entry in Sekai Project’s catalog with a 76% positive rating on Steam from those who appreciate its puzzlelike approach to mystery.

Storyline

// D-DAY. You're a murderer. // 1 DAY PRIOR. You can't trust anyone. You lose your mind. // 3 DAYS PRIOR. Someone dies before your eyes. Your friends distance themselves from you. // 4 DAYS PRIOR. Your school enforces a curfew. You nearly drown. Your past catches up to you. // 6 DAYS PRIOR. You learn that students at your school have been disappearing into nothingness. You visit an amusement park with a bunch of friends anyway. // 8 DAYS PRIOR. You take a history exam. Maybe you pass, maybe you fail. Then you participate in a treasure hunt in the sketchiest part of the city. Thankfully, nothing happens. Or maybe something does. // 9 DAYS PRIOR. You visit a career fair to review your options. Doesn't seem like there is a bright future ahead of you. You also meet a crazy woman with a vocabulary larger than her height who claims to be a detective. // 10 DAYS PRIOR. You immerse yourself in classes, friends, and an everyday routine. You eat copious amounts of fried chicken and are press-ganged into advertising for a club you're not even in. This is where the game begins. // THE THING IS: You can choose to fight this outcome.