Lore City: Alkahest for Mac

Bargain for your brews in this free VN

Lore City: Alkahest—also known simply as Alkahest—is a free indie visual novel video game wherein you must survive a hostage situation using your interrogation skills. Developed by Split Fate Studios, this is a 2D interaction fiction game that offers a strategic balance between dialogue options and potion-making in order to win an ending.

Just like Augma II Arc I, Lore City: Alkahest features a fairly long plot—often centered around a certain character for each ending, even though there are only two main characters in the current timeline. Through them, you explore the vivid and corrupt world of the “dungeonpunk” genre.

Death for four bottles

The story of Lore City: Alkahest begins with you getting shackled to a lab room. You play as shadow alchemist Mello Kurosol, who now has to brew four potions for the malicious spirit possessing your business partner. You figured that you’re going to die either way so you might as well try to stall for time and find a way to defeat them with your words and elixirs. 

Dungeonpunk is a high fantasy setting that typically combines magic and technology. You’ll immediately see this through the writing as you come across unfamiliar jargon—which, unfortunately, can be confusing for a while if you’re not used to this genre. The story is pretty long, though—clocking at over 70,000 words—so you’ll have time to adjust. However, take note that there are mature themes here that are unsuitable for younger players.

Through the superb writing style and dialogue, you can unlock 6 endings. These can be challenging to get since you have two gameplay mechanics: the dialogue options and a point-and-click alchemy minigame—although most of the time, it’s the latter that progresses your ending. Throughout your playthroughs, you can also come across 10 gorgeously crafted CGs, which you can see again in the Gallery via the Extras menu. 

Enter the world of dungeonpunk

Overall, Lore City: Alkahest is a great choice for a longer and more mature visual novel. Some terms can be unfamiliar but the world of this game is rich with lore and exploring it in your mind as you try to stay alive while making potions is an interesting experience. Just take note of the content warnings found in the Extras section and you’re good to go.