Snes - Review

This is a Japanese game. You'll need a translation patch.

A remake of a Nintendo game which is itself a sequel to the first game, this menu-driven text based detective series is fairly obscure but nonetheless very interesting with very strong writing.

Gameplay and interface: 9.5/10

Being a menu-driven interface game, the game revolves around performing certain actions in the game in order to advance the plot. The menu is on the right side of the screen with what you're seeing on the left side and dialogue at the bottom. As in such games, there really isn't much 'space' to move around. At most you can visit three locations at any one time and there aren't too many interactive spots on the game. Aside from choosing the actions on the menu you can also try interacting with the scene by using certain menu options such as the search option. This gives you a glove icon which you can try using on the picture screen. You can also review evidence and interviews by pressing the L button and new options or topics are highlighted when available. The interface is therefore fairly simple but effective. You can also review events from the load and save game menu and resume from either the chapter beginning or the save point which is a nice touch.

One gripe is the extremely small size of the pictures displayed which I more annoying than stylish. I believe it is a mere convention than any artistic reason for the pictures to be so small. Another is that I feel that a number of the actions could have been collapsed into fewer options and perhaps the highlighting of new topics could have been done better to move the story along. Topics or objects are often only highlighted once even if you have to select them several times.

Storyline: 5/5

The game centres around you, a young detective apprentice to a famous detective called Utsugi in the city. A young school girl's body has been found and since the detective is busy, you've been given the task of investigating it by yourself. This will be your first solo assignment. Along the way, you investigate the school and others around her to try and figure out who her murderer was and how it ties in with 'The Girl in Back' rumours. The story is definitely well-written and thought out. It is hard not to tell more without giving the story away but it is extremely gripping.

Graphics: 3.5/5

The graphics are well drawn and seem fairly realistic. However, there aren't many interesting or weird pictures despite it being a detective game. Most pictures are pictures of fairly normal places in Japan such as the highschool's grounds and classrooms. There are few animations in the game unfortunately but what is really strange the lip movements of the people which are just too fast to be comfortable looking at.

Game design: 4.5/5

The game is designed pretty well in most cases, most actions you take will be fairly logical and not at all strange. It is frustrating sometimes as what you are supposed to do is not very obvious unfortunately. For example, having to notice something which I've already examined before. There really isn't much to do except keep trying all the various options until you test out the correct one. Interesting there is a performance and love rating at the end of the game just for fun to see if the choices you made in the game reflect your personality and if you've won Ayumi's heart.

Music and Sound: 5/5

The music and sound are genuinely well-suited to the game. It is scary and frightening at times and soothing at other times, another important thing to point out is the appropriate use of silence in various parts of the game to add tension.

For: Strong storyline, excellent music and sound.

Against: Mediocre graphics. Sometimes hard to know what to do next.