Right off the bat, I must point out this game's biggest flaw: its pricing. One Famicom Detective Club (FDC) game is $35, or £50/$60 for both, and in Europe you cannot buy them separately. For a remake of a Famicom adventure game/visual novel that took me under six hours to complete with virtually zero replayability, this pricing is just unacceptable, and I can't recommend this game to anyone if the price stays this way.
Nevertheless, The Girl Who Stands Behind is pretty good. The best point of comparison I can make is that it feels like a long and loose Ace Attorney case, the ones that have nothing to do with any overarching plots. There is almost nothing in terms of character building for the protagonist, and the little that was there felt shoehorned in. This is the second FDC game, which I played first by recommendation of the one review that I read before buying, meaning that there might be better foundations laid out in the The Missing Heir, but I wouldn't count on it. This isn’t inherently a bad thing, since the game was intent on feeling like a one-off episode, and it executed that well.
The story was intriguing, and it had enough twists and turns to keep me guessing for the almost one sitting I played it in. It’s about a dead high school girl and a rumour about a ghost in said school, with a more serious tone than the light-hearted Ace Attorney series. I was promised a bit of horror by that one review I read, but it didn’t really deliver until the very end, and even then, it was very tame. It’s very linear, meaning that you won’t have to piece together the puzzle yourself, but the game does a good job of addressing deductions the player might have made, eliminating most of the annoying dramatic irony that comes with detective media like this.
In terms of its success as a remake, it’s excellent from a presentation standpoint. The new art direction is great, with a fair amount of charm that complements the story well. The characters are expressive, and the backgrounds are intricate. I’m told that it’s even prettier in the first game, which is set in the countryside, where this one is in the city. It’s fully animated and voice acted too, making it feel like a step above something like the older Ace Attorney games. The rearranged music was surprisingly nice, with options for the Famicom versions too if you want a more authentic experience.
FDC’s remade presentation brushed up well, but what doesn’t hold up so well today is the adventure gameplay. One of the reasons I played this one first was because I was told its gameplay is less obtuse than the first game, and if this is “less obtuse” I shudder to think about what The Missing Heir is like. You have to pixel peep for the inanest things. You have to exhaust every dialogue option for a character multiple times even if their only response is “…”. It’s just not elegant in the slightest, and even though I got through it easy enough, I found myself eyerolling at some of the ways to progress. It’s a shame that the gameplay was largely untouched considering the effort that went into remaking the presentation.
Famicom Detective Club: The Girl Who Stands Behind is well done remake and a fantastic homage to detective media that fans of Ace Attorney will enjoy, although you’ll need to have some patience for its outdated gameplay. Like I said before though, I can’t recommend that anyone buys this until the price has been slashed by at least 50%, or you’ll come away from its short runtime feeling very unsatisfied. That being said, it’s time for me to go buy and play The Missing Heir.
Nevertheless, The Girl Who Stands Behind is pretty good. The best point of comparison I can make is that it feels like a long and loose Ace Attorney case, the ones that have nothing to do with any overarching plots. There is almost nothing in terms of character building for the protagonist, and the little that was there felt shoehorned in. This is the second FDC game, which I played first by recommendation of the one review that I read before buying, meaning that there might be better foundations laid out in the The Missing Heir, but I wouldn't count on it. This isn’t inherently a bad thing, since the game was intent on feeling like a one-off episode, and it executed that well.
The story was intriguing, and it had enough twists and turns to keep me guessing for the almost one sitting I played it in. It’s about a dead high school girl and a rumour about a ghost in said school, with a more serious tone than the light-hearted Ace Attorney series. I was promised a bit of horror by that one review I read, but it didn’t really deliver until the very end, and even then, it was very tame. It’s very linear, meaning that you won’t have to piece together the puzzle yourself, but the game does a good job of addressing deductions the player might have made, eliminating most of the annoying dramatic irony that comes with detective media like this.
In terms of its success as a remake, it’s excellent from a presentation standpoint. The new art direction is great, with a fair amount of charm that complements the story well. The characters are expressive, and the backgrounds are intricate. I’m told that it’s even prettier in the first game, which is set in the countryside, where this one is in the city. It’s fully animated and voice acted too, making it feel like a step above something like the older Ace Attorney games. The rearranged music was surprisingly nice, with options for the Famicom versions too if you want a more authentic experience.
FDC’s remade presentation brushed up well, but what doesn’t hold up so well today is the adventure gameplay. One of the reasons I played this one first was because I was told its gameplay is less obtuse than the first game, and if this is “less obtuse” I shudder to think about what The Missing Heir is like. You have to pixel peep for the inanest things. You have to exhaust every dialogue option for a character multiple times even if their only response is “…”. It’s just not elegant in the slightest, and even though I got through it easy enough, I found myself eyerolling at some of the ways to progress. It’s a shame that the gameplay was largely untouched considering the effort that went into remaking the presentation.
Famicom Detective Club: The Girl Who Stands Behind is well done remake and a fantastic homage to detective media that fans of Ace Attorney will enjoy, although you’ll need to have some patience for its outdated gameplay. Like I said before though, I can’t recommend that anyone buys this until the price has been slashed by at least 50%, or you’ll come away from its short runtime feeling very unsatisfied. That being said, it’s time for me to go buy and play The Missing Heir.
I’ll be very bare minimum with my review.
I enjoyed the mystery/gameplay of this one but I enjoyed the characters and overall story of the Missing Heir.
Both masterful in their own ways. Despite some frustrations in gameplay (like have to ask a question 3 times sometimes with no real indicator to do that), it’s a really great story. I say this for The Girl Who Stands Behind and The Missing Heir.
The mystery in this one really got me. The mystery of The Missing Heir was fairly predictable (for me) but this one had me guessing beginning to end. I was also half right about the ending and that really tore me apart lmao
Anyways, if you don’t mind $20+ (USD) for a VN, definitely nab it. However, if you are a time = money person, the games are both 6ish hours which is considered very short for most people. If that isn’t your jam, might be worth waiting for a sale.
Regardless, I enjoyed both a ton.
I enjoyed the mystery/gameplay of this one but I enjoyed the characters and overall story of the Missing Heir.
Both masterful in their own ways. Despite some frustrations in gameplay (like have to ask a question 3 times sometimes with no real indicator to do that), it’s a really great story. I say this for The Girl Who Stands Behind and The Missing Heir.
The mystery in this one really got me. The mystery of The Missing Heir was fairly predictable (for me) but this one had me guessing beginning to end. I was also half right about the ending and that really tore me apart lmao
Anyways, if you don’t mind $20+ (USD) for a VN, definitely nab it. However, if you are a time = money person, the games are both 6ish hours which is considered very short for most people. If that isn’t your jam, might be worth waiting for a sale.
Regardless, I enjoyed both a ton.
This game was absolutely brilliant. The story and characters were amazing to watch unfold. Loved Ayumi especially. While the gameplay is not really different to the first, I did find myself less stuck and it was overall less cryptic which means they did make some changes to make it more streamlined. This is one of the finest narrative experiences Nintendo has to offer honestly. It was worth the 32 year wait to see it localised.
The Girl Who Stands Behind builds on the first game and improves the game design with the incorporation of a "Think" command that often gives a hint in what to do first. In general, TGWSB seemed less obtuse than The Missing Heir in moving the game forward but I did end up consulting a walkthrough for the last half of the game anyways. The characters were also more interesting and likeable in this game than in TMH, especially fan favourite Ayumi.
The story is still rather predictable but I would say less so than TMH and is just as engaging. Personally, I preferred TMH's story but that's more personal taste than anything to do with TGWSB's story which is just as fantastic.
I really hope to see a third game in the series at some point in the future as the Famicom Detective Club remakes are really a gem even with its outdated gameplay.
The story is still rather predictable but I would say less so than TMH and is just as engaging. Personally, I preferred TMH's story but that's more personal taste than anything to do with TGWSB's story which is just as fantastic.
I really hope to see a third game in the series at some point in the future as the Famicom Detective Club remakes are really a gem even with its outdated gameplay.
A remake of a thriller that was excellently done presentationwise and even had some moments that made me laugh audibly. Progression is a touch obtuse but I liked this story better than Missing Heir's.
Ayumi is still cute here and there's even an Ayumi rating at the end, but good luck getting Ayumi's effection on a first playthrough, let alone blind.
Ayumi is still cute here and there's even an Ayumi rating at the end, but good luck getting Ayumi's effection on a first playthrough, let alone blind.
'Famicom Detective Club' is an outstanding series of too few games. It is ripe for a revival. I prefer the story of 'The GIrl Who Stands Behind' to 'The Missing Heir;' this the sequel game to 'Heir' but the prequel story. 'Stands Behind' is a good, creepy (suprisingly adult) horror story. It is a ghost mystery with an emotionally satisfying explanation that smartly doesn't strip away all of the supernatural intrigue that comes before it. I'd recommend this one for the Halloween season. My one gripe with 'Heir' applies here as well: the pattern of actions required to advance the story is not always intuitive. But just as in 'Heir,' there are never too many actions possible, so it's usually easy enough to brute force your way over the speed bumps along the way. Excellent game. I'll start praying now that Nintendo gives this same treatment to the Super Famicom Detective Club game, 'Lost Memories in the Snow.'
Pretty cool. The gameplay is a bit lacking. Mostly just clicking through a list of options until you hit on the right one. Story was alright. Glad there was a notebook and a 'story so far' thing every time you played. That was very helpful in keeping track of the plot and all the names flying around.
Maybe I'm more used to the way this series plays, but this one felt much more polished and well-paced than its predecessor. Yes, there are still frustrating moments where you're trying every possible command, but they're more far and few between--it's more often clear what the next command should be. I also felt that the game did a better job about restricting your dialogue options to realistic choices, making it less tedious to go through the entire list if you don't know how to progress. Regardless, enjoyed this one and definitely would recommend this one over The Missing Heir if someone is to just play one.
The better of the two games. It grew a sense of humor, the mystery is better, the writing is improved, and the investigation theme fuckin' slaps. Recommend this for sure. Not going to blow your mind, but it's a very well told mystery story. Not much longer than the first game too.
Despite what I gave the first game, I still recommend playing both.
Despite what I gave the first game, I still recommend playing both.
Gameplay wise, identical to the Missing Heir so all the issues I had with the first game are still here with this one too unfortunately
That said, this one had a story I preferred, characters I liked more and an excellent soundtrack that really sells the eerier vibe this one has. Again the story is pretty down to earth even with the supernatural element of the girl who stands behind with a lot of the twists being easy to spot. Once again though there was a few things towards the end that genuinely caught me off guard and even spooked me.
This gives much more of an insight into Ayumi as a character with her playing a more prominent role in the story and I've come to appreciate her as one of Nintendo's historic characters now.
I'm left craving more FDC now after two short but sweet games. There was a third one on the Satelliview service which starred Ayumi so I'm hoping these do well enough for Nintendo to look into remaking that one too
That said, this one had a story I preferred, characters I liked more and an excellent soundtrack that really sells the eerier vibe this one has. Again the story is pretty down to earth even with the supernatural element of the girl who stands behind with a lot of the twists being easy to spot. Once again though there was a few things towards the end that genuinely caught me off guard and even spooked me.
This gives much more of an insight into Ayumi as a character with her playing a more prominent role in the story and I've come to appreciate her as one of Nintendo's historic characters now.
I'm left craving more FDC now after two short but sweet games. There was a third one on the Satelliview service which starred Ayumi so I'm hoping these do well enough for Nintendo to look into remaking that one too
The Girl Who Stands Behind is my favorite of the two Famicom Detective Club games. I really appreciated the high school setting more, and it made for a more interesting story. Gameplay is a bit out of touch though, since besides the graphical and audio touch ups, it mimics the NES original.
pretty mid imo
Finished this one second, after The Missing Heir. I thought going into this that I would like this more than the first, because of the school setting and supernatural plot. But I ultimately feel pretty equal on both of them, with only preferring this one slightly for small reasons. The biggest of which is you can definitely tell they learned a lot after The Missing Heir on how to make a good Visual Novel, and as a result I used a guide MUCH less in this one. I actually didn't even need to look at a guide once up until the 7th or 8th chapter. There’s significantly less cryptic BS in The Girl Who Stands Behind and is a lot better for it. I’d say this starts out more engaging and is better paced, with twists sprinkled in each chapter. But it also took longer to get to the major twist as opposed to the other game. Ultimately, there both pretty good for there time, but if you were dead set on only playing ONE of these for whatever reason, I would say play The Girl Who Stands Behind. I was flipping through the art book afterwards though and as far as these go as Remakes, I really wish they went with the Super Famicom style or even the 80s Famicom Disk System style. Those designs are so much more charming and would have added immensely to the vibe of games that are already set in 80s Japan. (The only character I really hate the design of though in these remakes, is the main character. He’s so ugly and punchable.) But I guess theres always the originals for that, so maybe one day I’ll play a fan translation. These remakes seem to be very faithful to the originals from what I could tell.
I played this one second after playing The Missing Heir first, and I gotta say, I'm quite happy with that choice. The Girl Who Stands Behind is the second game to release, the prequel, and also, MARKEDLY improved over The Missing Heir. A better story, a livelier cast, a look at the protagonist's employer Utsugi, and the introduction of his coworker Ayumi, and her origins in how she gets involved with the Utsugi Detective Agency.
I think the general mystery is more appealing and done better than The Missing Heir, with a much better mystery/paranormal slant of a haunted school, the murder of a young woman who was investigating the mystery, and the way things twist and turn.
I was actually a bit spooked by a few parts, surprised by a few twists, and suitably freaked out by the climax, it was done very well. Some of the writing is still basic, but the cast is fun enough that while this won't be one of the all-time greats, it was still pretty fun.
I played most of the game with the original Famicom music and wow, that Famicom music is pretty good! While the arranged music is good, I would definitely recommend playing it with the Famicom or Super Famicom music!
Most of the game is improved in terms of gameplay, in the sense that, for most of the game things don't feel like such a guess at what you have to do and what specific order you have to ask or do things in... until the end. Come chapter 9/10 (of 11), things start getting a lot more convoluted of what you have to do and when, and I had to break open a walkthrough to get it right, and as I was coming closer and closer to the truth and the big climax, it was pretty frustrating!
Overall, I like it. It's a fun game and if you're looking for something to scratch your mystery game itch, I'd definitely recommend it! I think the presentation in this game is even better than the last one, and it's a great, slick remake, even with its issues.
I think the general mystery is more appealing and done better than The Missing Heir, with a much better mystery/paranormal slant of a haunted school, the murder of a young woman who was investigating the mystery, and the way things twist and turn.
I was actually a bit spooked by a few parts, surprised by a few twists, and suitably freaked out by the climax, it was done very well. Some of the writing is still basic, but the cast is fun enough that while this won't be one of the all-time greats, it was still pretty fun.
I played most of the game with the original Famicom music and wow, that Famicom music is pretty good! While the arranged music is good, I would definitely recommend playing it with the Famicom or Super Famicom music!
Most of the game is improved in terms of gameplay, in the sense that, for most of the game things don't feel like such a guess at what you have to do and what specific order you have to ask or do things in... until the end. Come chapter 9/10 (of 11), things start getting a lot more convoluted of what you have to do and when, and I had to break open a walkthrough to get it right, and as I was coming closer and closer to the truth and the big climax, it was pretty frustrating!
Overall, I like it. It's a fun game and if you're looking for something to scratch your mystery game itch, I'd definitely recommend it! I think the presentation in this game is even better than the last one, and it's a great, slick remake, even with its issues.
Way more interesting than the first one!
Its entirely possible my fondness for this game relies on using a guide, as this old Famicom game requires very specific triggers and steps for story progression. That said, I found this to be a much more enjoyable game than the previous Famicom Detective Club.
The Missing Heir's story (which is the main reason to play these games) is a vast conspiracy with a mastermind and different parties at play and so on. Its narrative twists are novel for the era but not all that impressive in the modern day. Ultimately, when you learn that Yoshio Sakamoto wrote the game in three days, its like... yeah that makes sense.
In comparison, The Girl Who Stands Behind really charms you quick. The different tragedies and character motives outlining the cast just feels stronger than the game's predecessor. Instead of a tangled criminal web all dancing to the tune of one mastermind, the game feels more like a set of disaster dominoes and poor decisions of ordinary people. Its technically a smaller scale story. There's less victims and less inheritance to fight over. But that also makes it feel more personal and realized. The tragedy works.
While the gameplay hasn't been updated from the 1980 originals, the visual spectacle of these two games is astounding. The first game already made me just sit on a pause screen and bask in all the lavishly animated character designs. The Girl who Stands Behind keeps up the pattern and demonstrates just how stunning a visual novel can look when its given a huge budget to work with.
I'd like to think we'd get a remake of the Satellaview game someday, but I think that ship is never sailing.
The Missing Heir's story (which is the main reason to play these games) is a vast conspiracy with a mastermind and different parties at play and so on. Its narrative twists are novel for the era but not all that impressive in the modern day. Ultimately, when you learn that Yoshio Sakamoto wrote the game in three days, its like... yeah that makes sense.
In comparison, The Girl Who Stands Behind really charms you quick. The different tragedies and character motives outlining the cast just feels stronger than the game's predecessor. Instead of a tangled criminal web all dancing to the tune of one mastermind, the game feels more like a set of disaster dominoes and poor decisions of ordinary people. Its technically a smaller scale story. There's less victims and less inheritance to fight over. But that also makes it feel more personal and realized. The tragedy works.
While the gameplay hasn't been updated from the 1980 originals, the visual spectacle of these two games is astounding. The first game already made me just sit on a pause screen and bask in all the lavishly animated character designs. The Girl who Stands Behind keeps up the pattern and demonstrates just how stunning a visual novel can look when its given a huge budget to work with.
I'd like to think we'd get a remake of the Satellaview game someday, but I think that ship is never sailing.
Mantiene todas las fortalezas del remake de The Missing Heir (a saber: unos valores de producción sorprendentemente altos, personajes con carisma y bien diseñados), pero consigue que resulte una experiencia algo mas libre y menos encorsetada, integra mucho mejor el factor sobrenatural y la trama resulta más interesante y con un desarrollo muy solido hasta un final tal vez algo apresurado. Por otro lado, el entorno escolar sienta muy bien al tono naif de la historia, sintiéndose mucho más acorde que las intrigas políticas de la familia propietaria de una gran corporación multinacional.
Es una pena que Nintendo abandonara la saga en 1989, por que esta segunda parte demuestra que le habían tomado el pulso al género, y ojalá estos remakes sirvan para preparar el terreno para una tercera entrega.
Es una pena que Nintendo abandonara la saga en 1989, por que esta segunda parte demuestra que le habían tomado el pulso al género, y ojalá estos remakes sirvan para preparar el terreno para una tercera entrega.
A pretty significant improvement over the first game! The very first thing I noticed is that you have a "think" command which usually points you in the right direction when progression is unclear. Due to this addition, and smarter narrative design, I was able to make my way through the game with substantially less Googling than its predecessor.
Due to the much smoother narrative progression I found myself much more immersed in the mystery here. Again, much like the first game I don't think this mystery is all that special compared to other works in the genre, but the memorable characters and fantastic music really elevate it. One other thing that stuck out to me was the creative uses for your actions. I don't want to get into spoilers here, but just imagine your "talk" command doing something very different than usual in specific scenes. Every time they subverted the game's mechanics in this way was very impressive to me, especially for a game written in 1989.
Due to the much smoother narrative progression I found myself much more immersed in the mystery here. Again, much like the first game I don't think this mystery is all that special compared to other works in the genre, but the memorable characters and fantastic music really elevate it. One other thing that stuck out to me was the creative uses for your actions. I don't want to get into spoilers here, but just imagine your "talk" command doing something very different than usual in specific scenes. Every time they subverted the game's mechanics in this way was very impressive to me, especially for a game written in 1989.
Most of what I said for The Missing Heir still applies to this one, but this one has a more compelling mystery and a much stronger ending. I like how you get to spend more time with Ayumi in this one as well. One thing I will give The Missing Heir over this though is that as cliche as the rich family's mansion in the countryside is, I like it more than japanese high school. It was also interesting that they give you a detective evaluation at the end of the game but it's kind of a waste since the game is structured in a way that doesn't really appeal to playing logically. Also I forgot to mention it during the Missing Heir thoughts but it's really nice how every background character gets a unique portrait and voice even if they only have like one line of dialogue.
A better game than The Missing Heir. While there are some points where you can get easily lost between the dialogue choices, with one choice buried among many choices, it's a far better game as it features more visual elements that help enhance the story, as well as just having a more interesting story overall, one that focuses less on surprises and repetition, but focuses on more twists and a darker tone. While I was still able to predict the killer long before they were set up, I still enjoyed my time more with this game than The Missing Heir.
last writeup was pretty long so i'm just gonna riff on this one
-finally got to play this remake of one of my favorite adv games of all time (Famicom Tantei Club II for the SFC), which itself is a remake of the original Famicom Tantei Club II for the Famicom Disk System
-Definitely a big nostalgia trip to relive the game again and all the stuff I love is more or less still there, however...
-It's hard to be objective in the remake of a game that is detective fiction when you know "whodunit" since that luster is lost but ultimately the biggest flaw for me is the presentation/atmosphere. I know this is the most base criticism ever for remakes of a game, especially adventure games, but it's true in this case.
-A lot of things just feel really sterile. The SFC Version of Famicom Tantei (Detective) Club II absolutely fucking nailed the atmosphere to the point where the idea a gruesome local murder casting a foreboding shroud on everyone's peaceful daily lives is communicated perfectly. Examples: http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/https-lh5-googleusercontent-com-dywf0axde55eakl9.png http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/https-lh3-googleusercontent-com-7lc0dyou9ru9e7gi.png
-There's just this incredible aesthetic that's not quite dreary because there's still a semblance of that cheerful world before the murder, but it's fractured somehow. If I had to use a word to describe it, it would be "wistful".
-This aesthetic honestly makes or breaks a lot of what the game wants to get across. The remake by MAGES opts for a more modern look; the artstyle feels like an imitation of the old-school aesthetic with modern digital art and rendering techniques, and the characters are expressive, but ultimately it just isn't the same. Everything's a bit too bright and cheery or certain scenes lack nuance or gravitas in comparison to the original (the reveal of the culprit is probably the worst case of this, in the version I played it's one of the greatest scenes in any adv or any game i've played period, but here it falls a bit flat, irrespective of me knowing that it was coming)
-It's hard to say if MAGES would want to reproduce the aesthetic of the SFC version in some form, or even if they could since it's tied to a certain time and a place, but I think everything just feels a bit lacking. It's not tense, it's not hard-boiled and there is no feeling of suspense or urgency. Returning to Utsugi's office at the end of every chapter gave a sense of respite when I played the SFC version, you just felt like you were safe when the killer was out there and you actually /needed/ to mull things over, but in this remake it just feels too routine.
-I think MAGES had fun with it and were probably psyched to get the chance to remake such a legendary game in the canon of japanese adventure games but it's just a bit unfortunate that a remake that is faithful in so many other areas misses the mark in arguably the most important one
-i'm strangely alright with the design choice to reproduce the admittedly very clunky investigation mechanics of the original games, which often amount to brute forcing dialogue options until you get a bread crumb of info. like the aesthetic of the first remake (but in the inverse) it's a product of a time and a place and i think you risk garnering a lot of bad will if you touch it at all, even if you nail it in a redesign, so i understand why it was kept. i think the core idea of needing to make inferences and interact with scenes, scenarios and characters is a good core concept even if the execution in these games (and in this remake) is not the greatest. i knew what i signed up for and i'm fine with it.
-Takeshi Abo's arrangements of the OST are superb and I'm glad a legend like him got the opportunity to be involved
-finally got to play this remake of one of my favorite adv games of all time (Famicom Tantei Club II for the SFC), which itself is a remake of the original Famicom Tantei Club II for the Famicom Disk System
-Definitely a big nostalgia trip to relive the game again and all the stuff I love is more or less still there, however...
-It's hard to be objective in the remake of a game that is detective fiction when you know "whodunit" since that luster is lost but ultimately the biggest flaw for me is the presentation/atmosphere. I know this is the most base criticism ever for remakes of a game, especially adventure games, but it's true in this case.
-A lot of things just feel really sterile. The SFC Version of Famicom Tantei (Detective) Club II absolutely fucking nailed the atmosphere to the point where the idea a gruesome local murder casting a foreboding shroud on everyone's peaceful daily lives is communicated perfectly. Examples: http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/https-lh5-googleusercontent-com-dywf0axde55eakl9.png http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/https-lh3-googleusercontent-com-7lc0dyou9ru9e7gi.png
-There's just this incredible aesthetic that's not quite dreary because there's still a semblance of that cheerful world before the murder, but it's fractured somehow. If I had to use a word to describe it, it would be "wistful".
-This aesthetic honestly makes or breaks a lot of what the game wants to get across. The remake by MAGES opts for a more modern look; the artstyle feels like an imitation of the old-school aesthetic with modern digital art and rendering techniques, and the characters are expressive, but ultimately it just isn't the same. Everything's a bit too bright and cheery or certain scenes lack nuance or gravitas in comparison to the original (the reveal of the culprit is probably the worst case of this, in the version I played it's one of the greatest scenes in any adv or any game i've played period, but here it falls a bit flat, irrespective of me knowing that it was coming)
-It's hard to say if MAGES would want to reproduce the aesthetic of the SFC version in some form, or even if they could since it's tied to a certain time and a place, but I think everything just feels a bit lacking. It's not tense, it's not hard-boiled and there is no feeling of suspense or urgency. Returning to Utsugi's office at the end of every chapter gave a sense of respite when I played the SFC version, you just felt like you were safe when the killer was out there and you actually /needed/ to mull things over, but in this remake it just feels too routine.
-I think MAGES had fun with it and were probably psyched to get the chance to remake such a legendary game in the canon of japanese adventure games but it's just a bit unfortunate that a remake that is faithful in so many other areas misses the mark in arguably the most important one
-i'm strangely alright with the design choice to reproduce the admittedly very clunky investigation mechanics of the original games, which often amount to brute forcing dialogue options until you get a bread crumb of info. like the aesthetic of the first remake (but in the inverse) it's a product of a time and a place and i think you risk garnering a lot of bad will if you touch it at all, even if you nail it in a redesign, so i understand why it was kept. i think the core idea of needing to make inferences and interact with scenes, scenarios and characters is a good core concept even if the execution in these games (and in this remake) is not the greatest. i knew what i signed up for and i'm fine with it.
-Takeshi Abo's arrangements of the OST are superb and I'm glad a legend like him got the opportunity to be involved
I preferred this one over the Missing Heir.
Really nice remake of an old school detective game. The writing and narrative are generally high quality, and there are way fewer frustrating moments than the previous game. Most of the dialogues felt intuitive, and the game rewards paying attention to what you say through its affinity system. Great for fans of detective games or visual novels.
Read the full review here.
Not perfect, but the masterpiece that is the previous versions is still here.
i think this is the better one maybe???
The Sakamoto redemption arc continues! This one is a smoother experience than The Missing Heir on a gameplay front while still forcing you to use your brain to figure out how to progress. Once again, this is a great murder mystery, though compared to the first I didn't think the twists and turns along the way were quite as engaging. That said, it all delivers in the finale, which is executed way better than the first game's. The soundtrack in this one is also an improvement, providing a real sense of ambiance and dread. I'd definitely recommend playing both this and The Missing Heir if you have any interest in VNs or mysteries, they both are really satisfying.
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I liked it.
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I liked it.
Great! Prob liked it even more than the other one
incredibly underrated. it's definitely not for everyone, but I loved this game so much.