it's kinda entertaining, but i wouldn't say it was novel or even worth being a videogame, since all the choice system is really used for is like, intentionally and comedically forced cameo segments? lol.
something about it feels stripped back to be a viable product. like, from a director who loves these goofy old fmv adv games, you'd expect it to emulate them a little more in modern day, but static visual novels like 428 live up to that concept much more, despite being almost nothing alike those old games. and no, i'm not saying "kodaka plz direct 428 tier gaming," that game was lightning in a bottle. i'm just saying it's unfortunate what ideas might have been lost in development on this one, cause 2020 fmvgame sounds much more incredible than it is in this case.
something about it feels stripped back to be a viable product. like, from a director who loves these goofy old fmv adv games, you'd expect it to emulate them a little more in modern day, but static visual novels like 428 live up to that concept much more, despite being almost nothing alike those old games. and no, i'm not saying "kodaka plz direct 428 tier gaming," that game was lightning in a bottle. i'm just saying it's unfortunate what ideas might have been lost in development on this one, cause 2020 fmvgame sounds much more incredible than it is in this case.
Death Come True has a cool concept for an FMV game but I'm not a fan of the execution. It kinda feels like a watered-down choose your own adventure game (with only one major decision within the experience). However, the acting and cinematography were quite nice and I always enjoy work from the goat Kazutaka Kodaka aka the creator of Danganronpa. Overall it's more of an experience than a game you play imo.
This review contains spoilers
A hilariously inept venture into Kodakas film career. Wooden dialogue ripe with plot dump monologues, a lack of interesting plot developments, and a hilariously small cast. All but 3 characters get less than 4 minutes of screentime each.
The worst part is that the creator of Danganronpa made a game without any of the crazy characters or twists people love. This is just an uninteresting, extremely short movie with the only important choice that doesnt immediately lead to an arbitrary dead end being a binary choice of equally rushed and unsatisfying ending.
The most interesting part was the behind the scenes footage, as it was shocking to see so many people working on an idea this misguided. Like, its such an chaotic mishmash of monologues and terrible decision making (shoot the armed bad guy who explicitly wants you dead when he spins around suddenly!) I didnt even expect it to be storyboarded.
Kodaka wrote a movie like a visual novel and it just showed the two mediums are oceans apart.
The worst part is that the creator of Danganronpa made a game without any of the crazy characters or twists people love. This is just an uninteresting, extremely short movie with the only important choice that doesnt immediately lead to an arbitrary dead end being a binary choice of equally rushed and unsatisfying ending.
The most interesting part was the behind the scenes footage, as it was shocking to see so many people working on an idea this misguided. Like, its such an chaotic mishmash of monologues and terrible decision making (shoot the armed bad guy who explicitly wants you dead when he spins around suddenly!) I didnt even expect it to be storyboarded.
Kodaka wrote a movie like a visual novel and it just showed the two mediums are oceans apart.
This review contains spoilers
A two-hour long choose-your-own-adventure movie. There's not too much in terms of routes, it's mostly a linear story where you have a 50/50 chance of dying in an unorthodox manner at every decision. Even still, the story and the concept behind the gameplay kept me hooked the whole way through.
The only real complaint I have is how the PC version always displays your mouse cursor, when it really doesn't need to be there. Aside from when you get to choose an option, your mouse isn't used for anything. It's just an unneeded artifact awkwardly overlayed on top of a movie. Just give us the option to hide it until a choice comes up.
Overall, I really enjoyed Kodaka's FMV CYOA movie-game. I'd say it's worth a shot if you're into his kind of scenarios/writing, or if you like Death Come True's demo version. If you're feeling iffy about the asking price, just think of it like purchasing a movie ticket. Hell, grab some popcorn for the experience.
Also, a spoiler-related complaint: The game has two endings, but your progress will be reset upon obtaining one of them. I know why they did this, to give the decision more weight, and make you think hard about it. It works in the moment, but if/when you decide to go experience the other ending, you'll just be mashing the "fast-forward" key and making all the "correct" decisions until you get back to the ending choice 15-20 minutes later. I honestly think it would've been better if they just let you go back for the other ending, or hell, just lie about resetting your progress.
The only real complaint I have is how the PC version always displays your mouse cursor, when it really doesn't need to be there. Aside from when you get to choose an option, your mouse isn't used for anything. It's just an unneeded artifact awkwardly overlayed on top of a movie. Just give us the option to hide it until a choice comes up.
Overall, I really enjoyed Kodaka's FMV CYOA movie-game. I'd say it's worth a shot if you're into his kind of scenarios/writing, or if you like Death Come True's demo version. If you're feeling iffy about the asking price, just think of it like purchasing a movie ticket. Hell, grab some popcorn for the experience.
Also, a spoiler-related complaint: The game has two endings, but your progress will be reset upon obtaining one of them. I know why they did this, to give the decision more weight, and make you think hard about it. It works in the moment, but if/when you decide to go experience the other ending, you'll just be mashing the "fast-forward" key and making all the "correct" decisions until you get back to the ending choice 15-20 minutes later. I honestly think it would've been better if they just let you go back for the other ending, or hell, just lie about resetting your progress.
It's alright, yeah. As a fun little experiment for Too Kyo, I appreciate it, but it definitely feels like a first draft for them with FMV. It's largely well-shot and acted, particularly by FMV standards, but ultimately it's mostly just an OK, if pretty hollow way to spend an evening. I do hope they revisit the format and get a bit more ambitious with it down the line, though.
cool concept but very lame when put into action...the choices seemingly have little consequence because it just rewinds you back and sometimes it forces you to choose the wrong option before taking you back and then revealing another option which is actually the correct one...the acting was a bit amateurish, not necessarily bad though and it was too short, there really just isnt much to it
Not sure that Kodaka's style of stacking twists upon twists really works when compressed down into, like, an hour and a half, but this is still dumb shlocky fun nonetheless. Neat thing to go through if you like his other work on the dangan games, but don't expect to be blown away.
Takada really killed it with the soundtrack here though. Almost worth playing for that alone, tbh. I know we won't but I really do hope we get to hear some more prog electronic and screeching glitch industrial from him on Raincode, lol.
Takada really killed it with the soundtrack here though. Almost worth playing for that alone, tbh. I know we won't but I really do hope we get to hear some more prog electronic and screeching glitch industrial from him on Raincode, lol.
Start Date: 1/1/2021
Finish Date: 1/9/2021
A genuine story about a man trying to unravel the mystery of his sudden visit to a seemingly otherworldly hotel. While the game is short, I found myself really enjoy it from start to finish, and even teared up in the end. There's very little replayability outside of collecting Death Medals, but honestly, that's okay: it's still an excellent title.
Finish Date: 1/9/2021
A genuine story about a man trying to unravel the mystery of his sudden visit to a seemingly otherworldly hotel. While the game is short, I found myself really enjoy it from start to finish, and even teared up in the end. There's very little replayability outside of collecting Death Medals, but honestly, that's okay: it's still an excellent title.