red tenemos que comer lechuga fumar placebo y vivir
❝ This is my first and last game.
After that. I've decided to keep
on living.
Because even someone worthless has
at least a part of a soul.
That is how people live.
That's what I've finally learned
after living "everyday life"
in this world.
Even without hope. even in
great fear.
even when continuing to drag along
that which no longer has any value.
one can go on living.
Specifically because of our
imperfections. ❞
After that. I've decided to keep
on living.
Because even someone worthless has
at least a part of a soul.
That is how people live.
That's what I've finally learned
after living "everyday life"
in this world.
Even without hope. even in
great fear.
even when continuing to drag along
that which no longer has any value.
one can go on living.
Specifically because of our
imperfections. ❞
Imagine if your friends played the game you like.
Aesthetically wonderful, immersive OST, and a full deep and complex storyline not made for those weak to reading what is beyond of the text.
Did you think i was not going to use the catch phrase? F#$% OFF
KILL THE PAST
Aesthetically wonderful, immersive OST, and a full deep and complex storyline not made for those weak to reading what is beyond of the text.
Did you think i was not going to use the catch phrase? F#$% OFF
KILL THE PAST
peak email checking simulator
Kill the Past, U are kamui
Absolute kino experience, this MIGHT be the greatest vn of all time. But it doesn't deserve five stars because of the annoying ass gameplay
This review contains spoilers
In a game, let alone continuity, lousy with sharp, confrontational artistic direction, it’s one as simple as the back of the box that continues to work its way through me. It’s the illustration of Kusabi, Sakura, and Kosaka, in particular - Sakura’s exaggerated frown extends out of the image towards you while Kusabi and Kosaka converse around her. If you’ve played the game, you’re aware that this configuration can only happen in the events proceeding the finale (a massive torpedo-spoiler on the back of the box, funny!). By extension, this also means that the illustration is, to whatever degree, a reflection on the status quo after case#5:lifecut, i.e. the chapter of the game where everything boils over, a majority of the Transmitter cast straight up dies, and radical actions by the hands of the remaining cast occur.
I love this illustration for a few reasons - for one, Takashi Miyamoto captures a sense of mundanity so well. In game, you’re never really able to bear witness to a Kusabi at peace in ordinary life, and here he’s beautifully human in his pose - well-earned after his arc through the game. Secondly, through that same focus on the mundane lies a commentary on the dynamics these characters are engaged in. I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to imply that the gender dynamics put forth here can be seen as a disappointing reminder that leaving Kusabi (love ‘em as I do) as the sole surviving veteran of the HCU means that the same bitterness which ostracized Hachisuka, possibly enabling something within to give in to her inevitable death-filing and appearance as Ayame, is likely still in the air. But these observations pale, in my opinion, to the context.
As she continues ascending the 24th Ward’s crime department, after bearing witness to the very operation that almost(/successfully?) doomed her and the player character to a life of artificial personhood, and after witnessing the takedown of the two major antagonists of the game, Nezu and (eventually) Uminosuke, she still frowns at us, the player. Why? I thought danwa was a happy ending.
-
TSC is one of few games I can think of that really eludes simple genre description. Sure, it’s a crime procedural, up until it isn’t. It’s a conspiracy thriller... in spots. It’s Lynchian surrealist dystopia? Alright we’re just gonna say words now, I guess? The only thing that comes to mind for descriptors is, like, slipstream fiction, which, given 25W references seminal proto-Cyberpunk novella The Girl Who Was Plugged In, seems apt enough to settle on. I won’t even evoke the P-word. The one that rhymes with “toast auburn.”
But really, this thought exercise is all just a veiled move to get you to wonder about the limitation of genre fiction as it applies to TSC, and poke at its aspirations. For this to be a standard crime procedural, you’d expect the HCU to... function in some capacity? And conspiracy thriller’s a no-go considering the weight that spirituality and all other intangibles have here, in my opinion. The way I’ll continue from this point to put it is thus: the Mikumo 77 incident, the murder of Kamui by the underworld factions, and the ensuing Shelter Kids policy reverberate through the story on many different frequencies, and the effect of it all is so bleak that only genre convention can make the discussion palatable as fiction. But it doesn’t always cover it: the melancholic, ambling work of Tokio through Placebo, the brain-swelling conflict of information in Transmitter, I think both serve as a reminder that there’s no easy out from underneath the sin of government control. It’s no surprise, I guess, that the symptoms get much, much worse when we return to Kanto in The 25th Ward.
-
Kamuidrome thru danwa (and the equivalent reports from Placebo’s end) are so dizzying and hard to come to terms with that I have literally shaved my head since first playing this game. This is actually true! I have death-filed!
That said, I feel like an essential piece of advice I could give someone who’s in for their first time is to enact judgment on the information based on who and when it’s coming from. This is easy enough in some cases - I think most people are primed from birth to hate pedo-fascist Nakategawa enough to not mind his words. But even fan-favorite Kusabi, for instance... this entire game is a slow fade-to-white for him as he unlearns an entire ideology of criminality equating plague, one he’s enforced so much with violence, not just as a cop, but as a particularly fucked up cop. In the beginning, I wouldn’t blame you for sticking with the competent elder authority of the cast, but if the ending moments of Parade don’t convince you to question the prior chapters, then I don’t know what will. The state of this world can be figured out with relative certainty as long as you keep track of where you are in the game’s web.
Though deeply confusing (& not helped by a localization that I can only describe as “challenging” (no shade to Grasshopper James btw, I can only imagine trying to piece this together 😭)), this game masterfully tiers up its information in a way that makes the trek through the underbelly of the 24th Ward feel so uniquely haunting. While certain aspects (the bench-warming faction war at the batting center comes to mind) do feel a bit bizarre and maybe even underdeveloped as words on a (cyber)page, the thematic tapestry of this game is exceptionally rich, even among other lauded-for-thematic-richness games. I’m a lifelong MGS fan and even I have to admit that after coming to conclusions confident enough to type words about, I think we might be seeing a lunch-eating of unseen proportions.
I love this illustration for a few reasons - for one, Takashi Miyamoto captures a sense of mundanity so well. In game, you’re never really able to bear witness to a Kusabi at peace in ordinary life, and here he’s beautifully human in his pose - well-earned after his arc through the game. Secondly, through that same focus on the mundane lies a commentary on the dynamics these characters are engaged in. I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to imply that the gender dynamics put forth here can be seen as a disappointing reminder that leaving Kusabi (love ‘em as I do) as the sole surviving veteran of the HCU means that the same bitterness which ostracized Hachisuka, possibly enabling something within to give in to her inevitable death-filing and appearance as Ayame, is likely still in the air. But these observations pale, in my opinion, to the context.
As she continues ascending the 24th Ward’s crime department, after bearing witness to the very operation that almost(/successfully?) doomed her and the player character to a life of artificial personhood, and after witnessing the takedown of the two major antagonists of the game, Nezu and (eventually) Uminosuke, she still frowns at us, the player. Why? I thought danwa was a happy ending.
-
TSC is one of few games I can think of that really eludes simple genre description. Sure, it’s a crime procedural, up until it isn’t. It’s a conspiracy thriller... in spots. It’s Lynchian surrealist dystopia? Alright we’re just gonna say words now, I guess? The only thing that comes to mind for descriptors is, like, slipstream fiction, which, given 25W references seminal proto-Cyberpunk novella The Girl Who Was Plugged In, seems apt enough to settle on. I won’t even evoke the P-word. The one that rhymes with “toast auburn.”
But really, this thought exercise is all just a veiled move to get you to wonder about the limitation of genre fiction as it applies to TSC, and poke at its aspirations. For this to be a standard crime procedural, you’d expect the HCU to... function in some capacity? And conspiracy thriller’s a no-go considering the weight that spirituality and all other intangibles have here, in my opinion. The way I’ll continue from this point to put it is thus: the Mikumo 77 incident, the murder of Kamui by the underworld factions, and the ensuing Shelter Kids policy reverberate through the story on many different frequencies, and the effect of it all is so bleak that only genre convention can make the discussion palatable as fiction. But it doesn’t always cover it: the melancholic, ambling work of Tokio through Placebo, the brain-swelling conflict of information in Transmitter, I think both serve as a reminder that there’s no easy out from underneath the sin of government control. It’s no surprise, I guess, that the symptoms get much, much worse when we return to Kanto in The 25th Ward.
-
Kamuidrome thru danwa (and the equivalent reports from Placebo’s end) are so dizzying and hard to come to terms with that I have literally shaved my head since first playing this game. This is actually true! I have death-filed!
That said, I feel like an essential piece of advice I could give someone who’s in for their first time is to enact judgment on the information based on who and when it’s coming from. This is easy enough in some cases - I think most people are primed from birth to hate pedo-fascist Nakategawa enough to not mind his words. But even fan-favorite Kusabi, for instance... this entire game is a slow fade-to-white for him as he unlearns an entire ideology of criminality equating plague, one he’s enforced so much with violence, not just as a cop, but as a particularly fucked up cop. In the beginning, I wouldn’t blame you for sticking with the competent elder authority of the cast, but if the ending moments of Parade don’t convince you to question the prior chapters, then I don’t know what will. The state of this world can be figured out with relative certainty as long as you keep track of where you are in the game’s web.
Though deeply confusing (& not helped by a localization that I can only describe as “challenging” (no shade to Grasshopper James btw, I can only imagine trying to piece this together 😭)), this game masterfully tiers up its information in a way that makes the trek through the underbelly of the 24th Ward feel so uniquely haunting. While certain aspects (the bench-warming faction war at the batting center comes to mind) do feel a bit bizarre and maybe even underdeveloped as words on a (cyber)page, the thematic tapestry of this game is exceptionally rich, even among other lauded-for-thematic-richness games. I’m a lifelong MGS fan and even I have to admit that after coming to conclusions confident enough to type words about, I think we might be seeing a lunch-eating of unseen proportions.
KILL THE PAST
Eu odeio visual novels, pra mim tudo que é feito nesse formato pode ser facilmente replicado de maneira igual ou superior em qualquer outro tipo de mídia sem nenhuma perda de identidade notável. Porém, The Silver Case é um dos poucos casos onde a parte >visual< é realmente significante pra identidade do jogo e não somente uma forma preguiçosa de o construir utilizando uma imagem com um balão de texto embaixo como na maioria das outras.
A interface, as caixas de texto, os retratos dos personagens e as imagens ilustrativas, tudo isso é muito bem utilizado no jogo, todos esses aspectos se movimentam o tempo inteiro, trocam de lugar ou são alterados de alguma forma que faz dar vida à parte textual da obra e não torna ela chata, o que é crucial já que esse é o foco do seu gênero.
A história é incrível, da pra notar claramente que foi o Suda que escreveu pela ambiguidade de muitas coisas e pela forma que tudo é contado. É MUITO difícil descrever a história de The Silver Case e as suas qualidades, ao menos pra mim, pois é o tipo de história que não faz sentido algum se contada por terceiros mas sim que deve ser lida e absorvida por conta própria. É uma história confusa a primeira vista, mas quanto mais progresso você faz no jogo mais as peças vão se encaixando e fazendo sentido até que tudo seja revelado, tudo nela é orquestrado de uma maneira muito linda e coerente. A construção de mundo e os temas retratados no jogo são tão atuais que eu não consigo evitar de admirar o Suda por ter feito algo desse tipo em 1999, todo o ambiente do jogo e os problemas que vem com ele parecem muito mais uma representação do nosso mundo de agora do que a sua intenção original que era ser uma distopia.
Dito isso, eu adorei o cast inteiro do jogo, todos eles tem o seu carisma próprio e no final cada um deles se encaixa na trama do seu jeito, gostei principalmente de como nenhum deles é "preto e branco" mas sim tem seus conflitos morais e éticos, todos eles são muito humanizados seja nas suas próprias características como também na forma que eles interagem com os outros personagens e com o ambiente ao seu redor. Eu de verdade amei como a maioria dos casos do jogo parecem ser avulsos e sem relação entre si mas ao chegar no último deles tudo se conecta e começa a fazer sentido, sinto que não só a história e a forma que ela é contada melhora muito após a primeira metade do jogo, como também que eu acabei me acostumando mais ao gênero ao decorrer dela e por isso pude a aproveitar melhor nessa segunda metade.
Se fosse somente pela história The Silver Case seria facilmente 5 estrelas, mas a forma que você interage com o jogo é tão maçante que eu fui obrigado a abaixar ela. Mesmo sendo uma visual novel ele tem sim sequências de gameplay em algumas das suas sessões, mas que se resumem a andar em um ambiente por 10 minutos interagindo em pontos específicos e acabou, essa parte dele é tão chata e que acaba virando uma tarefa ou um tipo de obrigação que você PRECISA fazer pra poder continuar acompanhando a história, o que acaba afetando na experiência e na maneira que você engaja com a narrativa. Como eu falei, ao decorrer do jogo eu me acostumei com as características do seu gênero e ao final dele eu tive pouquíssimas reclamações sobre essa parte textual e de leitura, na verdade cheguei até a valorizar mais elas, mas ao contrário disso, essas sequências "jogáveis" só foram me deixando mais irritados quanto mais eu avançava nos casos e no final é provavelmente a única parte que eu realmente detestei no jogo.
The Silver Case é um exemplo de como se construir uma narrativa intrigante e bem montada, e por mais que eu ainda não tenha criado apreço pelo formato de visual novels esse ainda assim é o tipo de obra impossível de não ser recomendada, pois se ultrapassar os obstáculos que vem com o gênero, você vai ser recompensado com uma história incrível sobre identidade e sobre superar o seu passado para poder continuar seguindo em frente independente das adversidades da vida.
Kill the past.
A interface, as caixas de texto, os retratos dos personagens e as imagens ilustrativas, tudo isso é muito bem utilizado no jogo, todos esses aspectos se movimentam o tempo inteiro, trocam de lugar ou são alterados de alguma forma que faz dar vida à parte textual da obra e não torna ela chata, o que é crucial já que esse é o foco do seu gênero.
A história é incrível, da pra notar claramente que foi o Suda que escreveu pela ambiguidade de muitas coisas e pela forma que tudo é contado. É MUITO difícil descrever a história de The Silver Case e as suas qualidades, ao menos pra mim, pois é o tipo de história que não faz sentido algum se contada por terceiros mas sim que deve ser lida e absorvida por conta própria. É uma história confusa a primeira vista, mas quanto mais progresso você faz no jogo mais as peças vão se encaixando e fazendo sentido até que tudo seja revelado, tudo nela é orquestrado de uma maneira muito linda e coerente. A construção de mundo e os temas retratados no jogo são tão atuais que eu não consigo evitar de admirar o Suda por ter feito algo desse tipo em 1999, todo o ambiente do jogo e os problemas que vem com ele parecem muito mais uma representação do nosso mundo de agora do que a sua intenção original que era ser uma distopia.
Dito isso, eu adorei o cast inteiro do jogo, todos eles tem o seu carisma próprio e no final cada um deles se encaixa na trama do seu jeito, gostei principalmente de como nenhum deles é "preto e branco" mas sim tem seus conflitos morais e éticos, todos eles são muito humanizados seja nas suas próprias características como também na forma que eles interagem com os outros personagens e com o ambiente ao seu redor. Eu de verdade amei como a maioria dos casos do jogo parecem ser avulsos e sem relação entre si mas ao chegar no último deles tudo se conecta e começa a fazer sentido, sinto que não só a história e a forma que ela é contada melhora muito após a primeira metade do jogo, como também que eu acabei me acostumando mais ao gênero ao decorrer dela e por isso pude a aproveitar melhor nessa segunda metade.
Se fosse somente pela história The Silver Case seria facilmente 5 estrelas, mas a forma que você interage com o jogo é tão maçante que eu fui obrigado a abaixar ela. Mesmo sendo uma visual novel ele tem sim sequências de gameplay em algumas das suas sessões, mas que se resumem a andar em um ambiente por 10 minutos interagindo em pontos específicos e acabou, essa parte dele é tão chata e que acaba virando uma tarefa ou um tipo de obrigação que você PRECISA fazer pra poder continuar acompanhando a história, o que acaba afetando na experiência e na maneira que você engaja com a narrativa. Como eu falei, ao decorrer do jogo eu me acostumei com as características do seu gênero e ao final dele eu tive pouquíssimas reclamações sobre essa parte textual e de leitura, na verdade cheguei até a valorizar mais elas, mas ao contrário disso, essas sequências "jogáveis" só foram me deixando mais irritados quanto mais eu avançava nos casos e no final é provavelmente a única parte que eu realmente detestei no jogo.
The Silver Case é um exemplo de como se construir uma narrativa intrigante e bem montada, e por mais que eu ainda não tenha criado apreço pelo formato de visual novels esse ainda assim é o tipo de obra impossível de não ser recomendada, pois se ultrapassar os obstáculos que vem com o gênero, você vai ser recompensado com uma história incrível sobre identidade e sobre superar o seu passado para poder continuar seguindo em frente independente das adversidades da vida.
Kill the past.
This review contains spoilers
Incredible game, was this really a PS1 game originally? Have no idea how they managed this graphical finesse, as well as the killer soundtrack. Please check out the character artist of the game: Takashi Miyamoto. Also Masafumi Takada, the composer of Danganronpa fame.
You essentially play as a character, who, in the modern remakes, you are able to name. Your character is basically silent throughout the whole game, traumatized from his experience as Special Ops agent, and it's speculated in the game that he can't even speak as a result. So as a result, you are kind of everyone's doormat at the start, fulfilling peoples requests. Your coworkers don't wanna do a case? Well hey, let's just drop it on the new guy.
The other storyline has you playing as the journalist Tokio Morishima.
Slight spoiler:
The game seems to me to be centered around the theme of "manufacturing". How our upbringing is "manufactured" (in a literal sense as you will see), and how we cover this up by instead seeing the conditioned responses we have from our childhood as our own, free choices. There is also the obvious theme of "killing the past" from a lot of Suda's other games. Knowing everything we know, can we still move on? The shadows are still there, but let them explode into light, and let's show that we have a soul and are not what happens to us. Let's show this against all odds, against the world which puts us through soul-crushing institutionalism. It's interesting, there are some live-action segments in this game, one where you see young people glamorizing a serial killer, showing how our desire for freedom can become mutated into idolizing violent people.
I did the unusual route of playing Flower, Sun and Rain first, I found that playing this after wasn't such a bad thing after all. Granted, had I played this first, Flower, Sun, and Rain would've had much more "a-ha!" moments, but I also would've seen that game in a much heavier light. I enjoyed the seeming nonsense of that game not knowing that it actually did... make some sense. Let's just say that the "Silver" in this games title will make sense as you play the game.
Granted, The Silver Case is a game you probably are not going to understand in just one or two playthroughs. It is a game where you have to make sure you are following exactly everything that is occurring, and connecting some of the dots yourself. Hell, you might want to keep a notebook for this one. Even after you think you connected the dots though, this game will throw an insane twist at you, so you never figure it all out and the game is pretty mysterious.
One of the most intense mysteries in the video game medium, I would say. Before your Zero Escapes and Danganronpas, here we have an intense mystery thriller marred with sharp wit, and sharp commentary on how our current affairs (within the criminal justice system, the education system) can lead to disasters that we don't even see.
Be prepared for F-bombs from Kusabi every 2 seconds. Also there is a fun pop quiz around 1/3 of the game where you literally answer 100 questions of popular culture trivia. Not making this up.
I'm officially Suda-pilled.
You essentially play as a character, who, in the modern remakes, you are able to name. Your character is basically silent throughout the whole game, traumatized from his experience as Special Ops agent, and it's speculated in the game that he can't even speak as a result. So as a result, you are kind of everyone's doormat at the start, fulfilling peoples requests. Your coworkers don't wanna do a case? Well hey, let's just drop it on the new guy.
The other storyline has you playing as the journalist Tokio Morishima.
Slight spoiler:
The game seems to me to be centered around the theme of "manufacturing". How our upbringing is "manufactured" (in a literal sense as you will see), and how we cover this up by instead seeing the conditioned responses we have from our childhood as our own, free choices. There is also the obvious theme of "killing the past" from a lot of Suda's other games. Knowing everything we know, can we still move on? The shadows are still there, but let them explode into light, and let's show that we have a soul and are not what happens to us. Let's show this against all odds, against the world which puts us through soul-crushing institutionalism. It's interesting, there are some live-action segments in this game, one where you see young people glamorizing a serial killer, showing how our desire for freedom can become mutated into idolizing violent people.
I did the unusual route of playing Flower, Sun and Rain first, I found that playing this after wasn't such a bad thing after all. Granted, had I played this first, Flower, Sun, and Rain would've had much more "a-ha!" moments, but I also would've seen that game in a much heavier light. I enjoyed the seeming nonsense of that game not knowing that it actually did... make some sense. Let's just say that the "Silver" in this games title will make sense as you play the game.
Granted, The Silver Case is a game you probably are not going to understand in just one or two playthroughs. It is a game where you have to make sure you are following exactly everything that is occurring, and connecting some of the dots yourself. Hell, you might want to keep a notebook for this one. Even after you think you connected the dots though, this game will throw an insane twist at you, so you never figure it all out and the game is pretty mysterious.
One of the most intense mysteries in the video game medium, I would say. Before your Zero Escapes and Danganronpas, here we have an intense mystery thriller marred with sharp wit, and sharp commentary on how our current affairs (within the criminal justice system, the education system) can lead to disasters that we don't even see.
Be prepared for F-bombs from Kusabi every 2 seconds. Also there is a fun pop quiz around 1/3 of the game where you literally answer 100 questions of popular culture trivia. Not making this up.
I'm officially Suda-pilled.
dont worry, you're not cool for calling this game one of your favorites, nor are you some elitist gamer who's far above the mainstream audience's in terms of appreciation for the medium. this game is shit and full of cheesy ass dogshit writing that feels like it was written by an edgy 12 year old. and when it's not overly edgy you're experiencing the driest exposition dumps that don't convey the story in any sort of meaningful or creative way, or dealing with the arbitrary and mundane "gameplay" this game throws at you.
Kill the past, Or embrace it. Choice yours and yours alone.
This game is about people that couldn't move on their pasts and their solutions to "dealing with it". So, we, the players, see these events from own eyes and make our own judgment. For the question, the ideology of the "Past". You, the player that seen everything. What do you do with your past? Embrace it? Or kill it? Or move on from it?
Choice is yours and yours for truly. Game is here for one thing and that is giving you multiple perspectives for this ideology and every case is here to support that fact.
I wish gameplay itself was cool as it's concept tho. Since trying out the ps1 armored core games, I didn't thought I would felt this feeling of "just looking of the cover brings me pure FEAR of playing" again.
Because movement sucks ASSSS. Puzzles sucks ASSSS. Mail reading sucks ASSSSS. Sorry, I went a bit rude at there, but really... I have a lot of problems for this game's mechanics and maybe I have even more things to count.
Yes I know the existence of holding skip makes everything go faster but even with that, exploration so damn annoying with tank controls with the inclusion of hard to see interaction symbols also with the combination of finicky interaction mechanics, playing this game feels like a chore to me.
You know, just for this reason I thought about leaving this game couple of times. Especially near the end where every mission just wants you to go around and rub your face to every goddamn wall to find and read trillion amounts of documents or finding millions of interactables to progress.
Excellent character writing stopped me from doing so... Sumio and Kusabi's daily friendly fights... Morishima's anger about his poor life conditions... Hachisuka and Morikawa's unending discussions and How red goes "..." And then goes "....." Really fun dialogues to experience dare I say. Also murder filled detective cases and journalist cases are cream on the cake too with how these two different segments support each other with the "question" part and the "answer" part of it.
But in my opinion, reading a pure visual novel format of it sounds to me more fun experience than playing itself ever again unfortunately.
This game is about people that couldn't move on their pasts and their solutions to "dealing with it". So, we, the players, see these events from own eyes and make our own judgment. For the question, the ideology of the "Past". You, the player that seen everything. What do you do with your past? Embrace it? Or kill it? Or move on from it?
Choice is yours and yours for truly. Game is here for one thing and that is giving you multiple perspectives for this ideology and every case is here to support that fact.
I wish gameplay itself was cool as it's concept tho. Since trying out the ps1 armored core games, I didn't thought I would felt this feeling of "just looking of the cover brings me pure FEAR of playing" again.
Because movement sucks ASSSS. Puzzles sucks ASSSS. Mail reading sucks ASSSSS. Sorry, I went a bit rude at there, but really... I have a lot of problems for this game's mechanics and maybe I have even more things to count.
Yes I know the existence of holding skip makes everything go faster but even with that, exploration so damn annoying with tank controls with the inclusion of hard to see interaction symbols also with the combination of finicky interaction mechanics, playing this game feels like a chore to me.
You know, just for this reason I thought about leaving this game couple of times. Especially near the end where every mission just wants you to go around and rub your face to every goddamn wall to find and read trillion amounts of documents or finding millions of interactables to progress.
Excellent character writing stopped me from doing so... Sumio and Kusabi's daily friendly fights... Morishima's anger about his poor life conditions... Hachisuka and Morikawa's unending discussions and How red goes "..." And then goes "....." Really fun dialogues to experience dare I say. Also murder filled detective cases and journalist cases are cream on the cake too with how these two different segments support each other with the "question" part and the "answer" part of it.
But in my opinion, reading a pure visual novel format of it sounds to me more fun experience than playing itself ever again unfortunately.
quitando el hecho de que el "interpretador" se paso por los huevos el tono y la manera de actuar de los personajes e hizo fanfics autoincertandose en los personajes a la hora de traducir (confirmado por el mismo...), en si the Silver Case es una obra que me genera diferentes sentimientos, pero el principal es nostalgia... su ost es hermoso y sumado a la ambientación hace que me traigan recuerdos y sentimientos de una época pasada, de una época hace 15 años atrás la cual me atormento y fue el inicio de la peor etapa que he tenido en mi vida, pero que, por otra parte, fue responsable de que terminara siendo la persona que soy ahora mismo...
tampoco es que me persiga al día de hoy, pude superar y dejar de prestarle atencion hace ya casi 1 década las cosas que sucedieron en ese tiempo, y tampoco me mal interpretes, no hice la estupuidez de "Perdonar" mis sentimientos por las cosas que sucedieron y las personas responsables de que todo eso sucederían siguen iguales, no perdone ni justifique a esos pedazos de mierda, pero pude "Matar el pasado" y empezar una nueva vida dejando ese pasado, mi pasado atrás... y si, nunca antes me había sentido tan identificado con esta frase a pesar de que he jugado a otras obras de Suda51, pero no fue hasta ahora que he sabido entender el mensaje de "Kill the past" y el cual estoy seguro de que aparte de mí, muchas otras personas al leer esta obra lograron sentirse identificado, no en sí con la trama sino con el mensaje que este ofrece.
tampoco es que me persiga al día de hoy, pude superar y dejar de prestarle atencion hace ya casi 1 década las cosas que sucedieron en ese tiempo, y tampoco me mal interpretes, no hice la estupuidez de "Perdonar" mis sentimientos por las cosas que sucedieron y las personas responsables de que todo eso sucederían siguen iguales, no perdone ni justifique a esos pedazos de mierda, pero pude "Matar el pasado" y empezar una nueva vida dejando ese pasado, mi pasado atrás... y si, nunca antes me había sentido tan identificado con esta frase a pesar de que he jugado a otras obras de Suda51, pero no fue hasta ahora que he sabido entender el mensaje de "Kill the past" y el cual estoy seguro de que aparte de mí, muchas otras personas al leer esta obra lograron sentirse identificado, no en sí con la trama sino con el mensaje que este ofrece.
i think it starts a bit slow in the first few chapters, but REALLY does pick up near the middle, and it rules. lend me 50,000 yen. shoutouts tokio morishima
suda51... save me...... SAVE ME.............
this is probably the most confused i've been about a game so far, about so many of it's aspects, what's its story tried to tell me? how I should even view it's story, it's narrative, how everything about it works?
On one hand i'm given a fantastic visual presentation and unique style that no other game ever had, really good music that just fits brilliantly in every scene. Writing that's so specific yet fascinating with how much it mirrors a real life form of speech a regular person might have with the amount of swears and slurs. And to top off this segment there's genuine peaks of stories like in the entirety of the Parade chapter.
On other i got such an uninteresting first half where I questioned if it's worth going through more of it, often wanting to drop the game for a while. placebo segments that are an absolute drag in their pacing and mindless repetition and every time I had to do them i felt discouraged to boot up the game. There's a lot of characters but it's so hard to keep track of them and remember every single one since you won't know if they will become a major part of the chapter's plot or if they'll be gone forever in the very next scene. It has plathera of moments where I could not understand a single bit of what is even happening as so much of it is presented to the player yet might mean absolutely nothing as you cannot tell if what you're seeing is meant to be a metaphor, forshadowing or just an artistic flair
I genuinely have no idea how I should view this game, this work, this art piece. It's so fascinating and confusing to the point where i'm trying to comprehend so much of it that isn't supposed to even make sense.
And just for that.
I have nothing else but tremendous respect.
On one hand i'm given a fantastic visual presentation and unique style that no other game ever had, really good music that just fits brilliantly in every scene. Writing that's so specific yet fascinating with how much it mirrors a real life form of speech a regular person might have with the amount of swears and slurs. And to top off this segment there's genuine peaks of stories like in the entirety of the Parade chapter.
On other i got such an uninteresting first half where I questioned if it's worth going through more of it, often wanting to drop the game for a while. placebo segments that are an absolute drag in their pacing and mindless repetition and every time I had to do them i felt discouraged to boot up the game. There's a lot of characters but it's so hard to keep track of them and remember every single one since you won't know if they will become a major part of the chapter's plot or if they'll be gone forever in the very next scene. It has plathera of moments where I could not understand a single bit of what is even happening as so much of it is presented to the player yet might mean absolutely nothing as you cannot tell if what you're seeing is meant to be a metaphor, forshadowing or just an artistic flair
I genuinely have no idea how I should view this game, this work, this art piece. It's so fascinating and confusing to the point where i'm trying to comprehend so much of it that isn't supposed to even make sense.
And just for that.
I have nothing else but tremendous respect.
This man Gucci'd down to the socks but need 50,000 yen
started but my sleep schedule is in the worst place to be playing a visual novel right now so like come back to me on this
The first three chapters or so are pretty great. Sumio, Tokio, Erika, Kusabi, and Koichi were well engaging characters and culminates in one of the best twists in a game. Unfortunately the rest is pretty boring to me.
This review contains spoilers
You need to get rid of any superfluous emotions. Totally nuke them.
Just look at what’s right in front of your eyes.
Keep your eyes on the prize.
Stare down the enemy in front of you.
That’s how you investigate.
Don’t worry.
Any part of your brain starts worrying? Grill that shit up and eat it!
Am I wrong?
Maybe you are wrong Tetsu, maybe you’re not. But it’s not my call to decide that for you.
Firstly I want to thank @Oshha for recommending this to me. I hadn’t heard of Kill The Past or knew much about Suda51 beyond No More Heroes. Safe to say that I’m now totally all in on the rest of the series. It took me a few days of contemplation after finishing, but The Silver Case is a game that I can’t help but admire to a high level despite any low points it may have had.
In my first session I played lunatics and decoyman, which made a really good first impression. I thought if nothing else, style is going to carry. I love the use of windows constantly placed in different parts of the screen, for both text and images, always keeping things interesting to look at and sometimes catching me off guard. Accompanied by an awesome art style that shifts constantly throughout the game as the mood / perspective changes, so cool… (Although sometimes I was thrown off, because this change was so drastic that it would take me a while to realise that the person on the screen talking was actually someone I had already met!)
This comes hand in hand with music and sound design, it’s really damn good. I’m glad to see more of Takada’s work in context outside of Danganronpa. Obviously the catchy tunes are great, but what I admire more are how many variations of different tracks there are, to give off slightly different feelings, there’s nothing more uncomfortable than hearing a motif that you recognise, but for it to now be spun in a really eerie or dark way. Also not afraid to use silence when necessary! REALLY appreciate that, it made such an impact many times.
Yeah sometimes the gameplay was a bit ass/boring, but I never found it that awful to slog through. I was more bothered honestly by the false promise that this would partly be a puzzle game! As a puzzle fan, lunatics and decoyman had me really engaged with an additive caesar cipher and a game of Bulls and Cows. Not your typical simple puzzle thrown into a game just to make sure you’re paying attention, these require thought! After this nothing was to be seen again :( I like to think what could have been, but with how the pacing of the game changes so much maybe these would have been out of place later on, maybe this was intentional and actually highlight the subverting of expectations for what this game is truly about. Holy shit that’s totally it… you win again Suda.
Alright so the presentation is perfect, and the gameplay is whatever. What about the meat? Does this funky text based detective walking simulator actually have any substance over style? Checks my rating -of course it does. There’s really a lot to unpack and I don’t think I could ever do it close to the justice it deserves. I’ll just describe how certain things made me feel. (waffling incoming)
Tokio is very cool and it was interesting to hear the constantly ongoing thoughts of a paranoid as fuck loser (am i a bad person?). JK he’s actually a hero, we’re 100% with him knowledge wise throughout the whole game up until Enzawa gets killed and then they cut it off like what a cliffhanger?? Then he shows up in lifecut like “i've figured EVERYTHING out, check my email and you'll understand”, and then we DON'T see that email and when we return to Tokio in Hikari we are just NOT told anything that he went through?? FUCK YOU SUDA (<3), now i gotta sit here and piece things together myself by listening to the ghostly apparitions that are now communicating through him !!! HUH?
Parade was an insane turning point, that moment when the mansion blew up, the art of them staring at it? Burning it into their eyes? Mfer that image is burnt into MY eyes, if I ever forget what’s going on in this game, I'll always remember that for sure. It wasn’t until the end of Tsuki that I really appreciated how well executed Parade was, when you started to see the full picture, learn the facts in a different order, it hits different. Which kind of applies for the whole game, this definitely warrants a replay in the future.
I truly love it when you can tell a character has been well developed and thought about outside of what is solely shown to you in the game, and that is here in spades. You can feel that these characters go through some life changing shit off screen, it comes through in the writing which is really damn good OBVIOUSLY. Ugh I can only praise something so much before it starts to become cumbersome. My point being is it’s clear that certain events were very well planned out in detail, only to not be shown to you, so you are left to make a “guesses” at what happened. It’s just executed extremely well and creates this sense of stringing you along and leaving you to think things for yourself.
Kusabi is probably the best character, let's be real, he’s everything you could ever want in an asshole boomer detective. Loves his daughter? ✓ Calls you big dick? ✓ Hates crime from the bottom of his soul, yet still let’s supports his beloved colleague in killing his past? ✓ The way he told me “don’t trust the ‘truth’, search for the ‘facts’”, and then proceeded to tell me 3 different versions of the silver case that completely contradict each other reallyfucked me off hit me in the heart.
Jokes / mindfuckery aside, it was super interesting, again with Nakategawa saying the whole CCO/FSO/… alliance bullshit oh that’s not actually a real thing, it’s actually all one big body. By this point I just had absolutely no idea what to trust anymore, but I think it didn’t matter. The main point stood the same, everyone was a pawn for someone else, and unless you cut it from the source (kill nezu?), the virus of crime (Kamui) will continue to circulate in the minds of individuals, or something?? There’s so much left to interpretation here and that’s what makes it so wonderful.
In that same vein, there are a lot of other messages being said here, the most prominent obviously regarding “killing your past” or embracing it. But these were presented in many different situations and contexts so as to undermine themselves, coming to the conclusion that these things aren’t so black and white, and the right thing to do can change depending on the person. I guess what I’m saying is, it opens up room for discussion with a lot of its themes, rather than trying to deliver a single message to you.
That’s about all the energy I have. I assume only people who actually played the game will read this whole thing so thanks and I hope you enjoyed me whack my brain with a potato masher thinking about The Silver Case.
Btw this goes hard, no?
Just look at what’s right in front of your eyes.
Keep your eyes on the prize.
Stare down the enemy in front of you.
That’s how you investigate.
Don’t worry.
Any part of your brain starts worrying? Grill that shit up and eat it!
Am I wrong?
Maybe you are wrong Tetsu, maybe you’re not. But it’s not my call to decide that for you.
Firstly I want to thank @Oshha for recommending this to me. I hadn’t heard of Kill The Past or knew much about Suda51 beyond No More Heroes. Safe to say that I’m now totally all in on the rest of the series. It took me a few days of contemplation after finishing, but The Silver Case is a game that I can’t help but admire to a high level despite any low points it may have had.
In my first session I played lunatics and decoyman, which made a really good first impression. I thought if nothing else, style is going to carry. I love the use of windows constantly placed in different parts of the screen, for both text and images, always keeping things interesting to look at and sometimes catching me off guard. Accompanied by an awesome art style that shifts constantly throughout the game as the mood / perspective changes, so cool… (Although sometimes I was thrown off, because this change was so drastic that it would take me a while to realise that the person on the screen talking was actually someone I had already met!)
This comes hand in hand with music and sound design, it’s really damn good. I’m glad to see more of Takada’s work in context outside of Danganronpa. Obviously the catchy tunes are great, but what I admire more are how many variations of different tracks there are, to give off slightly different feelings, there’s nothing more uncomfortable than hearing a motif that you recognise, but for it to now be spun in a really eerie or dark way. Also not afraid to use silence when necessary! REALLY appreciate that, it made such an impact many times.
Yeah sometimes the gameplay was a bit ass/boring, but I never found it that awful to slog through. I was more bothered honestly by the false promise that this would partly be a puzzle game! As a puzzle fan, lunatics and decoyman had me really engaged with an additive caesar cipher and a game of Bulls and Cows. Not your typical simple puzzle thrown into a game just to make sure you’re paying attention, these require thought! After this nothing was to be seen again :( I like to think what could have been, but with how the pacing of the game changes so much maybe these would have been out of place later on, maybe this was intentional and actually highlight the subverting of expectations for what this game is truly about. Holy shit that’s totally it… you win again Suda.
Alright so the presentation is perfect, and the gameplay is whatever. What about the meat? Does this funky text based detective walking simulator actually have any substance over style? Checks my rating -of course it does. There’s really a lot to unpack and I don’t think I could ever do it close to the justice it deserves. I’ll just describe how certain things made me feel. (waffling incoming)
Tokio is very cool and it was interesting to hear the constantly ongoing thoughts of a paranoid as fuck loser (am i a bad person?). JK he’s actually a hero, we’re 100% with him knowledge wise throughout the whole game up until Enzawa gets killed and then they cut it off like what a cliffhanger?? Then he shows up in lifecut like “i've figured EVERYTHING out, check my email and you'll understand”, and then we DON'T see that email and when we return to Tokio in Hikari we are just NOT told anything that he went through?? FUCK YOU SUDA (<3), now i gotta sit here and piece things together myself by listening to the ghostly apparitions that are now communicating through him !!! HUH?
Parade was an insane turning point, that moment when the mansion blew up, the art of them staring at it? Burning it into their eyes? Mfer that image is burnt into MY eyes, if I ever forget what’s going on in this game, I'll always remember that for sure. It wasn’t until the end of Tsuki that I really appreciated how well executed Parade was, when you started to see the full picture, learn the facts in a different order, it hits different. Which kind of applies for the whole game, this definitely warrants a replay in the future.
I truly love it when you can tell a character has been well developed and thought about outside of what is solely shown to you in the game, and that is here in spades. You can feel that these characters go through some life changing shit off screen, it comes through in the writing which is really damn good OBVIOUSLY. Ugh I can only praise something so much before it starts to become cumbersome. My point being is it’s clear that certain events were very well planned out in detail, only to not be shown to you, so you are left to make a “guesses” at what happened. It’s just executed extremely well and creates this sense of stringing you along and leaving you to think things for yourself.
Kusabi is probably the best character, let's be real, he’s everything you could ever want in an asshole boomer detective. Loves his daughter? ✓ Calls you big dick? ✓ Hates crime from the bottom of his soul, yet still let’s supports his beloved colleague in killing his past? ✓ The way he told me “don’t trust the ‘truth’, search for the ‘facts’”, and then proceeded to tell me 3 different versions of the silver case that completely contradict each other really
Jokes / mindfuckery aside, it was super interesting, again with Nakategawa saying the whole CCO/FSO/… alliance bullshit oh that’s not actually a real thing, it’s actually all one big body. By this point I just had absolutely no idea what to trust anymore, but I think it didn’t matter. The main point stood the same, everyone was a pawn for someone else, and unless you cut it from the source (kill nezu?), the virus of crime (Kamui) will continue to circulate in the minds of individuals, or something?? There’s so much left to interpretation here and that’s what makes it so wonderful.
In that same vein, there are a lot of other messages being said here, the most prominent obviously regarding “killing your past” or embracing it. But these were presented in many different situations and contexts so as to undermine themselves, coming to the conclusion that these things aren’t so black and white, and the right thing to do can change depending on the person. I guess what I’m saying is, it opens up room for discussion with a lot of its themes, rather than trying to deliver a single message to you.
That’s about all the energy I have. I assume only people who actually played the game will read this whole thing so thanks and I hope you enjoyed me whack my brain with a potato masher thinking about The Silver Case.
Btw this goes hard, no?
Ah, the internet, huh.
Fuck the internet.
Fuck the internet.
the silver case is a game that really had me in the first half. it's almost. weirdly Boring in a way for like, the first two chapters.
...then 'parade' hits. and it hits as hard as it possibly can. after that, anything is possible, and anything DOES happen. one of the wildest games ive played in awhile, it rocks, it rules, it whips. play it.
...then 'parade' hits. and it hits as hard as it possibly can. after that, anything is possible, and anything DOES happen. one of the wildest games ive played in awhile, it rocks, it rules, it whips. play it.
Fascinating, the style of this game is so good.
The story, I might give it 5 stars, BUT I seriously despise The gameplay imo.
I hate the gameplay that the thought of replaying the game gives me war flashbacks.
The story, I might give it 5 stars, BUT I seriously despise The gameplay imo.
I hate the gameplay that the thought of replaying the game gives me war flashbacks.
Incredibly interesting story. They definitely throw a lot at you right at the end, but overall, I enjoyed it. Kusabi is the GOAT, love that old man. Really liked the artwork, and the soundtrack BANGS HARD. Would recommend.
The Silver Case is an experience that makes me understand how Grasshopper Games have managed to cultivate such a cult following. This game is a mix of gameplay ideas and narrative moments that remain unique in the contemporary interactive media market.
Kamui Uehara is one of fiction's most interesting, enigmatic characters representing the fact that while one can kill of the person, they can never kill off the idea that he represents.
The Silver Case is one of those games that does not leave your head even days after completing it, It festers and requires you to think about its commentary and that I think is one of the most beautiful things a game can make you do.
Kill The Past.
Kamui Uehara is one of fiction's most interesting, enigmatic characters representing the fact that while one can kill of the person, they can never kill off the idea that he represents.
The Silver Case is one of those games that does not leave your head even days after completing it, It festers and requires you to think about its commentary and that I think is one of the most beautiful things a game can make you do.
Kill The Past.
im not really one for visual novels, i find myself getting lost in words a lot of the time and i just dont find them grabbing my attention a lot of the time. with that said, i absolutely loved the silver case, and everything it had to offer. all of its dialog is unwaveringly raw, for lack of a better term. its style and atmosphere is also unmatched, i cant get enough of the look of pretty much every menu in this game, as well as the 3D environments you explore. with that said, it is somewhat lacking in the gameplay department, but I don't think thats what most people come to visual novels for. one of the only really bad parts i found myself getting frustrated with were the 10 triangle towers near the end of transmitter, which was just a lot of fruitless exploring with very little interesting dialog to keep me engaged, but that was just one segment, and i didn't really have any other thing like that in the rest of the game.
plus the detective yaoi energy between kusabi and sumio was absolutely palpable throughout the entire stakeout segment so i mean. its basically a perfect game
plus the detective yaoi energy between kusabi and sumio was absolutely palpable throughout the entire stakeout segment so i mean. its basically a perfect game
i made an account on here just because i wanted the fact that i think this game is an absolutely incredible, one-of-a-kind experience to be out there. there is so much i could say about it, but then this review would probably turn into more of a disorganized ramble than it already is. please just know that it delights me so much this remaster exists, and the fact that it was locked to japan only on the ps2 for over a decade is unfair to the rest of the world. this astonishing debut title of grasshopper manufacture brims with so much style that i feel calling the entirety of it a giant art piece is completely deserved. it has some of the most humanely written characters i've ever seen in a video game, with kusabi being the shining star of the show and easily shooting to the top as one of, if not my absolute, favorite video game characters ever. and while its story is definitely A Lot to take in and try to understand, it presents its major beats with grandeur, and the more complex details are very fun to ruminate on
despite all this, i will say that it's not the kind of game for everyone, though that's kind of a given for visual novels anyway, and especially one as unconventional as this. but that doesn't at all dissuade me from considering it a work of art, and if you can get over the controls and how convoluted the story can get, i highly recommend it; an absolute must play for anyone that enjoys narrative-heavy games
also, the fact that there are two more games directly related to this one that i get to experience is crazy to me. i'm going at my suda journey in a specific order but good god i cannot wait to get to fsr and 25th ward
despite all this, i will say that it's not the kind of game for everyone, though that's kind of a given for visual novels anyway, and especially one as unconventional as this. but that doesn't at all dissuade me from considering it a work of art, and if you can get over the controls and how convoluted the story can get, i highly recommend it; an absolute must play for anyone that enjoys narrative-heavy games
also, the fact that there are two more games directly related to this one that i get to experience is crazy to me. i'm going at my suda journey in a specific order but good god i cannot wait to get to fsr and 25th ward
FUCK THE INTERNET
não tão surrealista quanto Killer7, mas tão experimental quanto, se não mais. Estaria mentindo se dissesse que estive super entretido 100% do tempo de gameplay, em alguns momentos me peguei me perguntando "tá chato ou é conceito?", a gameplay é praticamente nula, algumas escolhas de design são ruins, mas mesmo assim minha curiosidade em relação a tudo que estava vendo na tela nunca deixou de existir. Esteticamente lindo, ótima trilha sonora, excelentes diálogos e uma história que vou me lembrar e pensar sobre por muito tempo. Meu segundo jogo do Suda51, mais uma mitada