Oh this was a delight.
In the 1980s, various citizens of the Honjo district is awakened to the spiritual realm. Their minds are infested with the final, murderous thoughts of nine separate spirits. When the civilians reawaken from the shock, they have been gifted curse stones with magical abilities. By using these curse stones, they can gather soul fragments from their victims. After gaining enough soul power, they can use the Rite of Resurrection to revive one person from the dead. With their own goals and motivations, the curse bearers begin a cat-and-mouse game to gain power over their enemies and complete the ritual.
The first hour of the game already slams you with what a creative enterprise this is going to be. Little visual tricks or savvy computer trickery. By starting the game with a fun “the game knows your username” goof, it establishes quickly that you need to think a couple levels deeper than just reading information. As the game kicks off and the stand battle royale begins, it encourages you to weaponize any trick at your disposal to gain victory.
That said, its hard not to feel a little disappointed when, after the first route ends, the mind game battles and the gameplay tricks kind of vanish. They’re still present to a certain degree, but the game becomes more focused on mystery solving as the heroes join together and pool their resources. These mechanics come back into play every now and then, but it’s not as constant as the initial hour of the game suggests.
It helps then that the game’s protagonists are so charming and endearing.
Shogo, plain audience insert, isn’t all that interesting, but acts as a key opener. He’s your generic ordinary vn man, which is why its so effective how quickly he resorts to murder. The way the curse stones shift priorities and prey on someone’s desires is subtle and devious, but it also emphasizes how easy it is for any of these people to become serial killers under these circumstances. He doesn’t have a lot going on, but it fills an important introduction to the more interesting characters.
Harue Shigima arrives quickly afterwards to cement herself as one of the more dangerous protagonists. A grieving mother, whose husband refused to pay ransom for their kidnapped son, out for revenge against the kidnapper and the most determined to pursue the Rite of Resurrection. She makes an instant impression with her baggy eyes, world-weary air. Its perfect that she’s paired with Richter, the eccentric private detective she’s hired for her investigations. He’s cartoonish and silly, but he’s also sincerely concerned about Harue’s stability. He brings her down to earth, humanizes her, and reigns her in from killing people willy-nilly.
In some ways, this can be a hindrance. The story’s logic means that no one can activate a curse during the day, which prevents the villains of the piece from launching a quick assault against the protagonists. But it also means Harue doesn’t get much of a chance to show off her willingness to murder. If she had more chances to launch some bad endings, she would fade into the background much less than she does. Even so, whenever the narrative returns to her goals, she instantly reminds you just how ruthless and stunning she can be in action.
Tetsuo Tsutsumi is the cop.
I always have mixed feelings about police officers in these kinds of stories. I understand it’s just part of mystery dramas that there’s gonna be a Heroic Police. You gotta leave the frustration at the door. Even so, when Tetsuo becomes the character who absolutely never uses his curse stone under any circumstances, to the point he can take on numerous curse stones without ever being influenced to kill… it’s a little annoying. His arc hits a lot of the expected beats. Heroic Gritty Cop Dad Too Busy For Family kind of thing.
What’s really devastating for that feeling is just how charming he is as a character. As the serious paragon, he’s frequently gets paired with the more ridiculous situations, constantly throwing him off his groove. Chasing down serial killers (potential or otherwise), put him in the same room as various people with flawed logic. He keeps expecting reason and gets increasingly baffled and unhinged as he reckons with the absurdity in his world. He’s fun to watch unravel. And, without getting into detail, the “good” ending makes the bold choice of leaving his life unfulfilled. He gets every answer he could ever want, he mends all his bridges, and everything’s wrapped up tidy in his main route. But, to get the best ending with the least deaths, he can’t learn those lessons. He drifts through life unhappy. If he’s going to be a Good Cop, he doesn’t get to be happy. That’s the sacrifice.
Yakko Sakazaki is amazing. Love this girl, 10/10. Following the alleged suicide of her best friend, Yakko embarks to uncover the truth. Unfailingly honest, quick-tempered, and always eager to get into a fight, Yakko’s an excellent driving force for the narrative. Much like Harue, as the heroes converge, there’s a risk of her falling into the background at times. But her bold personality and her determination to see things through add such a good layer for her to keep shoving her way back in, refusing to be ignored or let anyone else be ignored. One of the best optional little scenes is between Harue and Yakko, as most of the scene’s choices involve just letting characters exposit at each other. Instead, the two girls just quietly commiserate together with how overwhelming this all is and how they refuse to be left out of the narrative once they exposition is over. There’s a brief camaraderie there that works.
What also makes Yakko so compelling is how much more she wrestles with the power of the curse bearer. Shogo and Harue are chomping at the bit to use it, Tetsuo never gets tempted at all. Yakko becomes the center of this emotional conflict as she feels the immense temptation to hurt others. Knowing that her friend Michiyo could be revived, knowing that her killer could be out there, preys on her mind and wavers her resolve. She’s the most sincerely heroic of the cast and seeing how that heroism can tempt her towards murder gives her such excellent emotional drama to work with.
When I finished Centennial Case last year, I was hopeful that Square Enix would continue to seek out other developers to publish these non-AAA stories. And I’m really delighted to see them continue to help fund these projects with that FF14 money.
The way the game puzzles out and fits together has some disjointed pieces. Some characters get lost in the wider plot make-up and there’s a lot of places that could use some rewrites. More bad endings could help provide a bit more variety to the more straight-forward middle sections of the game. But there’s such a joy in the process, in the discovery of the narrative, that its hard to complain too much. I adored this game. I really hope to see more things like it soon.
In the 1980s, various citizens of the Honjo district is awakened to the spiritual realm. Their minds are infested with the final, murderous thoughts of nine separate spirits. When the civilians reawaken from the shock, they have been gifted curse stones with magical abilities. By using these curse stones, they can gather soul fragments from their victims. After gaining enough soul power, they can use the Rite of Resurrection to revive one person from the dead. With their own goals and motivations, the curse bearers begin a cat-and-mouse game to gain power over their enemies and complete the ritual.
The first hour of the game already slams you with what a creative enterprise this is going to be. Little visual tricks or savvy computer trickery. By starting the game with a fun “the game knows your username” goof, it establishes quickly that you need to think a couple levels deeper than just reading information. As the game kicks off and the stand battle royale begins, it encourages you to weaponize any trick at your disposal to gain victory.
That said, its hard not to feel a little disappointed when, after the first route ends, the mind game battles and the gameplay tricks kind of vanish. They’re still present to a certain degree, but the game becomes more focused on mystery solving as the heroes join together and pool their resources. These mechanics come back into play every now and then, but it’s not as constant as the initial hour of the game suggests.
It helps then that the game’s protagonists are so charming and endearing.
Shogo, plain audience insert, isn’t all that interesting, but acts as a key opener. He’s your generic ordinary vn man, which is why its so effective how quickly he resorts to murder. The way the curse stones shift priorities and prey on someone’s desires is subtle and devious, but it also emphasizes how easy it is for any of these people to become serial killers under these circumstances. He doesn’t have a lot going on, but it fills an important introduction to the more interesting characters.
Harue Shigima arrives quickly afterwards to cement herself as one of the more dangerous protagonists. A grieving mother, whose husband refused to pay ransom for their kidnapped son, out for revenge against the kidnapper and the most determined to pursue the Rite of Resurrection. She makes an instant impression with her baggy eyes, world-weary air. Its perfect that she’s paired with Richter, the eccentric private detective she’s hired for her investigations. He’s cartoonish and silly, but he’s also sincerely concerned about Harue’s stability. He brings her down to earth, humanizes her, and reigns her in from killing people willy-nilly.
In some ways, this can be a hindrance. The story’s logic means that no one can activate a curse during the day, which prevents the villains of the piece from launching a quick assault against the protagonists. But it also means Harue doesn’t get much of a chance to show off her willingness to murder. If she had more chances to launch some bad endings, she would fade into the background much less than she does. Even so, whenever the narrative returns to her goals, she instantly reminds you just how ruthless and stunning she can be in action.
Tetsuo Tsutsumi is the cop.
I always have mixed feelings about police officers in these kinds of stories. I understand it’s just part of mystery dramas that there’s gonna be a Heroic Police. You gotta leave the frustration at the door. Even so, when Tetsuo becomes the character who absolutely never uses his curse stone under any circumstances, to the point he can take on numerous curse stones without ever being influenced to kill… it’s a little annoying. His arc hits a lot of the expected beats. Heroic Gritty Cop Dad Too Busy For Family kind of thing.
What’s really devastating for that feeling is just how charming he is as a character. As the serious paragon, he’s frequently gets paired with the more ridiculous situations, constantly throwing him off his groove. Chasing down serial killers (potential or otherwise), put him in the same room as various people with flawed logic. He keeps expecting reason and gets increasingly baffled and unhinged as he reckons with the absurdity in his world. He’s fun to watch unravel. And, without getting into detail, the “good” ending makes the bold choice of leaving his life unfulfilled. He gets every answer he could ever want, he mends all his bridges, and everything’s wrapped up tidy in his main route. But, to get the best ending with the least deaths, he can’t learn those lessons. He drifts through life unhappy. If he’s going to be a Good Cop, he doesn’t get to be happy. That’s the sacrifice.
Yakko Sakazaki is amazing. Love this girl, 10/10. Following the alleged suicide of her best friend, Yakko embarks to uncover the truth. Unfailingly honest, quick-tempered, and always eager to get into a fight, Yakko’s an excellent driving force for the narrative. Much like Harue, as the heroes converge, there’s a risk of her falling into the background at times. But her bold personality and her determination to see things through add such a good layer for her to keep shoving her way back in, refusing to be ignored or let anyone else be ignored. One of the best optional little scenes is between Harue and Yakko, as most of the scene’s choices involve just letting characters exposit at each other. Instead, the two girls just quietly commiserate together with how overwhelming this all is and how they refuse to be left out of the narrative once they exposition is over. There’s a brief camaraderie there that works.
What also makes Yakko so compelling is how much more she wrestles with the power of the curse bearer. Shogo and Harue are chomping at the bit to use it, Tetsuo never gets tempted at all. Yakko becomes the center of this emotional conflict as she feels the immense temptation to hurt others. Knowing that her friend Michiyo could be revived, knowing that her killer could be out there, preys on her mind and wavers her resolve. She’s the most sincerely heroic of the cast and seeing how that heroism can tempt her towards murder gives her such excellent emotional drama to work with.
When I finished Centennial Case last year, I was hopeful that Square Enix would continue to seek out other developers to publish these non-AAA stories. And I’m really delighted to see them continue to help fund these projects with that FF14 money.
The way the game puzzles out and fits together has some disjointed pieces. Some characters get lost in the wider plot make-up and there’s a lot of places that could use some rewrites. More bad endings could help provide a bit more variety to the more straight-forward middle sections of the game. But there’s such a joy in the process, in the discovery of the narrative, that its hard to complain too much. I adored this game. I really hope to see more things like it soon.
Nerdietalk
1 year ago