I figured I'd do up my own lil review thingie while it's still fresh in my mind (though I plan on playing through the True Ending again cause I accidentally skipped over some important dialogue on the family).
I'll go "bad news" to "good news".
Cons:
-The first playthrough I did, I got the SD Card ending/route (actually, apparently, I started out on the Catch the Killer route but loaded an earlier save and made a different choice XD). I thought this was the actual ending until I looked at the site and saw that there were two more possible endings; until then, I felt really disappointed and even quite jipped. The "epilogue" of that ending made up a little for it, but it was extremely unfulfilling once I got to the end.
- Spoiler:
Specifically, when I came to the bathroom and found Marissa dead after having been killed by Kevin, and then everything pretty much went down the toilet from there; the house came out of lockdown, Liam disappeared, Kevin also ran out, and I had no idea why he would kill Marissa until I recalled her saying something about a conspiracy she wanted to look into. I think most if it was that I just didn't like that the criminal got away, Liam (who was obviously in contact with Chance) vanished, and I was only left with even more questions after they looked at the SD card.
-The second playthrough, I got the Catch the Killer ending/route. This one was a little more satisfying, but there were two parts of it that bothered me.
--Though I had more freedom to move around and examine the rooms, the only evidence pointing to who the killer was wasn't found until near the end of the scenario (and I made the mistake of handing over the bottle of evidence before asking what was in the documents, so I was still bouncing between the two most guilty parties from the last scenario that were still on my list). There was a lot to look around and examine, but it didn't really lead to much clues.
--The ending. You black out, the credits scroll, and then I'm staring at the menu screen again. Maybe it was a glitch and I was supposed to see something after the protagonist blacked out, but it felt like there was no "afterwards" of the story. What happened to the protagonist? What about Li Mei? I stared at the screen and then said aloud: "That's it?!".
-Perhaps it was just the way I explored, but not being able to talk to Liam fully until the True Ending route really made it difficult to figure out who the killer was. Once I was able to talk to him fully, it was obvious, but since I only had fleeting contact with him during the first two paths, and limited evidence, it was harder.
I like hard puzzlers and all, but it felt like there was always a piece of the puzzle missing that easily fell into place once I was able to talk to Liam; I dunno...maybe you all were going for that.
Pros:
-Despite the fact that it's longer and there's a LOT of information to process (the fact of two plots going on at the same time is more obvious than in Jisei, though Jisei did hint at it even before the epilogue scene), it's very doable to get all three paths without looking at a walkthrough or hints, even once.
I love puzzle games and mysteries...in novels, there is no "walkthrough'; I have to try to solve it before the "big reveal". In puzzle games, I never check a walkthrough unless I'm sure I've exhausted every option available; I try to stay away from walkthroughs, so it's awesome that it's not needed for this (but still provided).
-Also, having more than one ending (and having all of them tie together) was great. It wasn't like the multiple endings possible in Jisei; these three had radically different outcomes, but still allowed us to learn a lot about the protagonist and the other three he's (reluctantly) working with.
-It's so engaging that, though I saved often, I played it through from start to finish without putting it down. Then, upon hearing there were two more endings, I immediately went back and puzzled out those scenarios.
-There is a LOT more to the plot, and the True Ending reveals quite a lot about the protagonist that conjures up some interesting theories. It hasn't solidified any of my huge theories yet...
- Spoiler:
...like thinking that Kangai/Alex was the one that shot his sister, though why or how it happened, I don't know yet.
...but did add some pieces to the overall puzzle in a satisfying way while at the same time showing that there's even more to the puzzle than we originally thought.
-Being able to move around and go to different rooms (more freedom of movement) was nice...though I got lost the first couple times through, I'll admit. ^^;;
Still, I much preferred that method to the movement in Jisei.
-The True Ending path was very satisfying to play through and see the part after the credits and have my suspicions confirmed in the epilogue.
- Spoiler:
Though, I'll be honest...I checked in the bathroom dozens of times before talking to Li Mei for the last time about the puzzle since I thought that Marissa was going to wind up dead again and wanted to see if I could coax her out of the place where she was killed during the first SD route.
-It was creepy and engaging, and I loved how the choices I made in the game not only effected how a character trusted/spoke to me, but also what path I wound up going down due to it (which ending I wound up with).
-The price, and how it was combined with Jisei for $5 less than buying them separately. Jisei felt a little short...
- Spoiler:
...and I only played through it again to see if it was possible to build Chance's trust up and then select the option that would normally get you drugged/poisoned without getting killed...
...but this was much longer, and I'm going to play through it again to go over some dialogue I accidentally skipped on the True Ending, so I feel like I got my money's worth out of it.
I understand that things like mysteries can be difficult to sell; even plain graphic novels or mystery anime (like Detective Academy Q or Detective Conan), once a case has been solved, there's really no reason to watch/read it again unless there was some other element in there (characters and interactions is what grabs me).
-The background plot going on about the protagonist (and even some of the mysteries surrounding the other kids) is interesting, and is worth going over more than once (if for no other reason than to make sure it's all being understood right and form theories).
I'm sure once Yousei comes out, it'll all still be fresh in my mind, but I'll most likely have to play through them all again for the overall plot by the time the final chapters come out (though, I do hope it isn't TOO long...you've got me hooked on this series!).
-The characters. They all have very distinct personalities and ways of reacting to things, and this chapter also explores the other kids.
- Spoiler:
Like how Naoki's power can really be used...and displaying the incident with Li Mei that leads me to believe that she might have been trained as an assassin or something. And, hints that the other kids might have more to do with the overall plot than just have these supernatural powers.
I have totally been sucked into this world, and I'm really looking forward to the next chapter!
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