Prismaticallization

Sometimes, a little perspective goes a long way. While I didn't think too much of Never 7 (called infinity at the time), it's WAY better than Prismaticallization, even though it only came out a few months later. I can't help but compare the two games because Prismaticallization is like an earlier and crappier version of Never 7. It has the exact same basic concept except without any voice acting and crappier BGM. I bought this game purely on the cover art, so fool on me I guess.

Yesh, it doesn't take much to convince me to buy (if under $10)

It first starts out by warning you that there's nothing to do put read for the first 30 minutes. Pfft, 30 minutes?! Yeah, no worries there, I'm not an ADV newb. At the end of your first playthrough, you pick up an odd green prism crystal thing (hence the title). This prism crystal can be used to remember up to 5 things.

Be prepared to loop through this damn game at least 100 times

It's a very annoying user interface as you constantly have to loop and often run out of space on your crystal. I went to about 100 playthroughs and 7 hours before I cleared the first ending (the game helpfully keeps count in the upper-right corner). Yeah, if you follow a guide, you can clear an ending in under 20 but I was playing blind. Most of the time was spent holding the △ fast forward button so this game is totally a multitask affair. It really was an awkward way to play an ADV game and kinda unnecessary in my opinion. I mean, it was kinda fun at first, but it got old pretty fast. At the very least, maybe if the prism could hold 10 things or there was a skip to next choice feature (not fast-forward but instant), it would've made things quicker.

Unlocking the swimsuit scenarios were especially annoying as you have to first play a tarot game (1 loop). This set you on a path to one girl (chosen randomly). Then you have to remember the correct cards to win a card game (2 loops). Finally, you can unlock the swimsuit at the beach (1 loop). You then have to win the card game AGAIN (1-2? loops) and trigger the swimsuit memory at the beach a second time (1 loop). This takes about 5 loops for each girl (you may have to reload if you get duplicate random girl).

Well, I guess the effort was worth it for Miyu sukumizu

As I said, the BGM is not so great either though it sounds much better on the Dreamcast version. It feels like they spent all their budget on the pretty good opening animation and the ending song. Otherwise, this game is pretty darn low on both the polish and quality front.

The OP and ED were good but that's about it

Still, despite the overall cheapness of the game, the illustrations were not bad and it could have redeemed itself with a great story but unfortunately, it falls flat in that department as well. None of the characters were well developed and pretty much almost nothing is explained even after watching all the endings. The only good thing about the story was that it wasn't too long-winded and I was able to beat the game in about 12 hours. I did not unlock all the swimsuits however cause it's a pain in the arse and Miyu is really the only girl for me anyways.

Fake imouto was almost enough to make this game a 2. Almost.

Score: 1.5 sometimes even an imouto is not enough to make a decent game out of 5. (12 hours to beat)

I didn't think this game was terrible. It has some funny moments and some decent art, I just don't know if it was worth it. I certainly won't be keeping it in my ever shrinking closet of shame. If for some crazy reason I wanted to play it again, it's also available on PSN, though I would probably recommend the DC version for the better music and some extra scenes.

Oddly, this illustration was in a different style from the rest of the game

Scale
0 - Awful
1 - Bad and not worth your time
2 - Has some flaws but still enjoyable
3 - An average enjoyable experience
4 - A great game
5 - Masterpiece of a caliber only found very rarely

Tantei Jinguji Saburo DS - Inishie no Kioku（探偵 神宮寺三郎 DS ～いにしえの記憶～）

It was a dark and stormy night.

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Wait, you think that's cliche? Well, Mr/Ms/Ind (gender-agnostic) learned, and scholarly non-philistine sir/mam/individual (again, gotta be considerate of the gender-fluid), you've come to the wrong place, because Tantei Jinguji Saburo DS - Inishie no Kioku is just about the most stereotypical series of detective stories you'll ever see on a video game medium.

My copy of the game, which I'm probably going to sell right after this

Actually I don't think it would be accurate to even call it stereotypical because it eschews conventional aspects of a crime story such as having a bloody goddamn mystery. Don't expect any kind of plot twist, some mysterious mastermind, nor basically any kind of surprise or suspense. Playing this game is more akin to reading a police report on some neighborhood crime committed by a criminal whose masterful plot was to throw away the murder weapon in the dump near his government subsidized project housing.

In each episode, you talk to people, gather some facts or eyewitness accounts, do some digging around (what we in the industry call legwork), figure out who did the crime, and done. Move onto the next episode. The only semblance of challenge you're presented is a series of questions to sum up the facts of the case you discovered in the previous hour or so of gameplay.

Inference time! AKA rehash what the game just told you.

For example, if you found a letter from the suspect stamped from Nerima, the game might ask:

"Where was the letter stamped from?"

A. Shinjuku
B. Nerima
C. Yokohama

Even if you were not even remotely close to paying any attention to the story, you're in luck! You can just keep choosing randomly until you get the right answer.

I even played the original version of the first case just to see if the mobile port from which the DS version was based on totally fucked shit up. I'm ashamed to say I also own the Early Collection for the PS1 so I was able to experience the original FC version in all its frustrating glory. And no, it wasn't any better, in fact it was a lot worse. At least the DS version made it easy to get through the not so great story.

SPOILER: there is absolutely NO POINT in exploring the park. THE CAKE IS A LIE!

What's even crazier is apparently Aksys tried to palm off this mediocre game with HALF the content? Of course, they changed the whole setting to no longer take place in Japan since stupid 'Mericans can't remember names unless it's like Bob or Jake Hunter??? WTF? There's no accounting for taste I guess... especially when you have none. I think I would almost have more fun trying to see how the localizer butchered the setting, what with the Yakuza and all (maybe add an Italian accent?).

The only thing this game has going for it is the character illustrations, the overall art style, and Misono Yoko. Yeah, Yoko is pretty hot. The art style is good but also hilarious because Jinguji is about the most Japanese hard-boiled detective ever. He's super polite, is quick to apologize, is not afraid to bow, and his office is neat and tidy to boot. Hard-boiled? Maybe more like the Hanjuku (half-boiled) detective in Shinjuku. LOOOOOOOOOOL #notfunny

All in all, I really have no idea how or why this series has gone on for so long. My only hope is that the later games in the series blows the early games out of the water as I continue to amass Jinguji games like an idiot collector. Well except this one, it's going into the sell pile.

Yoko, you're too good for Saburo... and this game.

Score: 1.5 if they did a AA crossover with Yoko, I would be ALL OVER THAT out of 5 (16 hours to beat)

Scale
0 - Awful
1 - Bad and not worth your time
2 - Has some flaws but still enjoyable
3 - An average enjoyable experience
4 - A great game
5 - Masterpiece of a caliber only found very rarely

TRUE REMEMBRANCE ～記憶のかけら～

TRUE REMEMBRANCE (yes, all caps once again) is a sound novel for the PC that is pretty good for being totally free. Feel free to download away to your heart's content from the author's website, no shady torrent site needed (you know who you are).

Personally, since I'm made of money, I decided to plunk down some serious change (500 yen) to get the 3DS version on the eShop for the convenience of a handheld. It features new art and some extra scenarios with chibi characters and whatnot.

The non-free 3DS art style. Yeah, I'm RICH BITCH!!

While the art is new, there is no voice acting nor any branching paths. So it's actually like reading what us old dinosaurs refer to as "books". I'm sure there's a kid's react video online somewhere if you're unfamiliar with the concept.

Anyhoos, the main character in this game is Kurome, who works in a town setup by the government to treat some new form of depression. The treatment for the disease is to seal the bad memories away, a process which is not really described in depth. Not that it really matters. This is a simple story about the two main characters and how we deal with life shit (or more often, how we don't deal with it). It's definitely going for that melancholy vibe.

I played this game several years ago and as my first visual novel, I thought it was pretty darn long. Of course, now that I've slogged through hours and hours of some monster-size games (*cough* higurashi *cough*), it does seem to be a fairly short story. It took me less than 10 hours to finish.

Given the premise of erasing your memories to deal with life's hurdles, you can probably guess at some of the themes and plot points that are presented, much like how you can expect certain things from a time traveling or robots (ugh Asimov law AGAIN?) story. There's nothing mind blowing here, just a melancholy story that is done fairly decently. I personally did not shed a tear but maybe you will.

Music was not bad, very sound novelesque?
Score: 2.5 man I totally forgot what this game was about, maybe somebody sealed my memory of it? out of 5 (9 hours to beat)

For the entry price, I thought this game had a pretty good story and presentation. It has atmosphere and might be a good entry point if you want some reading material for your Japanese studies. That or the Jhipster wannabes can go check out the fan translated English version. Ultimately however, putting aside the price, the game itself is ironically forgettable. Definitely worth checking (cause FREE!!!) but I wouldn't exactly call it a masterpiece.

Scale
0 - Awful
1 - Bad and not worth your time
2 - Has some flaws but still enjoyable
3 - An average enjoyable experience
4 - A great game
5 - Masterpiece of a caliber only found very rarely