Adventure/Visual Novel Games

So, I've recently been playing through Lost Dimension on my Vita and it's definitely my type of game. The mix of gameplay styles, fusing a tactical RPG with a visual novel choice system makes for one of the more unique experiences in 2015. In LD, you play as Sho who along with 10 other gifted individuals, have to climb this tower to defeat The End, an entity that wants to destroy the world in a couple of days. You pick a party of 6, Sho plus 5 and do tactical RPG battles through the various fields. It's kind of like Valkyria Chronicles and Operation Darkness in that regard. To ascend to the top of the tower though, you need to kill off or excuse me, ERASE, one of your team mates to move on. This is where Lost Dimension truly shines. Aside from the first floor on your first playthrough (more on that later) every traitor is RANDOMIZED. They're never the same. The only way to figure who the traitor is is by completing main missions and getting vision points. Sho's gift is that of premonition so he can dive into the inner psyche of his team mates to determine who isn't being honest. It's pretty simple actually. After battle, you'll hear voices and any that are suspicious will stand out by red text. It's then your job to determine who exactly is the traitor. The game is fair, with there only being a maximum of three suspects per floor. If you find all three suspects on your party, you can then begin to narrow down who the traitor is from there. Like I said, it's all randomized and the party members who you like most can die out before you get to the final battle. If you don't find out who the traitor is, then you'll regret it when The End has additional backup. Now, I've beaten the game, finding all the traitors in the process, only to find out that you have to strengthen your bonds with all your characters to get the real ending, which is IMPOSSIBLE the first playthrough because the first traitor, George, is ALWAYS the traitor at first. And even then, you have to get to the fourth floor to do the character missions and get the final conversation and trophy that confirms that you have officially strengthen the bond. It's a little annoying, especially seeing how the traitors are randomized so just because you need Toya, Mana and George to survive until you get to the 4th floor so you can finish their bonds doesn't necessarily mean that the game WILL have them survive. I got lucky and was able to get to the 3rd floor with Agito, Marco and Nagi (for the 2nd playthrough) being traitors. I don't like the system for the 2nd playthrough but I want to see this ending badly. I'm pretty invested in the story and to see if The End is really the hero in all of this and how it will all come to a close. This lengthy opening is to introduce my next topic on this blog; visual novel games.

Visual novel games or adventure games have become my favorite genre during my adult years. These type of games make you feel for their characters more than any action romp can dream of. For me, I think my start into my love for this genre started with Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney. I'm the type of gamer to try anything. I read a lot of reviews on Phoenix Wright before I decided to rent it but I figured I had nothing to lose. If I didn't like it, at least I just rented it. This turned out to become my favorite series on the DS or any Nintendo portable console. Phoenix Wright is just this bumbling attorney who keeps getting these wild cases and keeps winning. The cases usually deal with murder and the last cases of each game usually tie together to the other cases in the game. My favorite case is definitely the last case in the 2nd game as it really tests Phoenix's moral choices as a lawyer. SPOILERS! So, your client does a 180 and turns into this evil villain.


Just look at that animation!

It's a great twist and really questions where Phoenix stands with the justice system. The series is amazing and was my first successful foray into the adventure/visual novel genre.

Indigo Prophecy was an amazing experience. IP or Fahrenheit as it's called internationally, was released during the PS2/Xbox/GC era. It's not really a visual novel game but more of a movie/interactive drama game. There's no hacking and slashing, no gun battles, all the gameplay is done by exploring and QTEs. It's not a bad thing as the story is very interesting. The story can take many different angles as the game is based on the player choice. You're thrown right into the decisions as the main character you control, Lucas Kane, KILLS a man in the bathroom of the diner you're eating at. It's your job to cover up the murder that you just unknowingly committed. You can mop up the blood, wash your hands or just climb out the window. Obviously, watch what you do as it will affect you in the long run. If you just leave the diner, if someone saw you sitting at the table and then you randomly disappear, well, they'll probably realize that maybe you might be the prime suspect. The game takes a very sci-fi turn deep into the game and the story does become a bit jumbled but it's a fantastic game and one of my favorite from the genre.

Quantic Dream did an even better job on the PS3 with Heavy Rain, which I've called my 3rd favorite game from the generation. They took everything with Indigo Prophecy and took it to a further level. The story is really what got me; it's an emotionally charged narrative to find a serial killer through the view points of 4 different characters. Unlike IP, it doesn't take a trip down crazy sci-fi lane so the result is an experience that's more realistic and genuine to actual human emotions. Although there's four characters, Ethan is the main character. You start with him and his happy life with his wife and two sons. On a trip to the mall, he loses in son Jason in the crowd and eventually, he winds up in traffic. Ethan dives into traffic to save him but it didn't help as Jason passes away. You then see Ethan's life after some time has passed, separated from his wife, sharing custody of his remaining son Shaun. Life is pretty bad for Ethan and gets even worse when Ethan has a blackout at a park and find Shaun is gone and have been kidnapped by the Origami Killer. Ethan's story is about the risks he's willing to take to get his son back. He goes through various trials to prove that he's a worthy father, like driving through oncoming traffic, crawling through a pipe filled with glass, going through a live electrical field, etc. I don't want to spoil the last couple but my favorite one is when you're tasked with cutting off his finger. In that moment, I fully put myself into Ethan's shoes, like I was the one whose finger was going to be cut off. It was the most tense moment I ever experienced in a game to that point and is still my favorite moment from the game. Heavy Rain is completely interactive and character's lives depend solely on the actions of the player. You could find out who the killer is and save your son or you may not find him at all. That's why I love games of this genre as many of them rely on your choices. While they are go through the same stages, the narrative of these games is center stage. I think Heavy Rain has perfected this formula for 3D based interactive games. Quantic Dream tried again on PS3 with Beyond: Two Souls but it wasn't nearly as interactive as Heavy Rain was and it left me a bit disappointed. Still, I'm eagerly awaiting on their PS4 title, whenever it releases. Heavy Rain will go down as one of my favorite titles, simply because it made me feel and forget about the world I was living in and made me live in the world they were trying to portray. I got sucked into the universe of Heavy Rain deeply and the game had a long lasting effect on me and how I judge any game like it. Seriously one of the greatest games available on the Playstation 3.

As I've said earlier, the DS is home to some fantastic adventure/visual novel esque games, like Phoenix Wright, Hotel Dusk, Trace Memory and Time Hollow but there's one on the system that stands head and shoulders over the rest. It's called 999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons 9 Doors. THIS GAME!!! I had no idea what I was getting into when I first rented this title. I just remember reading a review of the game on IGN and they gave it amazingly high marks, especially seeing how it wasn't a major AAA title. Once I started playing it, I COULD NOT put it down. It forced me to stay up and play only it. The game was that deep. I couldn't even explain the story if I could to be honest. You play as Junpei who along with 8 other people are trapped on an ocean liner and forced to play a life or death game. While 999 is mostly text, the gameplay parts come in from of the rooms you explore, which are like those popular escape the room type games online. The puzzles are never too hard but the later ones can leave you stumped if you're not fully paying attention. The narrative in this game, like most games in this genre, is the real strength and thing to behold here. 999 has a total of 6 different endings, which vary based upon what doors you enter with certain people and what decisions you've made along the way. If you want to see the best ending 999 has to offer, you actually have to get one of the bad endings first. It sounds weird but the game wraps in up SO well once you take the path to getting the true ending the 2nd playthrough. 999 is like Lost Dimension in this aspect, except 999 isn't random. I spent about 20 hours with 999, all worth it. The adventure unlike anything I'd ever experienced on the DS and is definitely a mature game just about anyone could enjoy. The game got a sequel, titled Virtue's Last Reward, which continues all the craziness and madness the first game started. Since everyone playing VLR already played 999 (probably) you would know the big plot device that 999 uses. VLR uses this for EVERYTHING. VLR has almost TOO many branching pathways, it's scary and a bit overwhelming to be honest. For reference, here's the chart of all the possible routes you can go in VLR. Spoilers if you haven't played it yet



LOOK HOW MUCH SPACE THIS THING TAKES! You can take all of these paths in your playthrough, only thing is is that you have to jump around quite a bit because there are some things you just aren't able to do on certain paths until you go onto another path to get the required item or password or whatever. The story is deep like 999 but takes it a step further than 999 did. It took me 33 hours to fully complete VLR and my mind was completely obliterated after I did. There's so many different revelations that happen throughout those 30+ hours, so much jumping from different path to different path and just story galore. It has the same escape the room puzzles that 999 did as well but once again, the story is the main focus here. There's one more sequel on the way for this fantastic series and I don't know what to expect but best believe that I will be playing through this series to the very end. I might even have to replay VLR just to refresh my memory on what is exactly going on.

I got a PS Vita for a couple of reasons. One, Persona 4 Golden. Two, the other JRPGs that I wanted to play. Three, Danganronpa. This was another game that I didn't know anything about but got crazy good reviews from everyone. Any time a smaller game gets a bigger score that I'm not expecting, I have to do my gamer's duty and check it out. Everyone was saying that it was a mix between Phoenix Wright and 999 so instantly, I knew i had to play it. And play it I did! You play as Makoto Naegi, who has been chosen to attend Hope's Peak Academy after winning a lottery and being deemed the Ultimate Lucky Student. Only the best of the best attend the school, like the Ultimate Gymnast, Ultimate Pop Sensation etc. Once Makoto gets there though, he begins to get dizzy and eventually passes out and is now in a room with the other 14 students who have been selected to go to the school as well. They find a demented little bear named Monokuma, who is holding them there against their wills and threatens death to any that break the school rules. He offers a way out; if they are able to kill another classmate and get away with it, they will graduate and be able to leave the academy. Monokuma begins to plant motives for people to start killing each once it doesn't happen right away and the game goes from there. You spend your time talking to other characters and learning about them and when a murder happens, you spend your time investigating and looking for clues for what is called a class trial; where everyone tries to figure out who did the deed of murder. The class trial is where the real meat of the gameplay comes from as you'll be taking an active role in listening and going through the affairs of the case at hand. When given the opportunity, you'll take control and have this things called 'truth bullets' which you then fire at anything that's contradictory to the statement you fired. There's a lot of different gameplay options during a trial but they all end with Makoto filling out this comic book looking thing that shows the events of the entire murder and cover-up. The trials are the best part of the game and I found myself rushing through the dialogue to reach the trials. The game is amazing and the narrative and characters are fantastic. The only thing is don't get attached too much to ANY characters as it's very likely they will wind up dead pretty soon. The sequel does more of the same and it's a series that Vita owners need to play. Next to the Zero Escape series, these are my favorite visual novel games as I made the joint of them my game of the year last year. You need to play this if you have a Vita. hands down.

2015 has been a great year for the genre, with the reintroduction of King's Quest, which was a pioneer for adventure games in the 80s. There's also a couple other great titles that were released as well.

Life is Strange is an episodic adventure game that has released four of its five parts so far in 2015. It tells the story of Max and her life attending a private academy. Max, for whatever reason, has the ability of time manipulation. She can rewind time and even travel BACK in time. These mechanics are used for gameplay options. Like many other adventure games, you travel from area to area basically just examining anything the game allows you to. Max's power comes into play when having to make decisions. Will you pull a prank on the mean girl who's been tormenting you or will you just let her be? Be careful, any decisions you make will carry throughout the ENTIRE adventure. It's similar to the way decisions affect the gameplay of the classic games that have come out of Telltale. I haven't talked about them but The Walking Dead Season 1 and 2 and The Wolf Among Us are both amazing tales and do the genre justice. Anyway, if you make one choice and didn't like the outcome, you can rewind time and make the other choice and see its outcome. You don't have an unlimited time to keep doing this though. Once you leave the area of the choice, you choice is locked in for the rest of the play through. Some tough choices include the one I've mentioned previously, snitching on the local bully who you saw carrying a gun with him in school and whether or not to pull the trigger of a local thug. One of the most nerve racking moments of this game comes from Episode 2, where Max, with her powers temporarily disabled, must talk a fellow classmate from committing suicide. This is a task that you can actually control. The game will continue no matter what happens. The only way to get her down is by investigating her life when you have the chance. Find out about her loved ones, etc. Like I said though, even if she does end up killing herself, the game will continue to trek on. The story hasn't been completed since I finished this post but the game is already one of my favorites of the year within the first four episodes. It's a caring narrative with realistic characters and well thought and meaningful choices. If you like adventure games even a little bit, I would highly recommend giving Life is Strange a try.

Until Dawn is one of the reasons I wanted a PS4. An interactive horror game where your choices and actions can cause the characters involved to live or die? Yes please! Until Dawn is still very fresh on my mind and is one of the finest experiences of 2015. Oh, SPOILERS!!!

You play as 8 friends who are coming together at a mountain lodge in remembrance of the two friends they loss the year previous. Once up at the lodge, strange things begin to happen and it becomes unclear if the friends will be able to survive the night. all of the characters are archetypes of slasher movie characters. Sam is the Final Girl type, as evident by who she's played by and the fact that she can't die until the very end of the game. Mike is the typical big man on campus, Emily the vicious queen bee, Jess the easy one, Chris the comic relief, etc. The characters are one of the shining points of Until Dawn and they all play their roles very well. Like Life is Strange, this game is all about choices, which Until Dawn uses as the Butterfly Effect. Everything you do could have an effect on what happens later. In one scene, Sam and Josh are trying to get the hot water on for the lodge. There's a bat down in the basement that Sam can pick up and move, which she can then use later when she's being chased by the Psycho. It's little things like that that make the game stand out. What also stands out is the fact that your actions will determine if all 8 friends either live or die or something in between. In my first attempt, I had 5 of the 8 friends surviving. The good, and maybe the bad, thing about UD is that it's pretty short so going back to fix a mistake that got a friend killed doesn't take too long. The game's tone is a bit unbalanced like the horror movies it's inspired by. The game starts off very campy, with all the friends being happy about spending time together after what happened the year before but after the chaos starts, it turns into a common horror romp. That's not a big issue, I just thought it was important to note as this was a problem many people seemed to have with the game. It's a horror movie, what did they expect? I love this game, simply because of the Butterfly Effect. I experienced death with 3 of the characters because of it. For example, while playing as Matt, Emily, his girlfriend, wants to go to the fire tower and call for help. If you AGREE, you can potentially mess yourself up. Once at the fire tower, you play as Emily. You get to the top and can take a flare gun, which if you give to Matt, he'll use instantly. Once the tower falls, if you're like me, you'll try to save Emily and when you realize you can't, you'll be dragged by a Wendigo and since you already fired the bullet from the flare gun, you'll have no defense from the monster slamming your head on a hook. This, is what I call, a cheap use of the Butterfly Effect. I guess I shouldn't have tried to save Emily, because if you don't, the attack doesn't even happen. Ashley died because of my own stupidity. I heard a sound and decided to investigate. I got what was coming to me. I fully deserved to die for failing at one of the common horror movie rules; never go exploring by yourself. Josh died because I failed to find a journal of his sister Hannah that tells of what exactly happened to her. Although Josh is technically saved if you find it, he himself turns into a Wendigo so what fate is really best for him; death or transformation into a monster? I've since saved all 8 friends and now look to have NO ONE survive the night. I love the fact that you can control that. Until Dawn is an amazing interactive experience that must be experienced. It fills the void on Playstation 4 that a Quantic Dream game usually fills.

I just bought Stein;Gates the other day but I haven't experience enough of it to render judgment. It seems visual novels, interactive drams, adventure game, whatever you want to call them, are making a case on why they are some of the best experiences a gamer can have. While you won't spend hours upon hours shooting down countless enemies, you will spend time with thought-provoking narratives, relate to realistic characters and in many of them, make tough decisions that can change the games entirely. If you aren't a fan of these types of games, it's time to hop on the bandwagon.