Famicom Detective Club: The Girl Who Stands Behind
Famicom Detective Club: The Girl Who Stands Behind
A combined remake of the second game in the Famicom Tantei Club, Famicom Detective Club, series originally released in 1989 on the Family Computer Disk System in 2 parts. It is a prequel to the first game Find the secret behind a grizzly rumor haunting a Japanese high school Interrogate suspects and hunt for clues to piece together chilling conundrums plaguing a high school in Japan. Suspense (and a little bit of horror) ensues as you try to free students from their nightmare. Play at home, on the go, or in your favorite reading nook—only on the Nintendo Switch system. Can you figure out who the culprit is...before it’s too late? Play Famicom Detective Club in English for the first time Originally released in Japan only, the Famicom Detective Club: The Girl Who Stands Behind game has been localized with English text and modernized for the Nintendo Switch system. While the graphics, music, and sound effects have been recreated, players can also choose the original 8-bit soundtrack. Discover a piece of Nintendo history with the Famicom Detective Club series of games.
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-finally got to play this remake of one of my favorite adv games of all time (Famicom Tantei Club II for the SFC), which itself is a remake of the original Famicom Tantei Club II for the Famicom Disk System
-Definitely a big nostalgia trip to relive the game again and all the stuff I love is more or less still there, however...
-It's hard to be objective in the remake of a game that is detective fiction when you know "whodunit" since that luster is lost but ultimately the biggest flaw for me is the presentation/atmosphere. I know this is the most base criticism ever for remakes of a game, especially adventure games, but it's true in this case.
-A lot of things just feel really sterile. The SFC Version of Famicom Tantei (Detective) Club II absolutely fucking nailed the atmosphere to the point where the idea a gruesome local murder casting a foreboding shroud on everyone's peaceful daily lives is communicated perfectly. Examples: http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/https-lh5-googleusercontent-com-dywf0axde55eakl9.png http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/https-lh3-googleusercontent-com-7lc0dyou9ru9e7gi.png
-There's just this incredible aesthetic that's not quite dreary because there's still a semblance of that cheerful world before the murder, but it's fractured somehow. If I had to use a word to describe it, it would be "wistful".
-This aesthetic honestly makes or breaks a lot of what the game wants to get across. The remake by MAGES opts for a more modern look; the artstyle feels like an imitation of the old-school aesthetic with modern digital art and rendering techniques, and the characters are expressive, but ultimately it just isn't the same. Everything's a bit too bright and cheery or certain scenes lack nuance or gravitas in comparison to the original (the reveal of the culprit is probably the worst case of this, in the version I played it's one of the greatest scenes in any adv or any game i've played period, but here it falls a bit flat, irrespective of me knowing that it was coming)
-It's hard to say if MAGES would want to reproduce the aesthetic of the SFC version in some form, or even if they could since it's tied to a certain time and a place, but I think everything just feels a bit lacking. It's not tense, it's not hard-boiled and there is no feeling of suspense or urgency. Returning to Utsugi's office at the end of every chapter gave a sense of respite when I played the SFC version, you just felt like you were safe when the killer was out there and you actually /needed/ to mull things over, but in this remake it just feels too routine.
-I think MAGES had fun with it and were probably psyched to get the chance to remake such a legendary game in the canon of japanese adventure games but it's just a bit unfortunate that a remake that is faithful in so many other areas misses the mark in arguably the most important one
-i'm strangely alright with the design choice to reproduce the admittedly very clunky investigation mechanics of the original games, which often amount to brute forcing dialogue options until you get a bread crumb of info. like the aesthetic of the first remake (but in the inverse) it's a product of a time and a place and i think you risk garnering a lot of bad will if you touch it at all, even if you nail it in a redesign, so i understand why it was kept. i think the core idea of needing to make inferences and interact with scenes, scenarios and characters is a good core concept even if the execution in these games (and in this remake) is not the greatest. i knew what i signed up for and i'm fine with it.
-Takeshi Abo's arrangements of the OST are superb and I'm glad a legend like him got the opportunity to be involved
I think the general mystery is more appealing and done better than The Missing Heir, with a much better mystery/paranormal slant of a haunted school, the murder of a young woman who was investigating the mystery, and the way things twist and turn.
I was actually a bit spooked by a few parts, surprised by a few twists, and suitably freaked out by the climax, it was done very well. Some of the writing is still basic, but the cast is fun enough that while this won't be one of the all-time greats, it was still pretty fun.
I played most of the game with the original Famicom music and wow, that Famicom music is pretty good! While the arranged music is good, I would definitely recommend playing it with the Famicom or Super Famicom music!
Most of the game is improved in terms of gameplay, in the sense that, for most of the game things don't feel like such a guess at what you have to do and what specific order you have to ask or do things in... until the end. Come chapter 9/10 (of 11), things start getting a lot more convoluted of what you have to do and when, and I had to break open a walkthrough to get it right, and as I was coming closer and closer to the truth and the big climax, it was pretty frustrating!
Overall, I like it. It's a fun game and if you're looking for something to scratch your mystery game itch, I'd definitely recommend it! I think the presentation in this game is even better than the last one, and it's a great, slick remake, even with its issues.