A murder mystery about a strange isolated island, the obscenely wealthy people that visit it, and the detective sent to solve the mysteries of all the factions surrounding this strange place.

I try to keep a high tolerance for different Anime-Isms in visual novels. Some cliched dialogue or horny moments are things I just try to ignore in favor of the wider story the creators want to tell. And I do think visual novels are a really versatile genre for storytelling. You can craft some huge narratives, play with the format, and really experiment with choice and gameplay. No disrespect to games like Doki Doki Literature Club, but many Western games trying to parody the style of visual novels feel like they're approaching from their own ideal of what vns are/used to be, rather than the actual state of the medium.

With all that in mind, this game is nigh-on unforgivable.

Detective Sen Ikeda is maybe one of the most abhorrent protagonists I've ever met. The game thinks he's a suave, sarcastic cool guy who's only flaw is maybe his tendency to joke around in tense moments. Wow!!! Look at him break through restraints with his bare hands!! Oooh, they say he used to work for the mob, what's his tragic backstory??? The problem is that Ikeda's "jokes" are largely horrible bullying. His way more interesting partner, Nenneko, is a shy young girl with an abrasive personality and photographic memory. Very Toko Fukawa from Danganronpa. Ikeda frequently calls her a little brat and often takes the opportunity to force her to look at gruesome murder scenes for his investigations, knowing that she'll remember every single detail. This is supposed to be a funny little back and forth, but Nennko's struggles to communicate and difficulty showing affection just tilts the whole mock-rivalry in Ikeda's favor.

So this exhausting dynamic is kinda repeated with nearly all the female characters. Ikeda will say something mean or accidentally perverted, often without realizing it, characters will respond appropriately with "what the FUCK man" and Ikeda will just turn to the camera like "women, amirite? lol." Ikeda accidentally walks in on someone changing three times in this fucking game, all blatantly telegraphed, all for the purpose of never blaming him and making all the girls seem unreasonable.

But his personality became full on repulsive to me in the bonus post-game scenario. The surviving cast end up shipwrecked on an island, Ikeda goes off and discovers there's actually a small town nearby with plenty of food and supplies. Ikeda returns to the cast, who all mock him as a bad detective before he can talk. He then decides he's going to lie and keep the cast thinking they're on a deserted island with nothing to eat. For goofs. Real charmer!

This is all especially frustrating when the other characters and mystery are genuinely quite compelling. I mentioned Nenneko up above, but the way the game plays with how her photographic memory harms her social skills is genuinely well done. She keeps track of all these minute details of every room she enters, but all she can do is interpret those details as proof that everyone hates her. It would be an easy save the cat moment for Ikeda to coach her through her anxieties, but instead he's completely dismissive of her pain. Every segment where you control Nenneko is a much more fun experience than Ikeda's monologues. Her sequences are legitimately INCREDIBLE, with stunning swerves and visual tricks playing out at several junctions.

The other cast has plenty of layers too. All of them have their own motives to come to Shironagasu Island, many of which conflict with each other. Some of the most engaging parts of the story is in how the suspects treat one another, which there is unfortunately far too little of. There's a RICH history between different factions that we never get a chance to see. And the mystery itself is difficult, but feasible to solve. It never gives you notes or a case book, but still gives you the chance to name the killer, spies, factions, etc. You have to rely on your memory of the different testimonies and locations of characters to line up the truth. It definitely possible and it requires some genuine thought to solve.

There's a character who's crossdressing. There's jokes about it. The jokes quadruple when she isn't even in disguise anymore. Its exhausting.

Really not sure why I bothered playing this to completion. Wasted some spring break nights on this.