This review contains spoilers
You need to get rid of any superfluous emotions. Totally nuke them.
Just look at what’s right in front of your eyes.
Keep your eyes on the prize.
Stare down the enemy in front of you.
That’s how you investigate.
Don’t worry.
Any part of your brain starts worrying? Grill that shit up and eat it!
Am I wrong?
Maybe you are wrong Tetsu, maybe you’re not. But it’s not my call to decide that for you.
Firstly I want to thank @Oshha for recommending this to me. I hadn’t heard of Kill The Past or knew much about Suda51 beyond No More Heroes. Safe to say that I’m now totally all in on the rest of the series. It took me a few days of contemplation after finishing, but The Silver Case is a game that I can’t help but admire to a high level despite any low points it may have had.
In my first session I played lunatics and decoyman, which made a really good first impression. I thought if nothing else, style is going to carry. I love the use of windows constantly placed in different parts of the screen, for both text and images, always keeping things interesting to look at and sometimes catching me off guard. Accompanied by an awesome art style that shifts constantly throughout the game as the mood / perspective changes, so cool… (Although sometimes I was thrown off, because this change was so drastic that it would take me a while to realise that the person on the screen talking was actually someone I had already met!)
This comes hand in hand with music and sound design, it’s really damn good. I’m glad to see more of Takada’s work in context outside of Danganronpa. Obviously the catchy tunes are great, but what I admire more are how many variations of different tracks there are, to give off slightly different feelings, there’s nothing more uncomfortable than hearing a motif that you recognise, but for it to now be spun in a really eerie or dark way. Also not afraid to use silence when necessary! REALLY appreciate that, it made such an impact many times.
Yeah sometimes the gameplay was a bit ass/boring, but I never found it that awful to slog through. I was more bothered honestly by the false promise that this would partly be a puzzle game! As a puzzle fan, lunatics and decoyman had me really engaged with an additive caesar cipher and a game of Bulls and Cows. Not your typical simple puzzle thrown into a game just to make sure you’re paying attention, these require thought! After this nothing was to be seen again :( I like to think what could have been, but with how the pacing of the game changes so much maybe these would have been out of place later on, maybe this was intentional and actually highlight the subverting of expectations for what this game is truly about. Holy shit that’s totally it… you win again Suda.
Alright so the presentation is perfect, and the gameplay is whatever. What about the meat? Does this funky text based detective walking simulator actually have any substance over style? Checks my rating -of course it does. There’s really a lot to unpack and I don’t think I could ever do it close to the justice it deserves. I’ll just describe how certain things made me feel. (waffling incoming)
Tokio is very cool and it was interesting to hear the constantly ongoing thoughts of a paranoid as fuck loser (am i a bad person?). JK he’s actually a hero, we’re 100% with him knowledge wise throughout the whole game up until Enzawa gets killed and then they cut it off like what a cliffhanger?? Then he shows up in lifecut like “i've figured EVERYTHING out, check my email and you'll understand”, and then we DON'T see that email and when we return to Tokio in Hikari we are just NOT told anything that he went through?? FUCK YOU SUDA (<3), now i gotta sit here and piece things together myself by listening to the ghostly apparitions that are now communicating through him !!! HUH?
Parade was an insane turning point, that moment when the mansion blew up, the art of them staring at it? Burning it into their eyes? Mfer that image is burnt into MY eyes, if I ever forget what’s going on in this game, I'll always remember that for sure. It wasn’t until the end of Tsuki that I really appreciated how well executed Parade was, when you started to see the full picture, learn the facts in a different order, it hits different. Which kind of applies for the whole game, this definitely warrants a replay in the future.
I truly love it when you can tell a character has been well developed and thought about outside of what is solely shown to you in the game, and that is here in spades. You can feel that these characters go through some life changing shit off screen, it comes through in the writing which is really damn good OBVIOUSLY. Ugh I can only praise something so much before it starts to become cumbersome. My point being is it’s clear that certain events were very well planned out in detail, only to not be shown to you, so you are left to make a “guesses” at what happened. It’s just executed extremely well and creates this sense of stringing you along and leaving you to think things for yourself.
Kusabi is probably the best character, let's be real, he’s everything you could ever want in an asshole boomer detective. Loves his daughter? ✓ Calls you big dick? ✓ Hates crime from the bottom of his soul, yet still let’s supports his beloved colleague in killing his past? ✓ The way he told me “don’t trust the ‘truth’, search for the ‘facts’”, and then proceeded to tell me 3 different versions of the silver case that completely contradict each other reallyfucked me off hit me in the heart.
Jokes / mindfuckery aside, it was super interesting, again with Nakategawa saying the whole CCO/FSO/… alliance bullshit oh that’s not actually a real thing, it’s actually all one big body. By this point I just had absolutely no idea what to trust anymore, but I think it didn’t matter. The main point stood the same, everyone was a pawn for someone else, and unless you cut it from the source (kill nezu?), the virus of crime (Kamui) will continue to circulate in the minds of individuals, or something?? There’s so much left to interpretation here and that’s what makes it so wonderful.
In that same vein, there are a lot of other messages being said here, the most prominent obviously regarding “killing your past” or embracing it. But these were presented in many different situations and contexts so as to undermine themselves, coming to the conclusion that these things aren’t so black and white, and the right thing to do can change depending on the person. I guess what I’m saying is, it opens up room for discussion with a lot of its themes, rather than trying to deliver a single message to you.
That’s about all the energy I have. I assume only people who actually played the game will read this whole thing so thanks and I hope you enjoyed me whack my brain with a potato masher thinking about The Silver Case.
Btw this goes hard, no?
Just look at what’s right in front of your eyes.
Keep your eyes on the prize.
Stare down the enemy in front of you.
That’s how you investigate.
Don’t worry.
Any part of your brain starts worrying? Grill that shit up and eat it!
Am I wrong?
Maybe you are wrong Tetsu, maybe you’re not. But it’s not my call to decide that for you.
Firstly I want to thank @Oshha for recommending this to me. I hadn’t heard of Kill The Past or knew much about Suda51 beyond No More Heroes. Safe to say that I’m now totally all in on the rest of the series. It took me a few days of contemplation after finishing, but The Silver Case is a game that I can’t help but admire to a high level despite any low points it may have had.
In my first session I played lunatics and decoyman, which made a really good first impression. I thought if nothing else, style is going to carry. I love the use of windows constantly placed in different parts of the screen, for both text and images, always keeping things interesting to look at and sometimes catching me off guard. Accompanied by an awesome art style that shifts constantly throughout the game as the mood / perspective changes, so cool… (Although sometimes I was thrown off, because this change was so drastic that it would take me a while to realise that the person on the screen talking was actually someone I had already met!)
This comes hand in hand with music and sound design, it’s really damn good. I’m glad to see more of Takada’s work in context outside of Danganronpa. Obviously the catchy tunes are great, but what I admire more are how many variations of different tracks there are, to give off slightly different feelings, there’s nothing more uncomfortable than hearing a motif that you recognise, but for it to now be spun in a really eerie or dark way. Also not afraid to use silence when necessary! REALLY appreciate that, it made such an impact many times.
Yeah sometimes the gameplay was a bit ass/boring, but I never found it that awful to slog through. I was more bothered honestly by the false promise that this would partly be a puzzle game! As a puzzle fan, lunatics and decoyman had me really engaged with an additive caesar cipher and a game of Bulls and Cows. Not your typical simple puzzle thrown into a game just to make sure you’re paying attention, these require thought! After this nothing was to be seen again :( I like to think what could have been, but with how the pacing of the game changes so much maybe these would have been out of place later on, maybe this was intentional and actually highlight the subverting of expectations for what this game is truly about. Holy shit that’s totally it… you win again Suda.
Alright so the presentation is perfect, and the gameplay is whatever. What about the meat? Does this funky text based detective walking simulator actually have any substance over style? Checks my rating -of course it does. There’s really a lot to unpack and I don’t think I could ever do it close to the justice it deserves. I’ll just describe how certain things made me feel. (waffling incoming)
Tokio is very cool and it was interesting to hear the constantly ongoing thoughts of a paranoid as fuck loser (am i a bad person?). JK he’s actually a hero, we’re 100% with him knowledge wise throughout the whole game up until Enzawa gets killed and then they cut it off like what a cliffhanger?? Then he shows up in lifecut like “i've figured EVERYTHING out, check my email and you'll understand”, and then we DON'T see that email and when we return to Tokio in Hikari we are just NOT told anything that he went through?? FUCK YOU SUDA (<3), now i gotta sit here and piece things together myself by listening to the ghostly apparitions that are now communicating through him !!! HUH?
Parade was an insane turning point, that moment when the mansion blew up, the art of them staring at it? Burning it into their eyes? Mfer that image is burnt into MY eyes, if I ever forget what’s going on in this game, I'll always remember that for sure. It wasn’t until the end of Tsuki that I really appreciated how well executed Parade was, when you started to see the full picture, learn the facts in a different order, it hits different. Which kind of applies for the whole game, this definitely warrants a replay in the future.
I truly love it when you can tell a character has been well developed and thought about outside of what is solely shown to you in the game, and that is here in spades. You can feel that these characters go through some life changing shit off screen, it comes through in the writing which is really damn good OBVIOUSLY. Ugh I can only praise something so much before it starts to become cumbersome. My point being is it’s clear that certain events were very well planned out in detail, only to not be shown to you, so you are left to make a “guesses” at what happened. It’s just executed extremely well and creates this sense of stringing you along and leaving you to think things for yourself.
Kusabi is probably the best character, let's be real, he’s everything you could ever want in an asshole boomer detective. Loves his daughter? ✓ Calls you big dick? ✓ Hates crime from the bottom of his soul, yet still let’s supports his beloved colleague in killing his past? ✓ The way he told me “don’t trust the ‘truth’, search for the ‘facts’”, and then proceeded to tell me 3 different versions of the silver case that completely contradict each other really
Jokes / mindfuckery aside, it was super interesting, again with Nakategawa saying the whole CCO/FSO/… alliance bullshit oh that’s not actually a real thing, it’s actually all one big body. By this point I just had absolutely no idea what to trust anymore, but I think it didn’t matter. The main point stood the same, everyone was a pawn for someone else, and unless you cut it from the source (kill nezu?), the virus of crime (Kamui) will continue to circulate in the minds of individuals, or something?? There’s so much left to interpretation here and that’s what makes it so wonderful.
In that same vein, there are a lot of other messages being said here, the most prominent obviously regarding “killing your past” or embracing it. But these were presented in many different situations and contexts so as to undermine themselves, coming to the conclusion that these things aren’t so black and white, and the right thing to do can change depending on the person. I guess what I’m saying is, it opens up room for discussion with a lot of its themes, rather than trying to deliver a single message to you.
That’s about all the energy I have. I assume only people who actually played the game will read this whole thing so thanks and I hope you enjoyed me whack my brain with a potato masher thinking about The Silver Case.
Btw this goes hard, no?
Oshha
29 days ago