The Silver Case Reviews

i havent finished yet (pretty good so far though) but god please let me into an age gap office place romantic relationship with morikawa please

This is fundamentally a poorly-translated visual novel. The crummy controls and no way to skip/speed up text or the nauseating cinematics/animations/typing sounds that seem to comprise "the game" itself seem to be a value-added bonus to make it even less tolerable to push through for the story's merits. If not for the fact this feels like it was translated by people unfamiliar with English, I might be able to ignore how sick I feel to my stomach with these ugly, disorienting, un-skippable animations playing on-screen. But the fact that this incessant typing sound and beastly controls (what there are of them) are also of a repellent nature, just make me wonder how in the world this has sold so well. It would be amazing in 1996, but it's definitely not the 90s any more. Some kind of accessibility options to make the text go at a normal speed and not play that tedious typing sound that makes me want to grind my teeth would be phenomenal. But I won't hold my breath, given how old this is.

This visual novel is the best at grinding your ears and eyes. The presentation suffers greatly due to the constant annoying sound and visual effects. If it has any meaningful message, it's drowned under either a bad translation or just stupid writing. It really feels like it wasn't written by a human being. Oh, and swearing makes it a very adult game! If a friend recommended me that game, then we wouldn't be friends anymore.

The Debut Game of Grasshoper Manufacture and wow it's a damn good one. An interesting narrative that loops back on itself, at the same time enlightning and confusing. (in a good way) Definitely not without it's faults though, the walking sections are particularly boring and the game's low point for me. A great start to the wild ride that is Suda51's Kill The Past.

For the people who want to use controller, someone made a preset within the steam controller settings that is mint, it is the one with the most likes. It is smooth like butter and feels like it was actually designed for the game. Outside of that, without that preset the controls are terrible. This game is so bloody good, Japan has been spoiled, and we had to wait for this. The twists and turns in this is everything you want in an engaging visual novel. Without spoiling anything, if you like murder mystery/ visual novels then you will like this. Perhaps love it. The art style is really what hooked me and by half way through my playthrough I was for sure hooked. The OST wasn't bad at all either, really set the mood. I will say I did get kindof confused near the end. Maybe too much being thrown at the player too fast there when it was kindof slow the rest of the game.

Beautiful and artistic in a way few games are. Demands you pay attention and really feel what is happening in the game to get the most out of it. An astounding story about how technology connects us but obfuscates us from one another while also exploring how hate and darkness can spread between a group of people. The music and the actual art for the game is incredible. Writing is gripping and has a certain style to it that feels very lived in. One of the best things I have played in years and I highly recommend it.

I was kinda not digging the early Placebo cases, but the aesthetic and strength of the plot and cast of characters got it out of that little slump. Fun little twist on a VN.

Very good (and weird) experimental vn. It has a sick visual style and amazing soundtrack. The game is presented through a bunch of different mediums (3D environments, 2D art, live action, animated), all done very well. Soundtrack sets the mood perfectly and is some of the best I've heard in a game. The presentation combined with the story left a serious imprint on me, even despite how incomprehensible it can be at times. It took genuine effort to make sense of and appreciate this game, but I felt that the payoff was worth it. The game isn't flawless. It is pretty dated, and both QOL and pacing are fucked. The controls are seriously bizarre, but it doesn't take long to become somewhat natural. Though my main gripe is that scene transitions take forever and cant be skipped. One at a time it shows the name of a location, date, time, etc, one at a time, with a slow fade in/out. It's kind of mind numbing sometimes for my shitass adhd brain (skill issue), especially when it's going back and forth from different locations constantly. It's a neat aesthetic touch but for the love of god I do not need to wait 15 seconds for text to fade out to get an idea of the location. The story was really interesting, its sparse on details but gives you enough to put together the gist, then infer specifics. With case 2 and 3 though, on Transmitter it felt really hard to follow and kinda incomprehensible before Placebo had another writer explaining wtf Suda was even trying to portray. I think the writing quality is very good, but it's just so obscure at times it's just hard to appreciate in the moment. I might just be stupid though. The characters are all strong personalities that are all fucked up and dysfunctional in their own ways. They're constantly fighting each other over dumb shit and sometimes seem like they barely take their job seriously at all. Watching this play out is super entertaining, and I grew attached to all the different stubborn, fucked up idiots (who are also smart) that the game portrays. Most the main cast doesn't really fall into any rigid box with morals or personality, and they feel complicated in the same way real people are. The fact the game pulled this off so well I think speaks to the writing quality. TLDR; I'd recommend it if you'd enjoy a bit more abstract storytelling, strong and flawed characters, very little gameplay, have patience for PS1 era QOL, and enjoy darker atmospheres with great presentation.

started it like 2 years ago, didnt have the motivation to go through as it was slow and stopped after spectrum. came back, new pc so new save file, determined to finish it and i am happy that i did, with more maturity i think i understood it much better and i love the themes. 9/10 but requires patience

Really, REALLY good story with strong themes and generally great visual presentation. It can feel strange/incoherent at points, as it doesn't really wait up for the player at all; instead of taking the time to explain everything that happens the game often jumps to the next beat. Because of this it might not be for absolutely everyone, but I personally really enjoyed it as it gives you a lot to think about in regards to what is going on and what everything actually means, and this makes the overall story a lot more engaging as a result. Also, the soundtrack is really good as well. Also also, can I borrow about 50,000 yen?