SHINRAI - Broken Beyond Despair Reviews

Do I recommend this game? hell yes I do! If you're a fan of VNs like Danganronpa I can't recommend this enough. The story and characters kept me very interested till the very end which i didn't see coming at all. took me about 11 hours to beat and i'm currently on my 2nd playthrough to get the achievements I missed. SHINRAI is definitely worth your time and money and I'm really hoping there will be a sequel or more from these devs in the near future :) 10/10

I remember reading Branson Reese reviews on letterboxd and there was a particular quote that stuck with me. "High school productions are often better than professional ones, because you know EVERYONE wants to be there." And that's a sentence that kept coming back to me here. Shinrai REALLY wants to be about how lack of communication can destroy relationships. And it wants you to KNOW that's the story from beginning to end. I don't really want to be mean to an indie project, but this really feels like a game made in 2008 rather than 2016. It almost screams American middle schooler trying to write an anime, with memes and quirky archetypes and so on and so forth. Its all-encompassing and if that drives you up a tree, you're gonna have a bad time. But I can't really work up a dislike for it. And so I keep coming back to that Branson Reese quote. Its not always well-written or engaging, but you can really feel how much the creators cared about what they were writing. They worked really hard to write a complicated mystery, tying together different character motives so it all made sense. You can feel how they all laughed amongst themselves writing a goofy old Castlevania reference or hentai joke. Or how they committed to their protagonist wearing cat ears and had to write situations where she would keep forgetting to take them off during a murder investigation. I dunno! It was weird! It was embarrassing! It was ambitious and earnest! I had to keep skipping text because I just got overwhelmed with the sheer Middle School Energy of the dialogue. The theme is heavy-handed, but you totally buy that these are the mistakes these children were making because they didn't know how to communicate! I think I liked it a lot! Maybe! I had more to say about this four hour murder mystery vn than the 70 hours/six months I spent on (the unquestioningly good!) Dragon Quest XI. I don't know if that's damning of me or the games, but it says SOMETHING.

When I saw SHINRAI I'll admit, I was a bit hesitant to try it out, but in the end I'm very glad I decided to take the chance on it. The game is an interactive visual novel mystery, similar to Phoenix Wright and Danganronpa; so if you like those games you will probably enjoy this one. Though, like everyone else has said the SHINRAI has very slow start. But if you push past that, it's an overall fun experience. The mystery was pretty well thought out, with solutions and twists I didn't see coming. At first, I wasn't into the characters, but by the end they all grew on me, as eventually they showed hidden depths. The motivation for the crime was something I didn't see coming, so overall I think the characterization was pretty decent. The characters pretty much stand out with their distinct personalities, so much so that I can recall everyone's name which is pretty important when you're dealing with a large cast of characters. The only thing I didn't really like was Nobara's speech dialect; it was overdone and at times distracting. I also wished they explained why Kamen kept saying how Raiko was back, as though they had known each other before. I wonder if that was a dropped idea as it didn't really go anywhere. And I know some people here were calling the art okay, but I really enjoyed it. It's certainly not as stunning as those numerous fancy VN's, but for me it adds to the experience of the game, making it unique in how it's not super glitzed up like other games... because you know those games that look pretty and have little content? I'd rather have decent or okay art with a strong story. It'd be great to have superb art and great story, but hey I'd say the art is neat and gets the job done. I mean, the characters have more than one pose. That's always a plus considering I've played games where it's the characters doing a signature pose haha. My only real qualm I had with the game is how at times the writing seemed to be kinda of stiff. Sometimes I felt like the characters or narration was too explainy, explaining things too much instead of just showing it. I get that Raiko is supposed to be more mature and somewhat aloof, but I felt like it might be trying a bit too hard to give off that vibe. I mean, I used to be like that, but hell you could still tell that I was 15 lol. It might have been better to have the cast remind us that they were 14/15 a bit more often. Otherwise, playing SHINRAI was a fun experience, and I'm glad I decided to take a chance on the game! If you're into visual novels of the mystery variety with a sizable cast of characters I'd recommend it.

The mystery itself stumped me (and might stump you too), but everything else was subpar. The dialogue and interactions between characters like the MC and her best friend or her mother are cringy and overly padded out. Some characters feel shallow, as if they are there just to fulfill certain archetypes. A few could be removed and the story literally would not change by any meaningful amount. By the end, I was skipping through dialogue just to finish the VN and get the answers. The art is... questionable. I'm not a big fan of it and never really got used to it even by the epilogue. Also... there is literally a character whose entire personality is masturbating and sexually harassing people. What makes him think that is a socially acceptable way to behave? Why do people tolerate his presence in the first place? How does he even have friends? How did he turn out this way at 15 years old? I think his backstory would have been a more "interesting" one than the one I just read.

I have to recommend SHINRAI for one big, important reason: It's actually a good, fair mystery. I have to admit that I got tricked by a red herring, but only because I'd underestimated the writing and failed to put things together correctly. The core puzzle is very well constructed, and the plot around it is well paced. The largest problem is that so much of the key MOTIVES are released in a big rush after you already solve the crime and aren't hinted well enough in advacnce, but it's not a terrible flaw. The writing is largely good... the designers got pretty cutesy shoving movie and video game quotes into the dialogue, but the characters are well-drawn and likeable (especially good ol' Kamen). I have to admit to not seeing much point to the parent characters, and cutting them would have helped speed up the slow beginning. The game's mechanics are fine; the "room search" feature doesn't get much chance to be used, and it's a bit too easy to know what objects are important while searching (unlike in the dialogue and cut-scenes, where close eye for detail is required). The graphics are pretty pedestrian, but they certainly do their job: there's nothing more shocking than a violent mystery starring adorable anime characters. The music is fine, but repetitive. In sum, SHINRAI is a well-made mystery with charming characters; I definitely recommend it, and I look forward to a longer, more ambitious game the designers might be able to do next.

Short version: pick this game up if you're at all into murder mystery visual novels like Danganronpa and Phoenix Wright. Don't be put off by the amateur Deviant Art look and slow beginning. The actual mystery is very well done, maybe even slightly edging out Danganronpa and Phoenix Wright by never taking any leaps in logic like those two are prone to do. You'll get a solid 7-9 hours out of this. Long version: Let's get the two weak points out of the way first to clear away any aprehensions: the art and the beginning. The art might make you think this was just thrown together, but it's not. A lot of work clearly went into hashing out the details of the mystery. After a while you'll get used to the art. It's serviceable. The slow beginning. The first 90 minutes are very slow. It takes a long time for things to happen. A lot of the narration and dialogs are overly wordy. Two characters come off as painfully over the top anime trope. This is unfortunately the weakest part of the game, and I imagine it puts off some people into getting a Steam refund before the 2 hour time limit. Just power through it. Once the murders start happening at the hour and a half mark, the game picks up and becomes engaging. Helpful advice: you can safely skim and speed read past ALL of the events before reaching the resort. I get that it's there to introduce the characters, but Danganronpa does this prior to the first murder amidst exploring the immediate mystery of how the characters got to the strange setting and exploring it. There is no such engaging aspect to the pre-murder portion of Shinrai. The whole beginning could have been cut down to half an hour. So yeah, once the mystery kicks in, you'll be engaged throughout. There's a murder. Chaos breaks out. You're trying to piece together what could have happened, only for more chaos to break out that further complicates things. Repeat until you have a doozy of a timeline to try and work out. This easily could have been an entire chapter murder case of Danganronpa. I do have a couple quibbles. While the events and story keep you engaged, the actual investigating feels very underused. You're introduced to the investigation mechanic during an early "tutorial" as your character pieces together clues from a harmless prank. After that, the investigation tools don't come up again until almost the very end 5 hours later. The manner in which you point out the culprit is also a little strange. Usually these things have you start by debunking minor details, building a clear picture of what happened using evidence, then ENDING with you naming the culprit and wrapping it up with airtight evidence. Shinrai has you pointing out the culprit as literally the very first thing, then building your case from there. On one hand, I guess that's because it gives you all the clues you need to figure it out before it asks you. On the other hand, the dramatic buildup could have been better. The shock is frontloaded since you have to start by knowing who did it, then you just wind down from there explaining it to the other characters. But whatever. You have the wrappings of an indie game with the contents of a well done murder mystery worthy of an above average Danganronpa chapter. If you liked those games or Phoenix Wright, pick this up without hesitation. Skim the text to quickly get through the first hour and a half until the murder, then enjoy.

I bought this game because a lot of people said it was like Phoenix Wright et al and. hoo boy. We have different standards for writing quality, I suppose. I'll give the devs kudos in that I was taken for a ride with a red herring and the actual mystery was interesting/surprising (if... kind of implausible and convoluted), but that's one of the few positive things I can say. First off, several of the characters are incredibly obnoxious to listen to and/or terrible human beings. The intro of the game has you sit through the protagonist (Raiko) being sexually harassed by her mother. You might be like, "Hey, that's a little harsh, she didn't sexually harass her just because she made her take her clothes off and put on a cat outfit for Halloween, repeatedly ignoring her complaints and discomfort." It's okay! Just to provide zero doubt for you, the game has comments about how the protagonist struggles to keep a diary because her mother keeps violating her boundaries. And her mother steals her newest diary to write about how boring it is that her daughter isn't writing about her juicy crushes and perverted fantasies. You know, the kind of thing that is totally appropriate for a mother to think about or say to her 14 year old daughter, and was completely necessary to put in the game because (crickets) Shortly after, you are introduced to her best friend who, in an apparent attempt to make a funny endearing sidekick a la Maya from Ace Attorney, just talks like a teenager on Gaia Online in the year 2008. She even writes out text emojis in Raiko's journal! It's Soooo Wacky!!! Here is a verbatim quote for you: "We found a window an' let in sum moonlight, so we can see shit now! (makin' me wonder how she jotted down dat last entry in 'at darkness O_o;)" Wow! Isn't that fun to read and listen to? Now imagine being subjected to pages of this for most of the game because she's glued to Raiko at the hip. I started skimming most of the dialogue and it made it a lot more bearable. So you're like, okay, well, maybe that's a little obnoxious. But wait! There's a guy in here whose entire existence is to sexually harass everyone, talk about how much he wants to and/or has jerked off to them, spends all night jerking off to porno, and there's even a part where you pick up his cum-stained pornography!! Let's not mention the part where he snuck into the room of some female students on a past school trip and put on their panties while sniffing a different girl's panties! But they invited him and tolerate his presence in their friend group because (crickets) And he hasn't yet been suspended from school because (crickets) And the Good Guy character considers him his best friend and tolerates his behavior because (crickets) He also [spoiler]stalked a girl and the good guy is like 'wow I can't believe he would have done something like that!' as if it's a mystery that the guy who constantly sexually harasses women with escalating acts of aggression could have possibly done such a thing, his other behavior was so... uh... harmless?[/spoiler] Genuinely a lot of the dialogue is frustrating or annoying to read and often feels padded out for length. Like, you examine one thing and Nobara (your best friend) goes off on an insane tangent about it being a sci-fi cryogenic chamber or something. There is also a character who is constantly obsessed with scaring people so badly they literally pee themselves, and wants to do it to the protagonist. Like, using the words "soaked panties" and insisting she take off her underwear in public to prove it. Because that is definitely the sort of thing I want to read about a 14 year old girl and definitely the kind of normal dialogue someone would say to another person. I'm not sure if they were supposed to be interesting, compelling characters who grow on you, but the only characters I ended up liking were Raiko and Kamen, because they (mostly) act like normal human beings. Also - the references. Good god, the references. This game is self-indulgent in the worst way. It feels like the developers are constantly elbowing you in the ribs saying "Hey remember that one game?". A major plot point is that two of the characters dress up as twins from a horror video game... and the plot synapsis is a massive, obvious reference to a Fatal Frame game. In case you didn't get the more subtle reference, it's okay! They have a hotel room with instructions to use a camera to scare away ghosts on the wall and an ancient camera in front. Do you get it? DO- DO YOU GET IT? No, it's okay. Maybe you never played Fatal Frame. Don't worry. There's also multiple Phoenix Wright references! Oh, and one of the characters makes a Castlevania reference that wasn't already hideously dated by the time the game released, or anything! What about a Dragon Ball reference that makes no sense? And Raiko's epilogue outfit is one massive visual reference to the iconic outfit Heather wears in Silent Hill 3! But when you reference a piece of good media purely for the sake of "ha ha, remember that thing? we also liked that thing!", the problem is that people then remember that thing, and the things they felt playing that thing, and it causes them to directly contrast that with your own mediocre game and the feelings they are having while playing it. So when you reference something, you expect the audience to be like "ha ha! wow! I too enjoyed that video game! What a funny and clever reference!" but instead it's just me being reminded that between Nobara saying "cray-cray" and "aw nutbunnies" every 5 seconds I could be playing an actual good video game that I enjoy. They also shove in two cameos of completely unrelated-looking people at the very end, which I'm guessing are either dev self-inserts or supposed to be from a different game they have. Either way, not sure why they're here or why we're supposed to care about them but it sure feels masturbatory to shoehorn them in! The thing that gets me is that there are some redeeming parts to this game. The art isn't terrible - the backgrounds are lovingly detailed, and the sprites are expressive, though the artist DESPERATELY NEEDS TO LEARN HOW TO SHADE WITH A COLOR THAT IS NOT BLACK, OH MY GOD, I'M BEGGING YOU. SHADE YELLOW WITH ORANGE. SHADE ORANGE WITH RED. SHADE BLUE WITH PURPLE. SHADE WHITE WITH BLUE. SHADE GREEN WITH BLUE AND HIGHLIGHT WITH YELLOW. The UI is a lot different from the standard Ren'py layout and there's a neat little trivia section. There's a lot of care in here. The mystery, like I said, was genuinely interesting and at points stumping. And once they stopped irritatingly padding out every interaction, the character interactions weren't terrible. I almost walked out of it thinking it was a good game until I got hit with the epilogue with more sexual harassment from the protagonist's mother, more pointless references, and baffling cameos. This team has definite potential, they just... need to stop being so self-indulgent, focus on getting a second writer and/or editor to focus on characterization (and do a sanity check with some of the lines - yeesh), and polish up the art a bit. Also please don't make me ever read a line about an adult woman commenting enthusiastically on her 14 year old daughter's sex fantasies ever again, what is wrong with you, Jesus Christ

I just finished this game, and wow, it was really good! I liked the beginning since it was setting the mood for the upcoming events; presenting the characters, their ups and downs, etc. I could feel a better connection between them because of that, and my favorite character is Kotoba. Which is funny because I actually met a person in real life that talks just like him (he mixes various foreign words during his speech). Like, it’s so similar that I couldn’t believe my eyes at first, and I couldn’t stop laughing, haha. Also, the small references to other games made me smile (especially the Castlevania reference). They were all so fitting to the dialogue, it was pretty nice. The art style might not be professional, but it surely gave life to the characters and its story. At first it might seem a simple mystery/detective VN, but there’s a special shine on this one. The investigation scenes were enjoyable, and the soundtrack is also really good. 9/10. All your choices matter to reach certain endings, and most of characters are likable! [spoiler]Except Hiro lol[/spoiler]

Although SHINRAI starts somewhat slow, once the game picks up, it's an addicting and enjoyable experience. I would definitely recommend it for murder mystery lovers. To be frank, when I first started playing, I had the urge to drop the game. The attempts at humor in the opening didn't appeal to me. Nobara's entire speech pattern felt very forced (this was a constant, though). The introduction to the characters had many moments of telling without showing. But I told myself I would continue at least until the first death. I'm so glad I kept playing. Once the story picked up, I couldn't put it down. Despite the weak introduction to the characters, I ended up liking almost everyone. Everyone's motivations and backstories are thought out very well. They're distinct enough from each other to stand out both visually and personality-wise. Everyone remains in-character throughout while still maintaining a solid murder mystery. The mystery itself is really great and complex. The solution isn't obvious at all, and there are a lot of red herrings placed along the way. I really appreciated all of the details that came together, and finding the true culprit felt very satisfying. I also really loved the investigation sequences. They felt very reminiscent of Phoenix Wright, and there were a lot of amusing interactions from them. If anything, I just wished there were more of these. Overall, I really recommend giving this game a chance. Just prepare yourself for the weak opening and keep an open mind.

Like other reviews have mentioned, the beginning of SHINRAI is rather slow. It starts with a lot of slapstick comedy and silly references, which can be a bit... obnoxious, maybe – but Raiko (our main character) is rather deadpan, so offers a good contrast to some of the more ridiculous moments. Though the main cast are all based around tropes – Runa is the well-spoken, polite young lady; Rie is the loud genki girl; Kotoba is a huge pervert; Mika is probably insane – they get some more meat to them as the game goes on. In fact, discovering the backstories behind these characters is one of the most important aspects of the game, because it is a murder mystery – and, with a murder mystery, you need potential culprits who have reasons for committing such crimes. Actually, the fact I remember all these character names off the top of my head should show the writer did a pretty good job of making their rather large cast (ten main players!) distinctive and memorable. Being able to examine rooms for evidence was fun, and I enjoying questioning the characters to pick up additional bits of information. I think maybe the ‘examine’ function was too easy, because the game wouldn’t let you leave a room until you’d found enough evidence to actually solve the case – but this is probably a good thing, as it prevents dead-ending yourself in the final chapter. As for the art, though it initially put me off, it really grew on me. Characters have a lot of poses and multiple outfits, they’re very expressive, and some of the designs are pretty cute (Kamen’s witch costume is super adorable… Everything about Kamen is super adorable…!) There’s also a large variety of backgrounds, and the backgrounds used for the investigation scenes are very detailed, filled with lots and lots of objects to click on for Raiko to comment about. The character sprites and backgrounds go together well, the GUI looks very clean and polished. Overall, I’d really recommend SHINRAI. It’s a very nicely crafted murder mystery story with enough twists and turns to keep you entertained, but the conclusion makes sense and it’s satisfying to reach. Though the art might be a bit jarring at first, and some of the more ridiculous characterisation, it all grew on me. Really, it’s good. Go buy it. You won’t be disappointed.