The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story Review (Crythor)
I can highly recommend this game IF you get it on a sale. The base price of 50 Euro is too high but if you grab it on a sale by all means go for it.
Now lets talk about the bad the good and why i recommend it:
The bad:
1. The controlls take some getting used to and could be better but once you do the game plays great.
2. Chapter 5 changes how the game is played and i am not a big fan of that section
3. Even the 4k Video has some artifacts
The good:
The game is long for an FMV game i think i spent 12 to 13h with one playthrough. But do not expect much replayability as this is a detective game and a very good one at that but once you sole the cases/riddles the mystery is gone.
The cases and riddles are very good in this game. They are actually very complex and most cases could have logically unfolded diffrently and you will not always know which hypothesis is the correct one and who killed who etc. right away.
You create hypotheses by combining clues from the story you played. The game will give you all in this phase so you can never get stuck.
Once you are in the solving phase of a case the game however helps you a lot by giving you parts to choose from from the hyposethis you created this makes solving the case much easier then it would have been if you would have to argue the entire case/mystery on your own. Still the cases feel great to solve and are very intresting and are quite diffrent from each other.
You play as a female author who gets involved with the Shijima Familiy and have to solve both murders in the present as well as in the past and how everything is connected by the fruit of youth.
Its pretty cool how when you read books about the past you imagine yourself as a character in that world and play as them and once you solved the mysterys of the past you take that knowledge to the present where you use it to continue and connect it to the events of the present.
The story spans over the time of 100 years and everything is connected. Its quite facinating.
Once you finished the "last" chapter 6 the game is not actually over. After the credits you will see some more scenes and after that when you are back in the main menue you will get a sms which when you open you play the Epilogue which has some more mysteries to solve and again after the credits they show you a scene again. So do not hold down ESC for to long so you only skip the credits and not the additional scenes.
I can recommend this game to anyone who likes detective games but only if you buy it on sale. For 20 Euros or below go grab it everything above is too much in my oppinion.
My non romance FMV ranking:
1. Vanity Fair: The Pursuit --> Nothing comes close
2. Underdog Detective
3. The Centennial Case : A Shijima Story
4. Breakout 13
5. Death Come True
6. Late Shift
7. Bloodshore
My romance FMV ranking:
1. Knowledge or know lady
2. Ouch! So many beauties! --> Most Sexy FMV get it on Epic
3. Charming Hearts
4. My destiny Girls
5. Secrets of the Heartbeat --> Buy on Steam Epic is missing Patches
6. Love is all around
7. Seduction of Beauty --> CENSORED on Steam buy it UNCENSORED on Epic
8. Beauties! They're All After Me
9. Customized Girlfriend
10. To Be In Love With Girls Group (the Chinese one)
11. My love with the GirlsGroup (Korean)