DIGITAL EXORCIST case_(0);

DIGITAL EXORCIST case_(0) es una visual novel indie gratuita con ramalazos del género Point and Click, desarrollada por COOL BEANS PRODUCTIONS (que tiene algunos otros títulos interesantes en Itch.io). Es una pequeña desarrolladora a seguir de cerca porque se adivina bastante potencial en esta suerte de prólogo, deudor de Policenauts o Snatcher, a los que evoca y de los que se inspira. La trama sigue a Sawyer, un ex-agente de una agencia singular (encargada de lidiar con ciber-demonios en un mundo retrofuturista de lo más interesante), que se siente impelido a investigar una serie de crímenes macabros en un pequeño e inhóspito distrito. Una de las mayores bazas del título es precisamente su construcción atmosférica, desde ese retro-futurismo que fusiona estética tecnológica avanzada con toda la parafernalia nostálgica ochentera/noventera (sintetizadores en la OST incluidos), desde un estilo visual que retrotrae al cyberpunk, a la apariencia gráfica de los PC-98, su interfaz añeja y su tecnología anacrónica. Esa atmósfera retro-futurista no solo influye en el diseño visual, sino también en la narrativa, explorando temas como la relación entre la tecnología y la espiritualidad, la humanidad y la alienación tecnológica (desconexión emocional y aislamiento), el impacto ético de la tecnología avanzada, la redención personal. Los diálogos son ágiles, el tono es serio (hay imprecaciones y lenguaje soez pero se permite relajarlo con un agradecido humor socarrón e incluso alguna sátira). Desde un punto de vista mecánico el juego se centra principalmente en el desarrollo de la trama (jamás deja de ser una visual novel), la resolución de puzles sencillos en las pocas localizaciones disponibles y la investigación, con cierta gestión de las opciones, desde inventario o desde la premisa de reconstruir el curso de acontecimientos, y algunas estrategias creativas en las refriegas contra los demonios (uso de objetos sagrados o enfrentamientos más directos). En conclusión, este juego no solo es un tributo a los clásicos del género sino también una propuesta interesante que demuestra el potencial del -verdadero- desarrollo indie. Y es gratis, sepa el hacedor por qué. Y solo demanda una hora de tu tiempo. Hay secuela en proceso. Y ya tarda, qué duda cabe.

Fights demons for a living… screams at cockroaches. Honestly relatable.

This game was extremely entertaining, for me. It's a 1990s style graphical adventure game; a detective / demon hunter story. As far as the detective part goes, I didn't really feel like I was working anything out for myself, but I really enjoyed being along for the ride, and I especially enjoyed the scenario's reckless collision of multiple belief systems into a cohesive digital exorcist system. It just grabs whatever from wherever, and I love that. I also liked the balance between the horror and gore of the demon side of things, and the humour of the investigation. I also really liked the retro style and music. This game is free, and is quite short, functioning as a prologue for a full upcoming game, and I am really looking forward to that. :D

[h1]Awesome little game for SMT and Suda51 fans [Eng and Pt-Br review][/h1] Simply a short game that is an incredible mix of Shin Megami Tensei (1,2) and The Silver Case. It's the kind of thing that combines so perfectly that you wonder why they haven't done it before? The OST is ridiculously good, the art is good and it even has simple gameplay. A small project that can be completed in an hour but is very worthwhile especially for the target audience. [hr][/hr] [h1]Pequeno jogo incrível para fãs de SMT e Suda51 [Eng and Pt-Br review][/h1] Simplesmente um jogo curto que é uma incrível mistura de Shin Megami Tensei (1,2) e The Silver Case. É o tipo de coisa que combina perfeitamente que você se pergunta como que não tinham feito antes? OST é ridiculamente boa, arte é boa e até tem um simples gameplay. Um pequeno projeto que pode ser completado em uma hora mas que vale muito a pena especialmente para o público alvo.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣤⣤⣀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠸⣿⣿⣿⣷⡀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣿⣿⣿⣿⣧ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⡟ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣰⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⣶⣶⣶⣤⣤⣀⡀ ⠀⣀⣀⣀⣀⡀⠀⢀⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡆ ⢰⣿⣿⣿⣿⡇⠀⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣅ ⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿⡇⠀⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡇⠀⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠋ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡇⠀⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿⡇⠀⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡟⠋ ⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿⡇⠀⠀⠙⠿⠿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⠿⠃ ⠀⠛⠛⠛⠛⠃

First, it's free, so why not, right? This is a short visual novel where you play as a sort of supernatural detective. I got some slight Shin Megami Tensei vibes from this game's setting, because demons apparently live and can be interacted with in a VR internet called the Aethernet. Actual combat in the game is basically nonexistent, since it's a VN, so you're just taking turns with a nearly guaranteed victory (I did die once due to some confusing instructions on using a weapon for the [i]last[/i] attack). It's got pretty good humor, especially when you log into a victim's computer and start reading posts on a forum called Onichan ("Oni" like the Japanese word for "demon"). Music was very good, and immersed me in the 90's style that this game was aiming for. I can't really explain why, but as soon as I heard the very first note when starting up the game, I thought "this is so 90's Japanese horror game." Looks like this is a prequel to Digital Exorcist, which I'm definitely looking forward to, now. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2944390/DIGITAL_EXORCIST/

"DIGITAL EXORCIST case_(0);" is a weird name for a genuinely but badly made adventure game with elements of a visual novel and RPG, set in a dark, gruesome world inspired by 1990s PC-98 style games. You play as Sawyer, an ex-AGENCY operative, who must exorcise a cyberdemon responsible for mutilated bodies appearing in a sleepy Mississippi town. It does try hard for a retro aesthetic, without considering that if we wanted to play video games from the 1990's we still can, we just don't, because gaming got better. I was there when the deep magic was written, I know things are better now than they were. You can't go home again. And based on the peak player counts for this failure, people didn't. What do you do in the game? Mostly this is slogging through poorly written e-book/visual novel text. You know that old axiom of game development, "Show, don't tell?" That's good if you do, because the developers of this train wreck didn't. And look what happened. This features really godawful pixelcrap "art" instead of real graphics. It's hard to say if this was because the developer didn't have the skill to do the job of creating 3D visuals, or couldn't afford to hire someone who does, but it also doesn't matter. What matters is that this looks much worse than most other games because of that decision, and that's a major deterrent to gamers. Games like Terraria and Stardew Valley succeeded [i]despite[/i] the bad graphics, not because of them. It's also locked to 4:3 aspect ratio... authentic, yes, but also incongruent with modern PC monitor form factors, so that's a fail. This won't look right on your PC. On the matter of pricing and value for gamers, most "free" games on Steam aren't really free. There's often nasty mobile app cash shops, or content locked behind DLC, or donations being requested, or any other number of shady pricing schemes that could mislead gamers, but in this case I'm glad to say this really does appear to be a fully free game. Nothing demonstrates a developers belief in themselves and their work than giving it away without any remuneration. This is a service to themselves, and the gaming industry, and should be applauded. Of course, just because something is free, doesn't necessarily mean it's valuable, or something you might want to spend your time on. Despite having no up-front cost, this failed to appeal to the 120 million+ gamers on Steam. SteamDB showed the game peaked at only 5 concurrent players... this is a dismal public reception. This was so bad they couldn't even give it away. Bearing in mind that free games don't add +1 to your game collector count, should you bother adding this to your library and downloading it? Not this time. This isn't worth downloading. While this won't cost you any money, you get what you pay for, and sometimes, even when the game is free, it's still not enough.