Knight Case Files

Knight Case Files is a mystery visual novel developed by Hyoukan Studio, and published by one of the creators of [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/minamallow/recommended/2342920/]Obscura[/url] under the publisher Kaguya Project. This information alone had my attention on KCF. I thoroughly enjoyed Obscura, as you can read above. Knight Case Files didn’t end up being what I expected in the slightest. I thought it’d be a cute fantasy with a little romance, but instead follows a bit of a darker path. The world you are a part of is unique, and despite how great it looks at first glance, it has a very dark history. To understand the story unfolding, you must learn about said history and understand what has brought the story here. A young woman, Margarethe, has been found causing problems for the Phoenix Kingdom and more concerningly, the Crown Prince. However, it is also known that she had died some time before these occurrences. It’s your job to figure out why, and even the smallest bit of information can be the difference between a good and bad ending. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3668855334 [h3]Story [/h3] You, Wilhelm, are a Royal Guard working hard on more than just his guard work. His father is a weaponsmith who he tests prototype designs for, making sure that they are sharp, efficient, and will give their target a swift, painful death. This has created a “myth” amongst the Royal Guard, whispers and mentions of a mysterious being seen as the Corpse Killer. But that is the least of his concern. His first major task as a member of the Royal Guard is to discover the threat to the Kingdom and its people. Topherf is a sweetheart alchemist who is key to this story. Wilhelm is appointed to be their personal guard, as they are an alchemist with the best experience and knowledge for this case. They struggle with their own appearance and confidence. Due to this, they can transfer their soul between two alchemical creations, two different bodies they can control at will. One male, and one female. Although Topherf is not content with them. The bodies are not truly human, and they wish for nothing more than to create the perfect body for themselves. Topherf is your sole romantic interest, and as someone who usually plays Otome with multiple interests, I was completely fine with this. The two work together great, and I could see something sweet would blossom from a mile away. There are many other significant characters, being immortal phoenixes, the Crown Prince himself, and the ‘villains’ of the story. I enjoyed a vast majority of the cast, they were well written, unique and very interesting. I cannot explain much about the other cast without the risk of spoilers, but I can confidently say that I recommend KCF due to the characters, alone. The characters are a large part of what really had me excited to play each time! https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3668855361 [h3]Art & Visuals [/h3] If you have spent any time looking at the Steam page, you’ll see some amazing art of the cast. It’s unique, yet very highly detailed. I found myself mesmerized by how gorgeous the eyes were of each character. Outfits were well designed, detailed, and looked very pretty. Some, like Wilhelm, even had multiple gorgeous designs! The backgrounds, while not as standout as the main character art, were still pretty and detailed in their own right. Too much detail and colour to them wouldn’t have made the cast really stand out and seemed like a solid artistic choice. Every voice actor cast in KCF was a great choice. The VA was genuinely good quality and I found each suited their given character well, and they did a great job of really portraying their character’s personality. Major story scenes have full voice acting, with some less significant dialogue not fully voiced. A fine choice, and frequent in the majority of VN I have come across. I enjoyed the music and the ambience of the game. It was often very in place and fitting, with music matching the scene. More intense when things were getting serious, yet calm and relaxing when the story was just that. My only complaint was some sound effects felt they lasted a little too long, such as a character running - footsteps would last for several lines of text. Maybe it is because I am a slow reader, but I feel it would have been fine being shorter. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3668855387 [h3]Writing [/h3] Finally, I wanted to discuss the writing quality of KCF. This felt significant to have its own section, since out of curiosity I checked the steam reviews and saw that the few that were there, seemed to speak of the story and script rather negatively. But I didn’t feel that way at all. The first chapter was a little slow, sure, but not at all boring. The story was starting and you were getting introduced to some significant characters as well as learning a lot of information about a world vastly unique to our own. This did cause somewhat of an “info dump”, but one would expect it. Especially from a shorter visual novel with such a world to explain. Sometimes Wilhelm would also be learning things with the reader, but most commonly, like a vast majority of VN with such a unique world, words would get highlighted for you to check out more detailed information and understand what was being spoken about. This information is not really mandatory but if you’re confused about something it helps for reader experience to check them out. You are given a tips and keyword option you can also refer back to anytime. The overall story is rather linear, with one good ending. There are 3 bad endings, all of which are optional and somewhat obvious - at the start of a significant choice, the game warns you and highlights options which can lead to an end. These endings are still worth experiencing since they present more information about some characters to the reader, although they are still optional. There are not many choices to be made, but aside from those leading to certain endings, they are not very significant either due to the linear aspect of the story. KCF also includes some side stories, around a five-minute read, which I’d recommend checking out when you’re done. While not significant to the story, they are just cute moments of the characters you come to enjoy and care for just having a good time. KCF’s translation was great, and I find it hard to fault. I noticed a few errors - two typos, and there were a few moments where punctuation missed a space after it - although I’d say the errors I noticed were single digit numbers. This is something that can certainly be easily fixed, however. I do have screenshots of the two typos if the dev catches this and wishes to correct them. [h3]Overall opinion [/h3] I really loved my experience playing Knight Case Files, a VN I’d call a hidden gem that definitely deserves more attention than it has. Every time I loaded up the game, I was looking forward to seeing the characters I had come to enjoy, and experience how the story would unfold next. This was also a short and sweet experience, taking me - a slow reader - around 10 hours for the main story, including the bad endings. Honestly, my only complaint is that it is over. I really hope that I can see more of this world in the future, whether a sequel, a spin-off, or something entirely new with the world. This is a story and world that I believe can thrive if given the chance. If anything I have said here interests you at all, please check out the Knight Case Files demo, and I hope you enjoy the story as much as I have! Otome Lovers wishes to thank [i]Kaguya Project[/i] for providing a free review copy for this game. [quote]Please follow our curator page, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/4680120/]Otome Lovers[/url], if you'd like to see more reviews like this one! [/quote]

This is from the creator regarding about the endings: There are four endings. Two are unresolved endings (bad endings), and two are final endings (choose whichever conclusion you prefer). This game's bad endings are special. Actually, the bad ending routes are stories that explore the compelling narratives of the antagonists. While they lead to negative outcomes, they delve into the villains' circumstances, their human drama, and reveal the true nature of the incidents. To truly understand this game's story, you need to see the bad end routes. However, the bad end routes use a “rewind” system set in the future-vision world of the character Schatten. After seeing a bad end branch through to the end, you can easily rewind back to a choice that avoids the unfortunate outcome. In other words, the bad endings in this game are essentially saying, “We were just having a bad dream.” Play through the game and check the tutorial for explanations of the choices. Important choices have special shapes and colors, so saving there will generally keep you safe. For other choices, pick based on preference and enjoy seeing the characters' reactions. The branching needed to unlock all Steam achievements requires detailed explanation, so I'll save that for later! But basically, save at the choice branches, then load and read through them to unlock everything. This game isn't about pursuing characters, so it's basically one main story. Besides the protagonist's perspective, the main story is also written from other characters' viewpoints. It's an ensemble piece. After clearing the game, epilogues and side stories unlock. These feature short tales where every character becomes the protagonist. For Schatten and Abend's side stories, you won't understand them unless you see the bad endings. They're the answers to the mystery of Schatten's future visions.

*UPDATED* TLDR: this is a visual story game, the writing doesn't reflect that. It doesn't take advantage of the visuals to speak for themselves. The character dialogue has no personality or life, it is written the same as world information. Long, dry, and constantly describing details that are generally unnecessary. It doesn't take advantage of the game part of the story to keep excessive world or character info in menus to keep the story consumable and interesting. Although, they could have kept a lot the info in the writing if it was just written better. Now the long: I want to provide some constructive criticism. I can't say I dislike it entirely, but it really made it hard for me to get into and see what I expect to be some good content (possibly over-optimistic), but I can't handle more than brief sessions before I lose track of what is going on. First and worst. The writing in English. It is technically written well, for a textbook. I am being shoved so much world and character information in such a dull format right out the gate that I fear I am going to be tested on the content next week. It is a cram session of information. I won't say that this isn't appealing to some, but it isn't exactly easy to stay awake through it on my end. There is no utilization of removing heavy information from dialogue with a pop up to indicate story snippets in a menu for you to puruse at your pace to focus on the story which I think it should have done. My head hurts and I have retained an amount of information that could have been said in a single paragraph. The dialogue, internal and external, doesn't always make sense or line up. Descriptions make it seem like the main character doesn't know the people he is talking to, then he does (happens to everyone as they are introduced in the story). It also is occassionally hard to tell if the character is talking to someone or if it is internal. Maybe the text indicators got mixed up in a spot or two, orrr it isn't written well. The characters dialogue sounds the same no matter who is talking. At first I thought my brains were numb from the info dump, but after taking a break and returning I can't tell who is talking because the writing has no sense of personality, or rather it has one but is applied to all of them equally. It doesn't even attempt to change the language used from what I can tell. Kind of a basic requirement of writing characters to give them a personality not just different backstories. Next, something little but has a huge impact. Text background transparency! There is a setting that allows adjusting this, but it feels like it allows 15% difference from semi transparent to fully transparent. Kind of a weird choice, I have bad eyesight, is it that hard to allow more opacity in the textbox background? Depending on the background I really struggle to read anything. The font doesn't help this much, however if the background was more opaque I don't think the font would be a problem any longer. As far as grammatical errors, there are some that are a bit odd, however it seems visual novels never have this covered so I guess I should say they aren't one of the bad ones. Last there was a moon in the sky in speech but visually there wasn't, then there suddenly was a visual one...I am not going back to double check that one but that was just weird. Basically the writing issues are a serious blockade in this STORY focused game. I don't recommend this based on my own standards. It is done to a technically good level, but it isn't done to a creatively good standard. As a story it is extremely hard to read. If you actually enjoy reading books you will be able to easily tell why I think this is written poorly.

細部まで凝られて地に足ついたしっかりしたキャラ構成、丁寧親切なシステム、読みやすい文体でおすすめです！ シリアスみの強いファンタジー舞台で濃いキャラがお好きなら是非おすすめ 声優さんも皆さん演技派揃いで耳も目も幸せになれます。 個人的には性別任意ヒロインのトファーフさんの男版（CVみみっく・わんだーぼっくす さん）が本当～～～に可愛くて可愛いので是非皆聴いてくださいまじで とりあえず一旦これだけ描きますがそのうちちゃんとレビューします

The game was quite boring, five chapters of main story.

美麗なアートと自己受容の物語に心動かされました。 主人公が自身の性質・コンプレックスと付き合い、悩み成長していく過程が丁寧に描かれています。彼の葛藤は好感が持てるもので、思わず応援したくなります。 それぞれが抱える背景の作りこみもしっかりしており、読み終わる頃にはどのキャラにも愛着がわいていました。 バッドエンドがヒントとなるシステムも、物語的に意味のあるもので、周回感少なく選択を試せるのが良かったです。 [spoiler]テイとマルガレーテの関係が特に好きでした。クリア後ストーリーの穏やかな2人が切なかったです。[/spoiler]

「あーあ、どこかに雰囲気良くて世界観に没入できる読みやすい文章とイイ感じの音楽とキャラボイスが実装されてるミステリ調のファンタジーノベルゲームがないかなぁ」 そう思っている貴方！　こちらの『Knight Case Files』がおすすめです。上記条件を満たした10万字超えの作品がお手頃価格でプレイできます。特にこのシナリオライターさんはキャラの感情の機微を描くのが得意なので魅力的なキャラクターたちの中にお気に入りができること請け合いです。個人的には敵方のとあるキャラがすごくイイと思いました。 美麗な絵柄ながら中身は女性向け・男性向けというくくりはなく、どの方も楽しめる事件解決型のストーリーですのでご安心を。 目に留まった方、お目が高い。返品は2時間以内なら可能です。是非こちら、まずは10分でいいので実際にお試しくださいませ。

ストーリーもキャラクターも魅力的で、すべてのイラストが本当に美麗だった。 UIのデザインが良く、セーブしたりログを見たりするときなど操作にもストレスが無かった。 固有の用語を忘れてしまっても別画面に移動することなく、 直接メッセージウィンドウから用語の解説を見ることができるため、とても親切な設計だと感じた。 ヒロインが男女2つの姿を持っているのがとても魅力的で、 どちらの姿でも同一人物だとわかるようなＣＶになっていて感服した。 分岐ごとに得られる情報が異なるため、個人的に全分岐の回収がおすすめ。

画面に吸い込まれそうなくらい美麗なイラストで情報量がすごいです。 絶対フルスクリーンでやりましょう。 と同時に、看板通りの重厚な世界観設定やシナリオだったのですが、 腰を据えてプレイしなきゃダメかな、と身構えていたら意外とするする読めました！ 地の文もある読み応え重視な文体なのに良い意味でライトで、不思議な感覚でしたがライターさんの力量を感じました。 絵柄が女性向けかつ、ブロマンス系の前日譚もあるとのこと。 この製品版にも確かにそれっぽいスチルが1枚だけあるなぁ、という感じだったので苦手な方は注意です。 (むしろ好きという方は、セットで遊んだ方が世界観や時系列がわかりやすくて良いかもしれません) ストーリーも、主人公の葛藤に一捻りあるのが新鮮味があって良かったです。 ちょっとヘタレな演技も多めなボイスもあってこそ、ギャップが引き立っていました。 ヒロインを始め周りの登場人物の魅力もしっかり描かれていたおかげで、説得力を感じられる展開に仕上がっていた思います。 クリア後、PV最初の「『常識の定義』ってなんなんでしょうね。」というキャッチに謎にビックリしてしまいました。 厨二病ポエムが本当にその通りなことってあるんだ(失礼)