Table of Contents
amazon The Centennial Case A Shijima Story reviews
Narrative and Storytelling
At the heart of “The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story” is its intricate narrative, which unfolds over the course of the game through a combination of dialogue, cutscenes, and investigative sequences. The story centers around the Shijima family, whose members are cursed by a mysterious and tragic fate that has haunted them for generations.
The narrative is divided into chapters, each focusing on a different period in the family’s history. Players assume the role of a detective tasked with solving the various mysteries that arise throughout the game’s timeline. The central plot revolves around the investigation of a series of murders and suspicious deaths that are linked to the Shijima family curse. As players delve deeper into the story, they uncover hidden secrets, unravel complex relationships, and confront the dark forces that have plagued the family.
The storytelling in “The Centennial Case” is heavily influenced by traditional Japanese mystery and drama. The game employs a non-linear narrative structure, with players jumping between different time periods to piece together the puzzle of the Shijima family’s history. This approach adds depth and complexity to the story, allowing players to explore different facets of the mystery and gain a deeper understanding of the characters and their motivations.
One of the game’s strengths is its rich character development. Each character in the game has a distinct personality, backstory, and role in the narrative. The voice acting and dialogue are well-crafted, adding authenticity and emotional weight to the interactions. The game’s writing effectively conveys the tension, intrigue, and drama of the story, making the characters’ struggles and conflicts feel genuine and impactful.
Gameplay Mechanics
“The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story” combines elements of mystery investigation, interactive drama, and puzzle-solving to create an engaging and immersive gameplay experience. The game’s mechanics are designed to encourage exploration, critical thinking, and deductive reasoning.
Investigation and Clue Gathering
A core aspect of the gameplay involves investigating crime scenes and gathering clues. Players must explore various locations, examine evidence, and interact with characters to uncover information relevant to the case. The investigative segments are designed to be immersive and detailed, with players needing to pay close attention to the environment and dialogue to find hidden clues.
The game features a variety of investigative tools and techniques, such as forensic analysis, interviews, and document examination. These tools help players piece together the narrative and uncover the truth behind the mysteries. The investigative process is methodical, requiring players to connect the dots and draw logical conclusions based on the evidence they gather.
Puzzle-Solving and Deductive Reasoning
Puzzle-solving is another key component of the gameplay. Players are presented with various challenges and brainteasers that must be solved to progress in the story. These puzzles range from logic and pattern recognition to more complex scenarios that require creative thinking.
The game’s deductive reasoning system allows players to analyze clues, formulate theories, and make decisions based on their findings. Players must use their reasoning skills to solve cases, determine the motives of suspects, and uncover hidden truths. The deductive reasoning mechanic is central to the gameplay, as it drives the narrative forward and determines the outcome of the investigation.
Interactive Drama and Choices
“The Centennial Case” also incorporates interactive drama elements, allowing players to make choices that impact the story and character relationships. Players’ decisions can influence the direction of the narrative, alter the outcome of investigations, and affect the characters’ perceptions of the protagonist.
The game’s choice-based mechanics add depth to the storytelling, as players must navigate moral dilemmas, confront difficult decisions, and manage their relationships with other characters. The choices players make can lead to different story paths and endings, adding replayability and encouraging players to explore various outcomes.
The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story puts us in the role of Haruka Kagami, a female detective writer.
A friend of hers, a researcher named Eiji Shijima, asked her for one thing, which is to investigate the mysteries surrounding his family.
The Shijima clan is a famous family, as they are pioneering in research on how to slow down human aging, or even “eternal immortality”.
Throughout the history of the Shijima clan, there have been many members who died from mysterious reasons, deaths that the police could not answer. Eiji Shijima believes that with the expertise of a detective writer, Haruka Kagami can unravel this mystery.
As an FMV game, most of our time will be spent “watching” more than “acting”.
However, the writer does not get bored when sitting in front of the computer screen to watch The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story.
The reason is that the questions surrounding the past, customs, and relationships between members of the Shijima family are gradually answered after each case, instead of giving too much information in one conversation, causing difficulty for writers to follow.
Speaking of new cases, the highlight of The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story, is that most of the cases that players have to solve took place in the past, in different periods.
The way the game conveys this to the player is also quite interesting. By reading the paper documents documenting the case, Haruka will play the role of the main deducer in the case.
In addition to immersing herself in the main deducer, Haruka will also imagine the people around her in the role of key individuals in each case.
The roles of the actors are also shuffled continuously, actor A may be the culprit in the first case, but in the second case, he is the victim.
Even so, the writer did not feel confused in distinguishing the characters between the periods, because the cast all gave admirable performances in each of their different roles.
Most of The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story’s cases fall under the “Whodunit” genre, which is the word for murders that take place in closed spaces, with the perpetrator being one of the people present. If you’ve been following Detective Conan, you’re probably no stranger to this genre.
Using the “Whodunit” genre, The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story has given the writer a mind-boggling case, when the writer has to think about what is the motive behind the victim’s death, as well as the culprit and how it did it.
For readers to enjoy the beauty of the game for themselves, the writer can only say that the game’s cases have presented quite interesting challenges, when the culprit is hard to guess!
The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story gives us a good movie because the player interaction factor… pretty poor!
The gameplay of The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story is divided into 4 stages.
The opening phase introduces the events related to the murder, during this phase dialogue options appear and we choose Haruka’s reaction. However, this did not have a major impact on the story of the case as a whole.
The second stage is the Hypothesis.
Taking place in Haruka’s mind, we will perform a jigsaw minigame, more specifically, attach the collected information boxes to the question box, to create a hypothesis.
This process…is boringly easy, that’s because the question and information boxes all have textures, and to know where to attach the cells we just need to compare the textures, no need to think.
After generating all the hypotheses, comes the third stage, Argument Construction, which is also the weakest stage.
This is the time for us to find the most unusual point in the case. However, whatever the anomaly selection is, it doesn’t affect the final stages of the game, making Argument Building a “yes or no”.
Finally, it’s the Punishment phase. During this phase, Haruka will use the theories she has created to find the culprit from the suspects.
Sometimes, the description of the hypotheses is so vague, with some options almost indistinguishable from others, that the writer inadvertently makes a mistake.
When it makes a mistake, the game will “kick” the writer straight back to the Hypothetical stage (fortunately, in the completion stage). We’ll have to go back into the Crime Breaking phase, and while the game has the option to fast forward to the moment of choosing the hypothesis, this is still a relative waste of time and slows down the tempo of the case.
A better way to do it would be to give the player a certain number of “lives”, representing everyone’s trust in Haruka. After each wrong choice, Haruka loses one life, and when it’s all gone, it’s time to start over.
where can you get a The Centennial Case A Shijima Story online
Square Enix The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story (Import) (PLAS-11181): Buy it now
The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story – Game Music: Buy it now
Conclusion
“The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story” is a captivating and immersive mystery adventure game that excels in storytelling, character development, and visual design. Its intricate narrative, engaging gameplay mechanics, and high-quality audio-visual presentation make it a standout title in the mystery genre.
The game’s branching narrative, choice-based mechanics, and replayability offer a rich and varied experience for players. While there are some criticisms regarding pacing, puzzle complexity, and the impact of choices, these issues do not detract significantly from the overall enjoyment of the game.
In summary, “The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story” delivers a compelling and immersive mystery experience that will appeal to fans of interactive drama and investigative gameplay. Its well-crafted narrative, detailed character design, and atmospheric sound design create a memorable and engaging adventure that is well worth exploring. For players who enjoy unraveling complex mysteries and delving into intricate stories, “The Centennial Case” offers a rewarding and satisfying journey through a world of intrigue and suspense.