Shinrai: Broken Beyond Despair

So, you're reading a review; that's good, as it means you're giving this some consideration. At this point in time, you're quite possibly thinking "Well, the art looks okay, but I'm not sure if I want to spend my money on a VN that's just okay". Which is a fair point. I don't like wasting my money, either. So I'll say it here - this is well worth picking up. No, the art's not the best ever seen in a VN - but it's perfectly serviceable; there are a lot of characters, and a lot of facial expressions, and you're never in any doubt as to which character you're looking at. And it does start out somewhat slowly (slice-of-lifey, I guess) - but then that gives you time to settle in and learn a bit about each character in turn, rather than having the fairly large cast (ten main characters) all thrown at you at once. While some of the characters are, shall we say, a little *excessive* with asp

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 ma

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

SHINRAI deserves your love. As most of us do, you probably judge a book by its cover, or, in case of VNs, its art. The art in Shinrai is actually drawn by its main writer and developer and is probably not what you would call professional. However after finishing the game I think the art feels just right in context, and it doesn't hurt the joy of the story even a little bit. There are lots of sprites, lots of expressions and outfits, and a lot of characters including extras. All of them may not be AAA quality, but in this game, they definitely don't need to be. It does what it has to - you grow to like the characters and their funny quirks. Now, onto the story. What surprised and pleased me the most is that SHINRAI is an actual fair play mystery. Which is something incredibly rare in our age of detective fiction's decline. The main "case" is not something the writer made up in three min

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

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