Chase: Cold Case Investigations gets first review in Famitsu

Last week, Aksys announced localization of Chase: Cold Case Investigations. It’s a new game from Hotel Dusk director Taisuke Kanasaki plus former CING staff.

Although Famitsu’s review was published a few weeks back, we thought we’d take a new look at it now that Chase’s localization is confirmed. Editors dished out scores of “8”, “7”, “8”, and “6” for a score of 29 out of 40.

Wondering why Chase received those scores? Head past the break for the full transcript of Famitsu’s review.

Reviewer 1 – 8

My first impression was that this game is an adventure with many systems like Jake Hunter series, but things like the presence of characters and a well-made world, removing the partition between upper and lower screen boldly, and devoted camera angles made me admire the game. When this game caught my eye, I thought “This isn’t an ordinary eShop title!” and I was convinced that this is a title from Taisuke Kanasake, who made Another Code: Two memories. I’m hoping for serialization.

Reviewer 2 – 7

Character pictures that move by Live2D and an elegant atmosphere leave a good taste. As the story is a bit short there are no things like divergence, but it’s good that you don’t lose interest and the game keeps appealing to the end. However, a description that hints at a sequel remains as hazy. When the save data is loaded, you don’t start where you had progressed to read, but rather you restart from the opening of a scene, which feels a bit inconvenient. It’d be nice if the cost performance was better.

Reviewer 3 – 8

I like that character designs, music and the story bring about a mood that is adult-like. The direction that uses upper and lower screen is well done, as well as the visual presentation that has characters moving in a standing pose. It’s good that you can’t progress by going through all choices because of the contents of questions and the life system, and it’s fun to think things out. My true opinion is “I’d play it if it was in 500 yen price range”, but instead it is attractive that you can clear the game quickly in a short time.

Reviewer 4 – 6

Things like scene cuts and the direction on the whole feel a bit blunt, but discreet character designs and chic music create enough atmosphere that is special to detective games. The story is short and on top of that there are no highs and lows, and also reasoning elements when you select a message are somewhat lame. If you are a person who likes the catch that the protagonist detective, who doesn’t stand out, actually has a secret past and a sequel is hinted at, you can immerse properly in the aftereffect.

Note: Famitsu’s review mentions that the play time is around 2-3 hours.

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