SHINRAI - Broken Beyond Despair

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 making their rather large cast (ten main players!) distinctive and memorable. Being able to e...

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 maintaining a solid murder mystery. The mystery itself is really great and complex. The solution ...

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 minutes and then explained with five deus ex machinaes, it's an actual well constructed fair mystery th...

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 were enjoyable, and the soundtrack is also really good. 9/10. All your choices matter to re...

I bought this game because a lot of people said it was like Phoenix Wright et al and. hoo boy. We have different standards for writing quality, I suppose. I'll give the devs kudos in that I was taken for a ride with a red herring and the actual mystery was interesting/surprising (if... kind of implausible and convoluted), but that's one of the few positive things I can say. First off, several of the characters are incredibly obnoxious to listen to and/or terrible human beings. The intro of the game has you sit through the protagonist (Raiko) being sexually harassed by her mother. You might be like, "Hey, that's a little harsh, she didn't sexually harass her just because she made her take her clothes off and put on a cat outfit for Halloween, repeatedly ignoring her complaints and discomfort." It's okay! Just to provide zero doubt for you, the game has comments about how the protagonist struggles to keep a diary because her mother keeps violating her boundaries. And her mother steals ...

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't get much chance to be used, and it's a bit too easy to know what objects are important while ...

The mystery itself stumped me (and might stump you too), but everything else was subpar. The dialogue and interactions between characters like the MC and her best friend or her mother are cringy and overly padded out. Some characters feel shallow, as if they are there just to fulfill certain archetypes. A few could be removed and the story literally would not change by any meaningful amount. By the end, I was skipping through dialogue just to finish the VN and get the answers. The art is... questionable. I'm not a big fan of it and never really got used to it even by the epilogue. Also... there is literally a character whose entire personality is masturbating and sexually harassing people. What makes him think that is a socially acceptable way to behave? Why do people tolerate his presence in the first place? How does he even have friends? How did he turn out this way at 15 years old? I think his backstory would have been a more "interesting" one than the one I just read.

Short version: pick this game up if you're at all into murder mystery visual novels like Danganronpa and Phoenix Wright. Don't be put off by the amateur Deviant Art look and slow beginning. The actual mystery is very well done, maybe even slightly edging out Danganronpa and Phoenix Wright by never taking any leaps in logic like those two are prone to do. You'll get a solid 7-9 hours out of this. Long version: Let's get the two weak points out of the way first to clear away any aprehensions: the art and the beginning. The art might make you think this was just thrown together, but it's not. A lot of work clearly went into hashing out the details of the mystery. After a while you'll get used to the art. It's serviceable. The slow beginning. The first 90 minutes are very slow. It takes a long time for things to happen. A lot of the narration and dialogs are overly wordy. Two characters come off as painfully over the top anime trope. This is unfortunately the weakest part of the game, a...

When I saw SHINRAI I'll admit, I was a bit hesitant to try it out, but in the end I'm very glad I decided to take the chance on it. The game is an interactive visual novel mystery, similar to Phoenix Wright and Danganronpa; so if you like those games you will probably enjoy this one. Though, like everyone else has said the SHINRAI has very slow start. But if you push past that, it's an overall fun experience. The mystery was pretty well thought out, with solutions and twists I didn't see coming. At first, I wasn't into the characters, but by the end they all grew on me, as eventually they showed hidden depths. The motivation for the crime was something I didn't see coming, so overall I think the characterization was pretty decent. The characters pretty much stand out with their distinct personalities, so much so that I can recall everyone's name which is pretty important when you're dealing with a large cast of characters. The only thing I didn't really like was Nobara's speech dialec...

Murder Mystery Visual Novel with interactive parts, I dont know about you but that sounds awesome to me. As a big fan of other similar games I find this VN to be quite good, full of fun anime/games references and presenting an interesting but short mystery. If anything that I've said sounds like your jam then yes, this is your jam.