GENBA no Kizuna

After completing the game, I had mixed feelings. In some places, it was so boring that I had to skip through the text. Also I enjoyed the idea and atmosphere of Shinrai more overall. However, the mystery in this novel was intriguing and complex. The characters were entertaining, and the ending helped to smooth out any bad impressions. Overall, the game was enjoyable, but I felt a bit disappointed, because I wanted something more like Shinrai.

This is a prequel to Shinrai. While it is perfectly self-contained, I'd still recommend playing that first if you want to appreciate some references. Both games also have similar strengths, so playing one sort of tells you if the other one would also be for you. The story here could be likened to an elaborate CSI episode with dinosaurs. You pretty much jump right into the action. This is quite different from Shinrai, which had more buildup. One might think that would mean less focus on the characters. However, later on, there are segments specifically dedicated to simply learning more about the protagonists. So it's a little more complicated. Ultimately, compared to its predecessor, the cast ends up feeling more fleshed out on average. They better watch out for hungry dinosaurs. The art is great if you like indie vibes. You can feel passion radiating from it. No efforts were spared here. There's an impressive attention to detail, which is crucial in any mystery with visual elements....

Had an absolute blast playing this, and I'm super happy the SHINRAI devs are still making games. I think they improved on a lot of the issues with their previous work, while keeping the aspect I loved the most about it—telling an engaging and puzzling whodunnit. No more slow introductions, GENBA throws you into the story much quicker. The pacing of the game felt great to me, so much so that I kept telling myself "one more investigation sequence and then I'll put it down." Sometimes it was pretty hard to pull myself away. For the mystery, I think it's a little easier to solve than SHINRAI. I felt like the howdunnit was pretty easy, but the whodunnit did have me second guessing myself, which was great. Just like with SHINRAI, multiple suspects have plausible ways to commit the crime, so you'll have to pay extra attention to pieces that don't quite fit. One thing that I really loved is investigating the scene through multiple perspectives. Those sections were really fun! That was on...

[Note: I was one of the beta-testers for the game. I played it totally blind very shortly before its release, when it was in a near-complete state, so although I played it a little earlier my experience with it was essentially the same as any other player's. I just wanted to mention that in case it influences anyone's approach to this review.] If you're looking for a charming cast of characters, a memorable artstyle, a catchy soundtrack, and a well-written murder mystery with some very nice twists and turns, all in a pretty unique setting, you can't go wrong with this one. For an indie project made essentially by two people, I honestly can't praise it enough. It's clear that a lot of time and love was put into it. I had a blast with this game, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to any murder mystery fans out there.

Interesting and funny, but kinda vulgar and prolonged detective visual novel. Русская нечитайка: требует неплохого знания английского, желательно прохождение первой части, SHINRAI; Есть 18+ и немного ЛГБТ-тематики, так что я предупредил; за свою цену в РФ регионе дороговата, если не помешаны на жанре, то лучше ждать скидок; Прошёл сюжетку за 10 часов, но вдумчивое прохождение может занять в пару раз дольше. Takes a lot from previous game, SHINRAI, and I'm not sure if it's good or bad thing. Main changes: instead of horny teenagers in horror mystery flick, we have procedural with adult (slightly less horny) detectives solving murder in Jurasic Park-esque location. Investigation is far longer, harder and better detailed due to circ...

[H1]Time for Mesozoic Murder Mayhem![/H1] This isn't an easy review to write, dagnabit. Okay, Genba no Kizuna is a good game. I've had time to think it over, and I still stand proudly on this hill. The polyPoV Investigation idea is great, and our investigators have nicely distinct inner monologues. It never feels like you're doing the same thing just with a palate swap. The art is gorgeous, music superb, the story hits just the right spot between complex enough to make you feel like you've got your money's worth, while contained enough to be easily digestible. This is a recommended review for a reason. Unfortunately, I don't think this game quite measures up to Shinrai: Broken Beyond Despair. And hey, that's a high bar. Shinrai, even years later, remains my all time favourite murder mystery visual novel. I'm not sure if that's a personal taste thing, or a result of creative decisions in Genba, but let me outline my thoughts and you can be the final judge of what happened here. They ...

This is basically a step up from the developer's previous game, SHINRAI, in every way. I'm having a lot of fun with it so far, lots of ace attorney and danganronpa vibes so if you like those this is right up your alley.

GENBA no Kizuna is a prequel to Shinrai. We follow a rookie officer Keiichi and his 3 coworkers as they try to gather evidence and unravel the truth. This game starts off pretty slow but overall I enjoyed it a lot. I loved slowly getting to know what main 4 characters and the suspects were all a group of fun characters to see interact. I may even say they were more enjoyable then the group in Shinrai (although I also like them a lot). Each character had great dynamics with one another, it was nice seeing them all slowly becomes a solid team. The mystery mechanic is pretty much the same as Shinrai. Solving who done it, was neither too hard nor too easy. I liked the alternative POVs with the 4 characters which made the game more engaging (and is hugely why I like all 4 characters a lot as we got to see a lot of their minds.) Anyways I do recommend this game, especially if you loved Shinrai. I sincerely hope we get to see more of the 4 agents as I'll be sad if we don't get to se...

TLDR for Prospective Buyers: If you liked the spirit regardless of the tone/setting of Shinrai, you'll like this. If you like dinosaurs or detective/cop shows, you'll like this. If you like settings more like Danganronpa/Ace Attorney, buy Shinrai first. Overall, the story and presentation are pretty dang good, definitely worth the price of admission comparing to the price of your average book. Now for the actual review, I feel like it's important to have expectations set properly. The game/story feels a lot more like a episode of Monk or other crime/cop/detective-adjacent shows more then it does something like your traditional murder visual novel, which is not bad, I have a guilty pleasure for a good episode of Monk, but it's not going to be this action packed visual novel with huge chases or huge twists. I do feel like this has the chance to harm the player's experience if you were to have this expectation, due to no fault of Genba's own as I don't think it advertises itself this way...

2/10 This game claims to be 12-16 hours long, but with the amount of filler and unnecessary yapping which lead to 8 hours of gameplay and what thought to be evidence towards what's actually going on being thrown out the window.