The Silver Case (2016)

Note: This playthrough on PC utilized the "original" settings, save for faster movement/text speeds. Those really help!

The Silver Case is a complex and intimidating visual novel, filled with crime, conspiracy, and ruminations on truth and control. It's also a visual masterpiece and past some of the rough character edges is something that is really worth experiencing.

Within the 24th Ward (based on a special added ward to Tokyo), a series of bizarre murders calls in a special Heinous Crimes Unit to solve the case. What originally starts as a serial killer narrative soon spirals into something much greater over the course of several cases. Additionally, side chapters alongside each case help to explain it from a reporter deuteragonist as the narratives are presented in an intentionally abstract and mysterious manner.

Gameplay is mostly scrolling through text and operating on a limited movement interface - the player can look up, down, and move between set waypoints to interact with objects. The game starts off with a few main puzzles, each centering around codes but soon mostly gives way to more simple movement from point A to point B to trigger the next scene. It's mostly to service the narrative, so anyone expecting a head-scratcher for an adventure game might be disappointed.

That said, the narrative is very compelling and encourages close attention. A lot of the characters can seem pretty dated in behavior (i.e. VERY sexist, expect a few slurs to be thrown around as well) but beneath the unlikeable exteriors can be found some poignant inner workings and some chilling discoveries. As a game in service of the plot the characters may sometimes be a footnote but the protagonist/deuteragonist dual setup helps to both setup and explain each mystery in a satisfying manner.

As for visuals, the game truly shines in this department. Each chapter has a different set of UI backgrounds that's very creative and pleasing to look at (all with their own color sequences!) and the text is very clear and modern. The actual environments are a mix of 2D scenes and person-less 3D movement, a vaguely utopian urban sprawl of Tokyo with the lightest touches of surreal futurism as the player finds more about the inner workings of the 24th Ward. At the time it was created (1999), the game feels very ahead of its time.

The Silver Case, ironically being released in the US long after we've played the rest of Suda's interconnected works, is one of the most important games in understanding the director's themes of "kill the past" but is also a super compelling crime narrative all on its own. Visual novel fans will definitely need to check this one out!

7.5/10

Here's the thing: I understand why somebody wouldn't like this. It hasn't aged well at all mechanically; moving and looking around is annoying because if you want to check things, you have to go to a different part of the menu, only to go back to the movement one again to do something as simple as look around. The style that Suda opted for is disorienting at first, with so much going on--such as words flashing on the screen--that it is a little off-putting at first. Also, it's basically a visual novel with a lot of reading and puzzles that you can solve by just pressing a button. So I get why there's already a 2 star rating for this and nothing else as of now.

Despite the flaws, it's an early example of an auteur that I greatly admire. The DNA of The Silver Case is in most of his games, and we get a good look into the twisted and weird, yet strangely endearing, mind of this guy. The story is wonderful because it's so odd, and this will become a trademark of Grasshopper Manufacture for years to come. It brings with it all the problems that people have, but all the qualities that people enjoy. Yes, you have to be willing to give yourself to the style and the narrative, because outside of that, it's a little blank and stuck in the '90s.

I hate when people say that something "isn't for everybody" because it's a non-criticism. It doesn't say anything. It's so obvious because nothing is for everybody, but if there's an artist where that is fitting, then it's Suda51. While The Silver Case isn't his finest work, it's also a labour of love that was brought down by an admittedly small budget.