Kara no Shoujo - MangaGamer Trial Version (NSFW: +18)

Warning: This post contains +18 content, you have been warned.

I’ve got some exciting news for anyone interested in a gritty Visual Novel with a murder mystery twist. MangaGamer have today released a Trial Version for their upcoming localisation of Kara no Shoujo by Gungnir/InnocentGrey (links NSFW: +18). The full game will be released on June 29 which is only 12 days from now (more like 11 days by the time I post this xD)! Please support the official release.

Perhaps a words of warning though, this game is very graphic as it deals with mutilation and dismemberment. Graphic in terms of text descriptions and the CG shown. So if you’re sensitive to this I’d perhaps advise caution with this title. Also, as it’s an adult VN expect the usual h-scenes.

You good? Then read on to find out more about this demo and some of my thoughts after playing through it.

Plot

So what is Kara no Shoujo about? Well you play as ex-cop turned free-lance detective Reiji Tokisaka as he is roped in to investigating a string of unfolding brutal murders. In doing so you’ll encounter a large cast of interesting and unusual characters who will somehow be involved in the mystery. There’s multiple routes of investigation you can undertake as well as plenty of opportunities to flesh out the background stories for certain characters. The story is largely told through Reiji as he investigates, but there are scenes where we shift perspective to view the murders as they take place, or other points of interest. From the demo I’d say expect 1 visually gruesome scene.

Demo Length

The demo itself is quite lengthy, I’ve spent about 5-6 hours playing through to end of what’s available and have thoroughly enjoyed it. The down side of it’s length is you know it’s going to end unresolved or even worse on a cliff hanger, then you have to wait. In some ways I wanted it to be shorter since I knew I’d want to keep playing the more the mystery unravels.

Gameplay Mechanics

The game largely plays like your standard visual novel – text on the screen with lovely sprites of the characters to admire. However a unique feature to Kara no Shoujo which aids in your investigation is your notebook (which has been re-done for this localisation). The notebook holds any evidence you gather, character portfolios with a relationship diagram, a log of your past movements and discoveries, and a map with different locations you can visit. And even better is all these elements are more than just for show, they’re used interactively with your investigation at key points in the game. For example you’ll use your character list to identify victims or attempt to place them at certain scenes. Or, another example, you’ll use it to select candidates to take hand writing samples from which then impacts on the outcome of that line of inquiry.

During the demo you’ll get to make a fair few decisions along the way. These will affect who you meet, what clues you get and how the story unfolds before your eyes. At key points in the game you’ll get the chance to enter into Inference mode which allows you to look over you’re existing evidence and ponder what to do next. But you need to choose carefully what evidence you want to further pursue as this will open and close possible leads. It’s hard to judge how big an impact these choices actually make with how the story unfolds from the demo, but so far it’s given a strong feeling that your decisions actually matter.

You’ll also get to experience investigating crime scenes which are effectively mini point-and-click style affairs. By selecting different objects of interest you will gather clues to help progress the investigation. It’s certainly a change from the usual “pick a box” type decision making and keeps the game interesting.

Game Presentation

Probably one of the most striking aspects when starting this game is the background music. It’s very good at setting the scene and building tension. In other VNs I’ve played the music is usually bouncy happy fluff – Kara no Shoujo goes for a more gritty soundtrack which really suits the whole feel of the game – think Cowboy Bebop.

The art style is also beautiful. The female characters all have a sort of wispy ghost-like feeling to them. There’s plenty of white and black flying around as well, and for good reason, but I’ll leave it for you to experience. You’ll also notice the lack of RGB colour hair – Shoujo no Kara keeps it’s character pallet very brown, grey and washed out, adding again to the games overall darker feel. Both the music and art style help set the mood and keep you engrossed as this horror mystery unfolds before your eyes.

Conclusion

I would strongly recommend giving this demo a whirl if you’re after a darker visual novel or an intriguing murder mystery (and it’s free). From what I’ve seen in the demo this game looks to be very engrossing and exciting to play. I was at the edge of my seat always waiting to see what happens next. Each time I was presented with a choice I’d stop to think, ‘what are the consequences of this choice’. Sometimes it didn’t matter what I picked, but the fact it made me stop and think gives an indication of the amount of attention I was giving to the story. You’ll find yourself trying to piece together the mystery as more is unveiled causing you to shift your attention from different lines of inquiry and question your original theories. Maybe that’s just me though, I do love a good murder mystery.

I’d planned on getting this game as soon as MangaGamer announced they would be releasing it, so to me this trial is an opportunity to understand the game mechanics as opposed to swaying my decision to buy. In fact it just so happened I’d watched the 2 episode h-OVA a few weeks prior to MangaGamers announcement. I remember thinking to myself after watching them ‘Shit hentai, but damn the murder mystery was interesting. Too bad I can’t play the VN as I’d love to explore that aspect of the story further’. Funny how that works out .

It’s probably also worth mentioning the game and demo will be unvoiced and MangaGamer have given their reasons here. For me it’s a non-issue. The game plays perfectly well without voice (I usually mute voices anyway when I play VNs) and is still an absorbing experience.

For more info about Kara no Shoujo or other MangaGamer titles check out the Official MangaGamer blog.

Anyway, I’ll leave you with the final graphic before the demo ends.

All images taken from MangaGamer Kara no Shoujo demo.