Now Playing: Doukoku Soshite (saturn)

Doukoku Soshite
Release: 1998
From: Data East
Genre: Visual Novel/Adventure

Hey everybody so I thought another fun thing I could do on this blog would be to talk about some of the video games that I occasionaly have time to play when I'm not dealing with school/work/applying to work in Japan/making videos. Lately, I've had some time to sit down and play 'Doukoku soshite' an import text adventure game from data east in Japan. If you are hip to the world of these adventure games, you'll probably recognise the name as it's one of the more famous ones on the saturn, and after playing it for a while I can sure see why! The presentation and story are both top notch, and it really drags you into the moody atmosphere of the game.


(check out the intro and some opening footage from the game!)

While a lot of these visual novel type games are all about anime girls and falling in love, this one mixes things up with a really creepy and mysterious story. The game starts and you're on a bus returning from graduation practice earlier in the day. The bus is driving through a forest late at night, and the main chracter finds himself lost in thought. Thankfully, a classmate is there with him to keep him company. The bus stops and you're surprised to see your teacher enter as well as a really creepy looking man. Before you know it, all you remember are flashing lights and the squeeling of tires... there's been an accident!

You wake up and there's a girl screaming in pain, but is it a dream? The next thing you know, you're in this mysterious mansion, and the game becomes kind of a point and click adventure where you have to find clues and use different items to solve puzzles. Along the way, you meet more characters that were both on the bus and not...

This is a fantastic game with a great moody story and wonderful artwork. Of course, being entirely in Japanese, if you don't know the language fairly well prepared to be destroyed by an onslaught of kanji. But if you can read the story, I think you'll find something really enjoyable! Now if only I had more time to play it...

Rodger