Jisei (video game)
Jisei: The First Case is a Visual Novel video game for the Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and Linux platforms. The game was developed and published by SakeVisual and is the first installment of the Green Tea Line. The word Jisei means "final moments".
Plot
A young, unnamed, and homeless teenager has the unique ability to relive the death of any corpse that he touches. One day he falls asleep in a café and after he wakes up he does not feel very well. He goes to the restroom and discovers a dead woman on the floor with a knife in her chest. Since he can see the last minutes of a dead person by touching them, he touches the woman. He learns that she was not stabbed but suffocated. Jennifer Bergstrom sees the boy touching the woman and now believes he is the [...]. A detective who appeared to be at the café coincidentally decides to question all people who are at this place to find the culprit; Chance, Jennifer, Kizaki and the unnamed boy. While the boy tries to prove his innocence by question the attendees too and examining the café, he discovers duct tape in the trash in the men's restroom. After collecting all clues, he tells detective Gurski about it and identifies the culprit. It turns out that Jennifer Bergstrom suffocated the victim Sara Blackmoore. Sara was also working for Biodev Imaging and stole research from Auten Engineering, a competitor of Biodev for Jennifer. However, she decided to double cross her employer in favor of a third party that offered her more money. When Jennifer is confronted with this she tries to run but the others managed to stop her and she confesses. Detective Gurski snaps a pair of handcuffs on her wrists and leads her outside. Kizaki, who says his real name is Naoki, wants the unnamed boy to help him finding out who the third party is. At the end Naoki's twin sister and boss, Aki shows up personally and offers the boy to work with them. However, she made clear that they do not need his help but he needs their help.
In the epilogue, it is revealed that Chance plays a double role too. She calls someone and tells him or her that she could not get the USB the person wanted. Then she claims that she found someone the person was looking for while she probably means the main protagonist by this.
Characters
- ???:
The unnamed main protagonist of the series. A teenager with the ability to relive the death of any corpse he touches. He seems to have unnaturally bad luck, constantly finding dead bodies. He does not like to give out much information about himself, but it seems that he's been traveling from one city to the next for several years.
- Chance Jackson:
A barista in the café where Sara was murdered.
- Jennifer Bergstrom:
A busy business woman who works for Biodev Imaging.
- Mikolaj Gurski:
A police detective in the city of Edgewater. He has a sarcastic streak and a quick tongue. Despite his laid back nature, he knows more than he lets on.
- Naoki Mizutani alias Kizaki Suitani:
A college kid with a sweet personality and a shy demeanor. He is part of a special detective agency, and he has an eidetic memory. He's often the (very quiet) voice of reason. At the beginning of Jisei, he assumes a disguise as "Kizaki".
- Sara Blackmoore:
She is the victim. She worked for Biodev Imaging.
Gameplay
During the game the player has the ability to examine the current place to find clues. The player also can talk to people and get hints. All hints will be placed in a notebook so the player can keep track of the clues.
Development
The game was created with Ren'Py. Several known voice actors were involved such as Kira Buckland and Micah Solusod. The opening theme song is "Calling To The One" by Aural Wave.
Staff
- Writing, programming: Ayu Sakata
- Character design, art: M. Beatriz Garcia
- Music Composition: Marc Conrad Tabula
- Opening theme: Aural Wave
Voice actors
- Chance: Kira Buckland
- Miss Bergstrom: Morgan Barnhart
- Detective Gurski: Chris Niosi
- Kizaki: Micah Solusod
- Voice: Apphia Yu
Sequels
The second installment of the game is named Kansei and continues the story of the first game. It is set one day after the events of the first game. The third game Yousei is set to be released in 2012. There are currently five installments of the series planned.
Reception
Jisei received moderate to positive reception. It received a score of 90/100 on Gamertell, with reviewer Jenni Lada writing "Jisei goes above and beyond. It feels incredibly professional, and more like a major developer's accomplishment than that of a fairly new independent developer. The character art is wonderful, the voice acting appropriate, the story interesting and the general gameplay mechanics well executed." Mania.com gave the game similar praise, calling it "An engaging visual novel from a promising new group." Indie Game Reviewer scored the game 3/5 stars, noting that "Jisei contains gorgeous visuals, and some really solid writing, but comes up just short of greatness due to its length and the overall lack of things to do." Gamezebo likewise criticized the short gameplay length, stating that "It feels like it's all over much too quickly and most people will feel quite short-changed."
External links
de:Jisei (Computerspiel)