We’re going to be taking a break from Poison Swamp’s Souls for a little bit to look at something else I stumbled across not too long ago. If you’re an anime fan you’ve no doubt heard of the extremely popular gory murder mystery series Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni, and maybe you’re even familiar with it’s second season and OVA, Kai and Rei (respectively). But something not a lot of us baka neko gaijin’s know about is the video game that spawned from the series. Not to be confused with the video game bearing the same title as the show, this doujin game was made after the series aired by a company called Twilight Frontier. Just imagine a free moving fighting game featuring all of the characters from the original series, something similar to the PSP game Dissidia Final Fantasy, only with shittier art and four fighters on the screen at once separated into two teams. You are now imagining Higurashi Daybreak.
I need to first point out that the version of the game I acquired is in Japanese, but since it’s a computer game there’s got to be someone out there with enough love for Higurashi and free time on their hands to create an English patch. I just don’t happen to have that patch, so bear with the crazy moon symbols you are undoubtedly going to see.
Let’s go straight to the first thing that caught my attention: the music. Higurashi Daybreak has it’s own soundtrack, and the music is amazingly good. It’s not like any of that complicated IIDX or Jubeat crap. It’s simple, catchy, and sets the mood for a lighthearted day of fun in Hinamizawa where everyone suddenly gets into a brawl and starts bashing each others faces in with scythes, cleavers, bats, cameras, and whatever they happen to be carrying at the time. If this game does have a story to go with all of this violence, I have no idea what it is because I was not born in space and therefore do not read or understand Moonspeak.
Speaking of Japanese, I was listening to the voices of the game (oh yes, the game has FULL voiceover work) and they sound uncannily similar to the actual Japanese voice actors of the anime. Of course it’s completely possible that they hired the real actors to do the game, but since it was a doujin game this was something I did not expect to hear. It was very refreshing though because the art holds no similarity to the actual anime’s style, which kind of makes it feel like it’s not a true Higurashi game. The voices make up for that thankfully, and I never get tired of hearing Rena’s psycho laugh next to Keiichi’s GAR ass voice. So soothing.
An example of Rena (from the anime) laughing. PSYCHOTICALLY.
The only problem with the voiceovers that was obvious to a baka gaijin like myself was Oishi. His was one of the most distinctive voices in the anime, but in Daybreak he sounds like a complete r’tard. He talks so damn slow, and you can tell the voice actor is straining to get his vocals to match the real Oishi. He fails miserably, and even I can tell this by listening to it in a language I don’t understand. Any of the other characters don’t seem to be so different that I can differentiate them, even if they really are using different actors, but Oishi seriously sounds miserable. I try to avoid picking him as an ally or opponent just to snake around listening to him drolly say something that’s probably not even important to begin with.
But then there’s the artwork. Don’t get me wrong, the art isn’t the most terrible thing I’ve ever seen, in fact I kind of enjoy the distinctive style, but it’s not too fun to look at. Maybe it’s just because I’m a big fan of the anime, but the 3D models of the characters in this game make me wince. Note that this has nothing to do with the little pixel characters in the character select screen, which were phenomenally done, I’m only criticizing the 3D models. They just look so deformed and different from the anime characters I can’t really stand to look directly at them for too long. You saw the cover art at the top of the page, right? It’s disgusting.
How the art in the show works (top) compared to how the art in the game works (bottom). You can see the delightful little pixel characters in the background, but I want you to focus on the two deformed characters in the foreground.
Hold on a second, I just found something really interesting. It seems there was a PSP port of Higurashi Daybreak, of course redubbed Higurashi Daybreak Portable (that’s like the standard for PSP ports) but the art in this game looks completely different. Even the character select screen has changed completely. Instead of the cute little pixelated versions of all the characters, there’s now an assorted collection of selectable boxes with each character’s face inside it. And the 3D models in this one look a whole lot better than the computer game! They still don’t look exactly like the anime characters, but they’re a lot less straining to gaze at.
Oh my lord… The game’s cover art is beautiful! Massive improvement!
Instead of using pictures of misshapen 3D models, they actually created some nice looking art!
Character selection loses our pixelated friends, but the art in this little setup is very nice.
Apparently the static cutscenes still use shots of the models, but they’re not nearly as anatomically twisted as their predecessors. They still could use some work in looking more familiar with their anime counterparts, but I actually don’t want to puke when I look at these.
I can’t say anything else about the PSP game because I haven’t gotten a chance to play it (I just found out about it today, in fact) but if they kept the same soundtrack it seems like something I’d spend money on, and I am one frugal bastard.
Whaddya say we move on to the mechanics?
Notice those tiny balloons in the corners of the screen, right under the percentages? Both you and your opponent get one, and either side loses when their balloon pops, which occurs when the percentage superimposed on them reaches 100%. The percentage in a team’s balloon goes up each time a member of that team dies. Fights always occur as a two on two battle, and even if you only pick one character for you or your opponent the computer will generate the unfilled spots randomly. You may also notice the meter at the bottom of the screen with Oyashiro just above it. This is something like a rage meter which, when filled by either hitting your opponent or taking successive hits from your opponent, turns your character into a psychopathic murderer with no thought besides killing. Also it gives you boost in combat effectiveness.
There are two different attacks, melee and ranged, each of which are executed by either pressing the ‘X’, or ‘C’ buttons (respectively). ‘Z’ is to jump, ‘A’ switches the opponent you are targeting, holding ‘S’ allows you to block attacks, and I found ‘W’ useful for skipping cutscenes (preferably those with Oishi in them). There are also two special attacks, both of which can be executed by holding down the ‘C’ button and charging up the Charge Meter. When the bar fills with yellow, ‘C’ can be released to unleash the first level of special attack. When the bar fills with red, the same can be done for an even more devastating special attack. Dearie me, I forgot to mention that arrow keys are to move. That’s kind of important.
There’s also a stamina bar, which depletes as you dash towards your enemy through the air via double pressing the ‘Z’ key. You can also hold ‘Z’ to make your character magically levitate higher and higher off of the ground, but this also depletes stamina, and you will eventually have to fall back down. It’s fairly interesting while it lasts, though.
And from there on in it’s just nonstop action-packed fighting between small children with over sized, overly dangerous weaponry, some of which you might only expect to find lying around a military base. With the relatively small maps these brawls take place in, things can get pretty hectic, and I understand that’s it’s especially fun to play over LAN with a friend. I’ve not been able to try that out for myself on account of none of my friends have the game, on account of I don’t have any friends, on account of I smell so bad. But that’s okay! Because even playing with the computer’s or on story mode is totally fun!
Oh, and remember how I mentioned Higurashi Kai earlier? Well this game rode that wave too, and the creator’s made an expansion for it called Higurashi Daybreak Kai. I wouldn’t have expected it to be called anything else. Anyway, it adds more weapons to choose from for each character, and an even more exciting feature: costumes. Okay, admittedly that doesn’t sound very exciting, but it’s good news for anyone who was sick and tired of not seeing their favorite characters running around in those revealing waitress outfits. There are also two new characters, but unless they can wear maid outfits, forget ‘em.
It would be cute if not for the… you know.
In the end, Higurashi Daybreak is an amazing doujin game, a true testament to the power of the independent game development industry. This little indie project right here gets an 8 out of 10 from Lambchopp. It won’t replace Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but it’s a hell of a lot of fun to play.
By the way, quick Demon’s Souls update, I progressed a tiny bit in the poison swamp, and guess what I found? Mosquitoes! I totally called mosquitoes! You all remember, right? You can back me up? I called mosquitoes.
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