Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters: Daybreak Special Gigs (PlayStation 4) Second Opinion Review

"Where do we go when we die?" The game begins with this quote, as it lays the groundwork for the ghost-hunting that is to follow. Philosophical questions aside, the narrative throws hints at a possibly deep story, but unfortunately it rarely seems to hit the right beats. The plot follows a high school student who has just moved to a new school. Of course, he winds up joining a ghost-hunting group… just because. If any game takes the cake for the most awkwardly-written opening passages, this has probably devoured the cake.

As stated previously, this is broken into two main sections. The chapters begin with a visual story that allows for each ghost hunt to be introduced to the group. Think of each chapter like a brand new CSI episode, where the group works together to uncover the mystery surrounding each ghost, as they try to find out their identity and weaknesses in order to better prepare for the ghost hunt. This really has all the potential for a brilliant, detective-like piece, but it really lacks anything of the sort in the end. The visual novel plays out regardless of what different interactions are chosen, and it all seems like a farce in the grand scheme of things.

The lack of a tutorial in even the most basic of human interactions during the visual novel parts is mind boggling. The main character generally gets one of five options to perform when the game prompts, and they are signified by cryptic pictures that are meant to explain it all. When a fellow high school classmate tries to introduce herself, for example, selecting the "mouth and tongue" symbol causes him to try and lick her as opposed to what would be thought of as the "talking" option. While humorous, it is an awkward start to the narrative, while the main character then proceeds to eyeball her for the rest of the one-sided conversation.

Once the "investigation" stage is complete and the ghost has been found out, then the real fun begins. The "Hunt" stage is an RPG turn-based game, with a catch. Displayed on a top-down grid view, the ghost hunters have to try to use the surrounding clues and traps laid around the stage to predict where the ghost will be. Upon predicting a location, the character then performs an attack, upon which it will either be successful and strike the ghost, or unsuccessful and just strike the air or break some furniture.

Again, this entire section would have benefited greatly from a tutorial that should have properly explained everything. What learning technique is employed is confusing, thus leaving the true learning to a grating trial-and-error process. Prior to beginning the "Hunt," the stage needs to be prepared with traps and the like. Upon learning the ghost's weaknesses, traps can be laid out accordingly to try and force it to a section of the room, for instance. These traps are quite useful, and learning how to combine some of them to improve their effectiveness is paramount to whittling down the ghosts' health.

Upon laying down the traps, a group of hunters have to be selected to tackle the big ghost, as well as any minor ghosts that serve to distract and aggravate. Each character has its own attributes and attack styles, and they can be further upgraded with armour and other stat-increasing items. Once this process is completed, up to four of the hunters can be used for the hunt. While the thought of trying to predict where the ghosts are may sound a little confusing, it is actually quite a fun game. Each character has different attacks that hit an "area of attack," signified by their respective coloured squares. As long as the ghost ends its turn on any of those coloured squares, it will get hit. However, the ghost will also move each turn and attack back. As the ghost can move around, the traps are a great indicator to see where it has moved to.

Unlike general turn-based RPGs, however, these ghosts need to be dealt with in as few moves as possible. Cue the most frustrating mechanic featured. Fighting a timer is never fun, and having a countdown at the top of the screen to signify when the hunt will end serves as an annoying reminder to quickly dispatch the ghost. While in a narrative sense, the countdown makes sense because it is the time remaining until the sun rises and the ghost will subsequently disappear, mechanically, it is an annoying way to speed players through the missions in order to make the hunts appear harder than they actually are.

While the challenge should have been in the ghosts themselves, the reality is that these ghosts can easily be mowed through once they are found. Their counterattacks do a bit of damage, but so too do the ghost hunters. Plus, the weapons that can be bought significantly improve their attack damage, and as such the countdown clock becomes the true enemy of having to chase down the ghost and defeat it quickly.

In addition to the main story hunts, there are side missions that can be taken on to earn more money to spend. However, these side hunts skip all the visual novel investigations and jump right to the trap-planning stages of the hunt. Apart from their insignificance to the story, these missions are used as a grind to level up the hunters to better prepare them for a really tough main story hunt.