Jisei: The First Case HD (Nintendo Switch) Review

While a little on the short side in terms of game time, there is nothing lacking in the plot twists of Jisei: The First Case HD. A murder on its own is always a mystery. Having someone with an extraordinary ability to find clues that then have to be explained logically to the police makes life hard for the protagonist. It truly wasn't his fault he was the one to find the victim in the café's toilets. It wasn't even an accidental death from a fight gone wrong. There is a lot of intrigue as the victim had information that powerful individuals wanted kept hidden at all costs. They even send along someone to recover that information, but thanks to the policeman keeping an eye on all within the vicinity of the body that plan doesn't go smoothly.

Making the choices of who to speak to, or who to investigate at times feels a bit repetitive, because unless the correct choice is made, the policeman will keep telling the protagonist to find out more. At times that can be frustrating, because it might seem that the same choices can be tried and over and over without progress ever being made, but eventually the correct choice can be chosen and the story move on. Having to guess the culprit from the clues in the story was a bit hard, as it then resulted in different endings. It is worth making frequent saves to make it easier to backtrack if an outcome doesn't seem right.

Unusually for a visual novel, there is an epilogue available on the title screen. Playing it created the desire to replay the entire game and see all the clues for the correct culprit. None of the characters are who they seem, throughout the adventure some of their secrets come to light, connecting them with each other and the victim. Stereotyping the characters proves a mistake for the protagonist, who dismisses some as the murderer when they are more involved than they appear.