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kalechipskidJAKES WITHOUT JINGUJIS, SHINJUKU WITHOUT ITS SHINE
「事件が解決して素直に喜ぶものはいない」
「事件が解決して素直に喜ぶものはいない」
"Nobody is truly happy when a case is over"
quick thoughts onjinguji saburo i mean JAKE HUNTER'S first case
quick thoughts on
(or at least what was left of it)
*puffs cigarette* Now, what's a dame like youse doin' in a place like this? Can't be anything good, that's for sure. Why dontcha siddown and tell me what's makin' you so blue, sweet cheeks... Hey... Don't leave... Wait, babe, I got bills to pay--
Once upon a 1987(!!) in the land of the rising sun, Data East made a little detective game for the Famicom Disk System. It was moody, jazzy, and featured REVOLUTIONARY PORTOPIA-ESQUE TALKING VIA MENUS which was at the time like, super cool probably. The game became a series, the series became a legend, and now it's one of the longest running and most beloved things out there... in Japan. 'Cos across the pond the grand ol' U-S-of-A, we don't believe in things like "reading" or "subtlety". When Jinguji and his gang finally made the trip, he was stripped clean of all his identifiers and shipped out as Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles for Nintendo DS. 'Cept it wasn't very well recieved, so they straight up re-translated the whole thing and reinserted the removed content (and then some) for Jake Hunter Detective Story: Memories of the Past. The latter (and proper!) version contains 6 cases with 4 of them-- I assume-- being remakes of the first four (or five?) cases in the series, and the last two (OR ONE...) cases being original. Maybe. There are so many damn cases in this series and so many compilations it's hard to make heads or tails of things (The translations for the case names vary and also, I am not a detective myself. So don't ask me. There's like, 30 of these things!) With the series being so important in Japan I just had to get my hands on it to see what the deal was. Can't really call myself a real ADV head if I don't cover the classics. Also, the header of this very blog features beloved Sumio Mondo giving Jinguji a light... I've been such a fake fan!
So here we are, tackling the case that started it all: 新宿中央公園殺人事件 Shinjuku Chūō Kōen Satsujin Jiken, AKA Shinjuku Central Park Murder Mystery (1987) Will my socks get blown off? Will this dame reveal herself to be nothing more than fraudster? Will Yulia finally call HR? Do they even have an HR...?
the scene of the crime
We're introduced to Jinguji-- I MEAN JAKE HUNTER, a brainy, brawny, nicotine fiend who skulks around... Aspicio....(I just finished the case and I already can't remember the name of the city they were in) solving mysteries as a private investigator. He's got an underpaid and snappy assistant named Yulia, a cop buddy called King (in Japanese his nickname is くまーさん Kuma-san, which is WAY too cute) and a pack of Marlboros to pass the time. An innocent woman has been strangled to death in Shinjuku Central Park and it's up to Da Man to solve the case. Cue clicking, reading, some questionable language towards women, and plenty of smoking.
The gameplay is very shrimple stuff; Ace Attorney without the courtroom stuff. Apparently the game has fail states but I never encountered them due to me simply exhausting all the "Look" and "Talk" actions before moving on. Occasionally you're asked questions about the case but if you forget something you can just try another option without penalty (I think). Sometimes you gotta show an item but it's all around pretty leisurely walk to the finish line. If there's one feature of note it's the smoking option: At most any point, Jakeypoo can light up a cancer stick and collect his thoughts about the current situation. It's a nice n' stylish spin on the memo mechanic found in games like these. It's one of the few times where the game really gets to display its personality.
I've lied to you. This post isn't about Jinguji Saburo, it's about Jake Hunter. I never met Youko, only Yulia Marks. I never visited Shinjuku, instead I stopped by Aspicio (I kinda hate that name, what does it convey? Makes me think of scorpios. And scorpions. It certainly doesn't roll off the tongue). Playing through the game, you can feel that there's something important missing and that important thing is the context. I don't have feeling about mob families in Aspicio, but yakuza crawling around Kabukicho gives me a sense of time and place.
Now I don't wanna come off as one of those "ermm LITERAL translations only!!" chuds. The actual dialogue has got some good spark to it, with Jake shooting off phrases like "shitting bricks" and "tasting pavement". Yulia herself has some good kick, essentially telling Jake to take the running leap every time he hits her with a "doll" or "babe". None of the characters are particularly deep but they all got some character to them...even if they're missing some of the....character.
Because like, Kabukicho.
Kabukicho is a red light district (I mean, it does have that big ol' red glowing sign) known for its back-alley crime, hostess bars, discos and most importantly DON QUIJOTE I LOVE YOU DON QUIJOTE!!! YEAH!!! YEAAAAHHH!!!! If you've ever played the Yakuza games, you probably won't be surprised to hear that Kamurocho is based off the infamous Kabukicho. It's a place with a lot of history and that history is tightly intertwined with Jinguji's identity.
The first case is a simple one but it feels like it's meant to be a sort of mood-setter... Except it's really hard to set the mood when half of your vibes are missing. The story of yakuza, drug trade and hostess life has been reduced to a so-so story of a dead girl who got unlucky.
see you next trouble
Even with my complaints, I did feel something at the end. Just a whiff.
Once upon a 1987(!!) in the land of the rising sun, Data East made a little detective game for the Famicom Disk System. It was moody, jazzy, and featured REVOLUTIONARY PORTOPIA-ESQUE TALKING VIA MENUS which was at the time like, super cool probably. The game became a series, the series became a legend, and now it's one of the longest running and most beloved things out there... in Japan. 'Cos across the pond the grand ol' U-S-of-A, we don't believe in things like "reading" or "subtlety". When Jinguji and his gang finally made the trip, he was stripped clean of all his identifiers and shipped out as Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles for Nintendo DS. 'Cept it wasn't very well recieved, so they straight up re-translated the whole thing and reinserted the removed content (and then some) for Jake Hunter Detective Story: Memories of the Past. The latter (and proper!) version contains 6 cases with 4 of them-- I assume-- being remakes of the first four (or five?) cases in the series, and the last two (OR ONE...) cases being original. Maybe. There are so many damn cases in this series and so many compilations it's hard to make heads or tails of things (The translations for the case names vary and also, I am not a detective myself. So don't ask me. There's like, 30 of these things!) With the series being so important in Japan I just had to get my hands on it to see what the deal was. Can't really call myself a real ADV head if I don't cover the classics. Also, the header of this very blog features beloved Sumio Mondo giving Jinguji a light... I've been such a fake fan!
So here we are, tackling the case that started it all: 新宿中央公園殺人事件 Shinjuku Chūō Kōen Satsujin Jiken, AKA Shinjuku Central Park Murder Mystery (1987) Will my socks get blown off? Will this dame reveal herself to be nothing more than fraudster? Will Yulia finally call HR? Do they even have an HR...?
the scene of the crime
We're introduced to Jinguji-- I MEAN JAKE HUNTER, a brainy, brawny, nicotine fiend who skulks around... Aspicio....(I just finished the case and I already can't remember the name of the city they were in) solving mysteries as a private investigator. He's got an underpaid and snappy assistant named Yulia, a cop buddy called King (in Japanese his nickname is くまーさん Kuma-san, which is WAY too cute) and a pack of Marlboros to pass the time. An innocent woman has been strangled to death in Shinjuku Central Park and it's up to Da Man to solve the case. Cue clicking, reading, some questionable language towards women, and plenty of smoking.
The gameplay is very shrimple stuff; Ace Attorney without the courtroom stuff. Apparently the game has fail states but I never encountered them due to me simply exhausting all the "Look" and "Talk" actions before moving on. Occasionally you're asked questions about the case but if you forget something you can just try another option without penalty (I think). Sometimes you gotta show an item but it's all around pretty leisurely walk to the finish line. If there's one feature of note it's the smoking option: At most any point, Jakeypoo can light up a cancer stick and collect his thoughts about the current situation. It's a nice n' stylish spin on the memo mechanic found in games like these. It's one of the few times where the game really gets to display its personality.
As for the case itself, it was very traditional, no-frills stuff. I don't have much to say. The most complex it got was trying to figure out how somebody could walk through grass without leaving any footprints. The rest was talking to guy A, then talking to guy B, then slapping a bitch for cocaine, and then asking guy A what the deal is. So I guess I leave this first waltz through Aspicio feeling more or less the same as when I began...
jelly donuts and hamburger sandwich
Can somebody explain to me what the hell an "Aspicio" is?jelly donuts and hamburger sandwich
I've lied to you. This post isn't about Jinguji Saburo, it's about Jake Hunter. I never met Youko, only Yulia Marks. I never visited Shinjuku, instead I stopped by Aspicio (I kinda hate that name, what does it convey? Makes me think of scorpios. And scorpions. It certainly doesn't roll off the tongue). Playing through the game, you can feel that there's something important missing and that important thing is the context. I don't have feeling about mob families in Aspicio, but yakuza crawling around Kabukicho gives me a sense of time and place.
Now I don't wanna come off as one of those "ermm LITERAL translations only!!" chuds. The actual dialogue has got some good spark to it, with Jake shooting off phrases like "shitting bricks" and "tasting pavement". Yulia herself has some good kick, essentially telling Jake to take the running leap every time he hits her with a "doll" or "babe". None of the characters are particularly deep but they all got some character to them...even if they're missing some of the....character.
Because like, Kabukicho.
Kabukicho is a red light district (I mean, it does have that big ol' red glowing sign) known for its back-alley crime, hostess bars, discos and most importantly DON QUIJOTE I LOVE YOU DON QUIJOTE!!! YEAH!!! YEAAAAHHH!!!! If you've ever played the Yakuza games, you probably won't be surprised to hear that Kamurocho is based off the infamous Kabukicho. It's a place with a lot of history and that history is tightly intertwined with Jinguji's identity.
The first case is a simple one but it feels like it's meant to be a sort of mood-setter... Except it's really hard to set the mood when half of your vibes are missing. The story of yakuza, drug trade and hostess life has been reduced to a so-so story of a dead girl who got unlucky.
see you next trouble
Even with my complaints, I did feel something at the end. Just a whiff.
No one is ever truly happy at the end of a case...
There is a feeling of emptiness that always stays with them...
That's a murder's harsh truth...
There is a feeling of emptiness that always stays with them...
That's a murder's harsh truth...
With a dramatic ending cinematic and serious words, the case ends in a bittersweet way. While I wasn't exactly attached to anything going on in the case there is a cute little wink before the sendoff. I'm weak to stories that leave just a little to the imagination. It felt like the true personality of the story had finally surfaced...
So it's time for sayonara. I'm tempted to try the famicom disk verson just to check out the vibes but truthfully speaking, there isn't much of a need to revisit this story. I'll be continuing the rest of the cases since it was at the very least a relaxing time, but I can't help but shake the feeling that there's a gaping wound in Jake Hunter where Shibuya used to be.
So it's time for sayonara. I'm tempted to try the famicom disk verson just to check out the vibes but truthfully speaking, there isn't much of a need to revisit this story. I'll be continuing the rest of the cases since it was at the very least a relaxing time, but I can't help but shake the feeling that there's a gaping wound in Jake Hunter where Shibuya used to be.
