[The Silver Case / 25th Ward] On Steam and PS4! 25 Wards later... It Is Happening Again

cj iwakura · April 2016

Developer: Grasshopper Manufacturer / Active Gaming Media
Publisher: Playism
Platform: PC (Steam/GOG/Playism/Humble/etc.)
Genre: Visual Novel/Adventure
Price: $19.99, $17.99 at launch
A Suda 51 Trip, Music by Masafumi Takada

Requirements:
OS: Windows XP SP2+ or newer
Processor: SSE2 instruction set support or greater
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: DX9 (shader model 3.0) or greater
DirectX: Version 9.0
Storage: 7 GB available space

The Silver Case was originally released for the PS1 in 1999. It was Suda51's first game with his new studio, Grasshopper Manufacturer, formed after he left Human Entertainment.

The Silver Case was made with an extremely small team, so the film window system was a result of the game's financial limitations. Though major story developments are told through copious amounts of text, still artwork, animation clips, and even live action footage serve as visual aids.

Although there are references to his earlier Syndrome games from Human Entertainment, The Silver Case is largely standalone, and would mark the start of a trilogy that would later come to be known as the Kill The Past series.

The story that begins here will continue in Flower, Sun, and Rain and end with the tale of the Killer7.

Not to mention that maybe, just maybe, the success of this could lead to a localization of the sidestory sequel, Ward 25.

1999 - the "24 Wards". A string of mysterious serial killings plagues the city. The detectives of the 24 Wards Heinous Crimes Unit have their eyes on one man: Kamui Uehara, legendary serial killer and assassin of a number of government officials 20 years prior in the now-famous "Silver Case". However, nobody knows who - or what - Kamui really is.

Has he really returned? Who is this infamous serial killer?

The player takes control of the protagonist - a member of the Special Forces Unit known as “Republic” - from a first-person perspective. The primary story, Transmitter, consists of five chapters. A secondary chapter, Placebo, is told from the perspective of a journalist attempting to piece together the myriad truths of The Silver Case.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09tLjciZ3_M

There is no game in the world like it, the first chapter of the trilogy which includes Flower, Sun, and Rain & Killer7.

LD50 · April 2016

Oh man. This is good news. I've always wanted to play this, but it wasn't the kind of game you could import and play without knowing Japanese.

cj iwakura · April 2016

LD50 wrote: »

Oh man. This is good news. I've always wanted to play this, but it wasn't the kind of game you could import and play without knowing Japanese.

Heh, I did, but I'm insane.

Wonder how much of the game they'll keep intact... it has a lot of live action FMV, and it's pretty important to the story.

cj iwakura · April 2016

Site's up to 11 polygons now.

http://believeintheinternet.com/

Couple bits from the team:

thebatdan wrote:

PAX is done and I'm beat. Thought I'd stop in here just to see what's up tho. Love that y'all have the postcard all sorted out. Had a young lady swing by the booth and was determined to figure it out before she left. Didn't take too long. I was really happy to see that enthusiasm.

Was a good show overall. Suda did a lot of interviews so pretty soon you'll all get a nice peek at what's in store.

cj iwakura · May 2016

In order to survive the future...

Really curious what the squares in the upper left are for...

Not much longer now. I hope we have a LOT to see after waiting this long.

It's clearly forming an English logo:

LD50 · May 2016

Man, I'm really looking forward to this. I wonder if my mom would like it. She's a big fan of old school adventure games, but I'm kinda reluctant to recommend something Suda51 to anyone, much less my mother.

Jam Warrior · May 2016

Oh man for real!?

I wonder if this will retroactively make 'Flower Sun and Rain' make a lick of sense?

Ahahahahahaha no of course it won't. I'll still love it.

cj iwakura · May 2016

Jam Warrior wrote: »

Oh man for real!?

I wonder if this will retroactively make 'Flower Sun and Rain' make a lick of sense?
Ahahahahahaha no of course it won't. I'll still love it.

It couldn't hurt, since it's a direct sequel. The very last line in FSR refers to TSC(and is even done in the same presentation style).

cj iwakura · May 2016

The shroud's been dropped:

http://gematsu.com/2016/05/silver-case-remake-announced-pc

Grasshopper Manufacture, in collaboration with Playism and Active Gaming Media, has announced a remastered version The Silver Case due out internationally for PC via Steam, Playism, and other platforms this fall. Its launch will mark the first time the adventure game is released in English.

The Silver Case launched for PlayStation in Japan in 1999 as the first installment of Goichi Suda’s “Kill the Past” series. While its sequels, Flower, Sun, and Rain and Killer7, were localized for western audiences, The Silver Case was not. Its “massive volume of text, highly nuanced dialogue, difficult technical vocabulary, and context-reliant storytelling” presented many challenges in bringing it to an English-speaking audience. That is, until now.

Get the full rundown on the remaster below.

■ Introduction

1999: Japan, the “24 Wards”.

A string of serial murders is terrorizing the nation.

All clues that the detectives have uncovered so far, point to one well known perpetrator, Kamui Uehara, the deranged criminal at the center of the infamous “The Silver Case” murders many years prior. But Kamui Uehara is no longer around…

With the string of mysteries, pointing to an impossible suspect, just what is really going on?

■ Gameplay

Combining elements of adventure games and visual novels to create a new and unique experience, The Silver Case invites the player to solve puzzles and experience the story in first-person perspective as a member of the Public Safety Department’s “Republic” Special Forces unit.

Features

Unconventional and unexpected storylines
Characters with vivid personalities
Two scenarios:
Transmitter: the detectives hunt down the truth
Placebo: a freelance writer explores the story
Complete graphic enhancement
The unique Film Window System
In English for the first time ever

■ Film Window System

The Silver Case will be bringing back the Film Window, the system developed by SUDA51 to bring a more dramatic display of text & imagery to players of adventure games.

By displaying game graphics and text in moveable windows, the location of on-screen elements can be adjusted for dramatic purposes and keep the player interested.

—PlayStation 1

Original:

Remaster:

Suda:

I am happy to announce that the long-awaited Silver Case HD remastered version will finally be available as promised.

This title was originally released in 1999, but was never released outside of Japan until today.

The English version will also be available, another promise made to you and will be on Steam, Playism, and other platforms.

Silver Case is returning in Fall 2016.

In the year 2016, please give support for Let It Die and Silver Case.

—SUDA51

cj iwakura · July 2016

https://twitter.com/thesilvercaseen/status/748817493121175552

Looks wonderful.

cj iwakura · July 2016

Feels kind of like an echo chamber here, so I hope I'm not the only one excited...

New footage from Bit Summit, with Suda(audio kicks in later):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhG1Di6OCUc

FMV is in, and the background looks great.

cj iwakura · August 2016

Demo is out!
http://store.steampowered.com/app/476650/

cj iwakura · August 2016

And it's insane.

That is one hell of a demo, and it includes an ADV segment!

Here's some screens.
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New UI is ultra slick.
Also, in case anyone is wondering, Akira is you, the player. You get to name him when you start the game.

Very well cut demo, they knew just how to hook people in. And they haven't seen anything yet.

cj iwakura · October 2016

So uh, the full game is out...

I really am the only one here playing it, aren't I?

LD50 · October 2016

Right now you are, but I'm totally planning on picking this up.

cj iwakura · October 2016

You really should, they did an incredible job on this. I'm shocked with some of the things coming out of Tetsugoro's mouth, damn. I didn't know they allowed slurs like that in official localizations.

Rami · October 2016

I will definitely get on this at some point, Suda51 makes some really interesting games.

akajaybay · October 2016

I'll probably grab this some time. But I still can't quite tell from the trailers what the gameplay actually entails.
Is this more Visual Novel with puzzles like a 999, or more of a Ace Attorney kind of framework?
I like the look of it though, and I've generally been down for some Suda stuff.

DaveTheWave · October 2016

Thanks for making it known. Will definitely pick it up.

cj iwakura · October 2016

akajaybay wrote: »

I'll probably grab this some time. But I still can't quite tell from the trailers what the gameplay actually entails.
Is this more Visual Novel with puzzles like a 999, or more of a Ace Attorney kind of framework?
I like the look of it though, and I've generally been down for some Suda stuff.

It's half VN, half adventure game. Think like Tex Murphy.

Drez · October 2016

Sounds and looks good. Buying this tonight, will play tomorrow. On sale for the next 14 hours or whatever.

cj iwakura · October 2016

The prequel comic is damn short, but I like it. More interesting for the Moonlight Syndrome references than anything else.

In case anyone's confused by Chapter 0, it's one giant Moonlight Syndrome reference.

Uh, what the hell HAPPENED in the Syndrome games?...
http://www.paradisehotel51.com/ts.html

There you go.

Massive spoilers, obviously, but who knows when or if that's gonna get localized.

The man from the beginning of Chapter 0, Ryo Kazan:

The younger brother of Kyoko Kazan. They shared a bond with each other that far exceeded even the kinship of blood. The Kazan's were involved in an incest relationship with one another. Sumio had Kyoko killed, because he was jealous of the affection that Kyoko had for her brother.
(Note, this is not the Sumio from Silver Case/FSR.
Welcome to draw connections, though!)

Yayoi showed Ryo to the v.i.p. room of a night club called "Lost Highway". Sumio was in the backroom waiting for Ryo to show up. Yayoi handed Ryo a bag. Inside the bag was Kyoko's head. Ryo kept her head after Sumio was killed during a double homicide by an ex lover.

Ryo received a phone call from Kyoko shortly after he returned home. However this is impossible, because Kyoko is dead. It's around this time that Ryo's mind starts to twist & turn the reality around him little by little. (This eventually escalates into full blown madness by the time we see Ryo in Silver Case.)

The head in the bag is Kyoko, Ryo's sister.

Rumi Toba

The woman who

kills Ryo and then is killed by Tetsugoro

at the end of Chapter 0.

cj iwakura · October 2016

Finished Spectrum, started Hana(Placebo #2).

The Jack Hammer Bartender might be my favorite character.

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cj iwakura · October 2016

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2016/10/20/the-silver-case-a-suda51-classic-is-coming-to-ps4-in-early-2017/

PS4 version incoming, thanks to NISA.

cj iwakura · October 2016

Kamuidrome is really twisted.

Also, the live action stuff is subtitled, like I expected.

cj iwakura · April 2017

Suda' teasing Ward 25 on twitter/IG:

https://twitter.com/suda_51/status/856869154791579648
https://www.instagram.com/p/BTT4-euF8Wd/

'Kill the Life' is the slogan for Ward 25, originally a mobile-only sequel to The Silver Case, taking place some years later.

Once more into the breach, Sumio!

cj iwakura · May 2017

The 25th Ward is officially underway:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOpeGO_vC7U

It's being completely updated from the mobile version, and new chapters may also be added as well.

The original had three scenarios, here's some old art from the mobile version:

There's every indication it's even more twisted than the first game.

cj iwakura · May 2017

Yami and Whiteout have been added as a free update to the Steam version. Yami is a prequel to Flower, Sun, and Rain, and finishes Placebo.

Whiteout is a prequel to The 25th Ward, and is absolutely mental.
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This update also added remixes to the chapter select, and Kamuidrome now has a new actress portraying Sayaka Baian. (Seriously)

cj iwakura · June 2017

Hopefully I'm not the only one here excited. If I am(which is entirely possible), hopefully no one minds the solo updating.

Row on twitter did up the bios for the cast:

https://twitter.com/3_21stars/status/870826026372222978

So five MCs in all. I figured Transmitter and Matchmaker were for each of the two detectives and Placebo was, of course, Morishima again.

Drez · June 2017

I have to start playing this again.

cj iwakura · June 2017

It'd be nice to have someone to discuss the ending with.

Drez · June 2017

I'll play it. I was a little confused the first time I loaded it up, to be honest, and then I was working on a bunch of other games so I kicked it to the back burner.

Going out in a few but I'll fire it up tonight perhaps.

cj iwakura · June 2017

Drez wrote: »

I'll play it. I was a little confused the first time I loaded it up, to be honest, and then I was working on a bunch of other games so I kicked it to the back burner.

Going out in a few but I'll fire it up tonight perhaps.

It's something you'll have to stick with to make sense of.

Drez · June 2017

cj iwakura wrote: »

Drez wrote: »

I'll play it. I was a little confused the first time I loaded it up, to be honest, and then I was working on a bunch of other games so I kicked it to the back burner.

Going out in a few but I'll fire it up tonight perhaps.

It's something you'll have to stick with to make sense of.

Thanks, figured as much. Was too distracted when I first messed with it so I figured it was better to put it aside until I could focus.