Game Review – Higurashi Daybreak + Kai

Author: nova

As the Higurashi keeps growing, now with announced third season of TV anime and a live-action movie coming up, this media franchise may never have been in the brightest spotlight but has definitely reached the status of a cult classic. What started as a doujin-visual novel has now spawned a doujin game of itself – and not just any game, but an interesting combination of shooters and fighting games, Higurashi Daybreak.

Daybreak isn’t the first of its kind – it borrows its core system from Gundam arcade games – as an arcade shooter/fighter, but still quite an odd bird on the modern gaming market. The basic layout of the game is rather simple; it is strictly 2vs2 player deathmatch game in a true 3D environment in which the objective is to knock out the opposing team’s characters until they reach a certain percentage limit. Each time a character is KO’d, his/her team gains around 20% in their gauge which is presented as a balloon in the upper right or left corner of the screen. Once the balloon reaches a set amount, the team loses. If a time limit is set, the team with the smaller number in the balloon wins when the time is up.

The featured CGI-scenes are well done.

The game features 3D-graphics that are top-notch for a doujin game. Especially the character models are nicely done and even have different facial expressions. In comparison to the latest games out there in the market by large companies instead of a bunch of dedicated fans the graphics aren’t much, but do their job and the game has no problem running on somewhat older computers as well. I would have appreciated a widescreen support but let’s hope that will be introduced in the latest patch. The sound effects aren’t anything spectacular and the music is kind of plain for the most of the time, but all characters are fully voiced and spit out one-liners during the combat and in the aftermath, adding some fun atmosphere to the game especially for the Higutards out there.

Basic battle settings can be defined at the start of each round.

It could be said that when it comes to game modes, Daybreak is a one trick pony. However this is not much of a weakness as this one system also works like a breeze. The game is very impulsive and even with maximum percentage limits the rounds never jam on forever. Personally I would have preferred to have an option for 1vs1 duels, but the game AI can be turned off which is practically the same thing. However all matches must have the 2vs2 setup. While the possibility to have more players on the field sounds exciting, it would also make the game absolutely insane to play.

A wide selection of well designed characters helps to keep the fights diverse.

Although being a PC-game, Daybreak has the heart of a console game and as such a gamepad is recommended for play. The controls are very simple and fast to learn, although some practice is needed to find an optimal configuration. Each character has two basic attack options – Attack and Shot. The former is usually a single melee blow that can be performed in a chain of variable length, and the latter usually performs a ranged attack. The shot can also be either partially or fully charged for stronger special attacks. All characters also sport a strong special attack that can be activated by a specific button combination. As the game involves a lot of melee-fighting, the characters have a guard-capability, can jump and air-dash around. Melee isn’t only thing there is though, as every character also has long-range options such as guns, bazookas, grenades, magical projectiles and so on. All actions consume stamina and/or ammunition which are restored over time. For example, guarding can only be active as long as there is stamina left.

In melee the camera switches to fighting game-style side view.

But if a game with a full 3D fighting environment has both fighting-game type melee and long range shooting, how does the system work without making either melee or long range a pain in the butt? Daybreak solves this problem by removing the need to accurately aim – the game has an auto-targeting that will keep the view on the character being targeted and automatically aims attacks in this direction. The character movement is independent of the system, so the player can move his/her character around freely and melee-attacks can be performed in whatever direction one wishes. The targeting also works only if the player is facing at least somewhere in the direction of the opponent. As the there are only two targets around, changing targets is as simple as pressing a button. The fighting could be mad button-mashing with auto-target doing everything, but thankfully it is not. Melee-fighting does not have all the finesse of a pure fighting game, but it requires excellent timing and swift movement, as the attacks can miss and make the player an open target for retaliation. Guarding is a skill of its own, as the 3D-environment makes the possibility of being flanked a cruel reality. Guard can block almost anything, but drains stamina fast and can be countered by simply waiting for it to fail. To make things worse, guard only works against attacks from a very narrow cone in front of the character and when guarding the character is unable to move, making flanking maneuvers as easy as a few sidesteps. Guard, as well as special attacks, also takes time when activating/deactivating, leaving the character completely open to anything and thus requires expert timing and premonition to be used effectively.

Story mode is narrated by the means of visual novel-style scenes in between the fights.

The game has three types of play – story-mode, single player match and multiplayer. Story-mode has been composed together with the makers of the original Higurashi visual novels, 7th Expansion, and as such features voice acting by the original cast as well as a storyline that can be considered somewhat canonical. Not that it matters though, the story is far from deep and is written to entertain the fans of the series with wacky happenings. As the game is entirely in Japanese and currently there is no English translation patch available, it won’t make much sense to someone who is completely moonspeak-impaired. Single player and multiplayer modes have the same layout with the only difference being the amount of human players. Multiplayer, which is limited to a direct IP connection to the host, does its job but the network system isn’t exactly the best thing around – expect monstrous lag with players physically far away from yourself.

Special attacks spice up the battle nicely.

Characters in the game are all fully voiced by their original seiyuu-cast and each have a very unique design in attack options and playing style. All characters have two attack set options (upgraded to three in the Kai-expansion pack) and there are 14 characters to choose from (upgraded to 16 in the expansion), so there is plenty room for experimenting around with to find the style that best fits oneself. The selection goes from general-purpose characters such as Rena and Keiichi to specialized ranged fighters like Mion and Kasai, strong and slow melee-specialists like Ooishi and correspondingly fast and weak close range fighters such as Shion. There are also two different special modes to be used with a character to temporarily enhance the fighting capabilities in the field.

Each fight ends with an aftermath dialogue and a ranking board.

The Kai-expansion pack adds a lot to the game – each character gains an additional weapon set, new costumes and fighting stages are added, two more characters are introduced (frail long-range/aerial fighter Hanyuu and a fast and furious melee fighter Natsumi) and a third option is added to the special modes. Being half the price of the game itself, Kai is well worth the extra buck.

Overall Daybreak is a great experience and for me brings back the good old times of playing Mario Kart with friends – the game gives out the exact same feeling of having a fun time without needlessly complicated gameplay and setting things up. The AI player cannot be customised (although you can issue simple orders to your teammate) but it’s fairly well balanced, not being too tough but still able to put up a good fight. The multiplayer tends to be moody and the all-Japanese interface takes a while to get used to but Daybreak is nevertheless one of the greatest doujin-games out there. For a Higurashi-fans this game is a must and even if you are unfamiliar to the franchise or anime in general, it will surely prove to be an enjoyable and original experience.

I wonder what the PTA would have to say about this.

Translations for the Japanese game menu and a lot of useful information can be found at the HiguWiki.