In the time that I’ve owned my Vita, I’ve experienced some of coolest and wildest adventures that make up its library of titles. Many of the more interesting ones that I’ve played and often reviewed come as eventually released titles here in the States are complete editions of titles from abroad. Such is the way with the release of Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters: Daybreak Special Gigs for the PlayStation Vita.
Other than having again one of the longest names that I’ve ever seen in my time gaming Daybreak Special Gigs is in fact the accumulative and refined version of Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters released abroad last year. One of the biggest things l like about the US getting complete versions of games is that they are often have the kinks worked out like the reworked narrative, improved battle system and added Daybreak scenario found in Daybreak Special Gigs.
That said Daybreak Special Gigs is a particularly interesting adventure that that kind of breaks all kinds of tradition with a hybrid mix of visual novel and strategy RPG. The only real sense that I could make from its title is that it’s going to involve supernatural hunting yet I had no idea just how I would go about doing that just that going in. Knowing what I know now I will say that Daybreak Special Gigs does take a lot to get used to.
You play as a new transfer student at the Kurenai Academy in Shinjuku who literally starts their first day bumping into a couple of your new classmates. This is your first look into how conversations and more importantly how storylines progress across each of the episodic style story that follow the basic elements of shows like Supernatural and Ghostbusters. The conversations make up the visual novel aspect of Daybreak Special Gigs but unlike most of the ones that I’ve tried things are a bit different here as there no dialogue options to choose from.
Instead players when prompted mostly sparingly choose icons on a two-stage wheel to make up an interaction or an unspoken response. The immediate trouble that you run into it that there is absolutely no tutorial on what each of these icons are supposed to mean so it was a rather troublesome guessing game. Turns out with a bit of research the first wheel is made up of the emotions: love, friendship, sadness, anger and anxiety while the second wheel is made up of the sensory actions: look, touch, taste, smell and listen. How anyone without inside information would figure that out is beyond me but there you go folks.
So for the most part Daybreak Special Gigs features conversations that you hope won’t end up in you sniffing your classmate or make you want to crawl under a rock after trying to inappropriately touching another character. Eventually you will get to the combat portion or two of each “hunt” which isn’t immediately the most inviting in its execution after you are sort of crash coursed into trying to capture the red-coated ghost of a serial killer in the unused top floor of a school. Uh huh… suddenly I feel like I’m playing Corpse Party all over again.
All of the combat found in Daybreak Special Gigs boils down into a game of anticipating what your target’s next move is going to be and planning steps ahead to cut it off and ultimately capture it. To do this you use the in-game Ouija Pad which represents your current environment in a top down D&D style presentation. You’re given a really brief instruction on how to move then you’re thrown to the wol… err blade wielding serial killer ghost.
The game does aid you by placing some traps for you in to help out in attracting or hindering your targets but you still have to manage to capture it before you run out of a set number of turns aka minutes. The trick is that the ghosts aren’t bound to the same paths as you are so while you have to navigate hallways they can take shortcuts through walls or other means to get away so keeping that in mind is something you have to remember very early if you even want to stand a chance of not chucking your Vita in the first battle.
It’s not until you become a full member of Gatekeepers Incorporated, the Occult magazine for all things supernatural, that you get to see the combat in its full form. Players will get access to equipment and items to add them in battle as well as earn rewards upon mission completion. Notable is the ability to use noted ghost sightings to place traps that can limit a ghost’s movement making it at least a little easier to defeat and capture them. Capturing your targets will reward you with Experience and TP needed to level up and train your characters in between intervals at the Gate Keepers office.
There is actually a decent amount of things to do in between the main story episodes like taking on side requests via an “underground website” to earn more XP and TP as you’ll need it the farther your progress in the story. You can also play board games with your teammates for another way to earn both as well which is cool. The Gate Keepers office acts at the game’s main hub for developing your character’s abilities, equipping desired gear and acting as a social simulator to improve your relationships with your teammates along the way.
While it can be said that has a lack of information on how to really play the game it definitely doesn’t have a lack of visual style. The environments and even the animated characters are some of the best I’ve seen on the Vita. At times it’s happy and vibrant but when you’re on a mission things are often dark and foreboding much like the stories that you uncover as you play. The score and sound effects that accompany the visuals does a good job of setting the pace.
Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters: Daybreak Special Gigs was definitely a unique change from what I’ve been playing on the Vita. I loved its macabre subject matter some of which is based upon real lore and how the game makes references to iconic shows that feature similar themes to Daybreak Special Gigs. Its untraditional game design does set it apart which is really cool but the lack of information on how to really play is going to either a highpoint to curious individuals or end a would be ghost hunter’s enthusiasm before the first battle is even finished. Reading the digital manual does help a little as far as combat is involved but since it’s the visual novel side that really drives the story it’s a shame even basic information on the wheel icons wasn’t included in the game material at all.
That said Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters: Daybreak Special Gigs was actually entertaining once I fumbled through the early hours of it before getting some sense on how it all worked. I feel though that again its lack of information in the right areas is ultimately going to limit its playability to even seasoned gamers. I know I got walk-away frustrated on more than a few occasions and I’m not one to give up easily on games like this. If you want to play a visual novel/RPG hybrid that defies what you know about both genres then Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters: Daybreak Special Gigs for the PlayStation Vita may just be the game for you.
