Alternate Jake Hunter: Daedalus The Awakening Of Golden Jazz: Video Game Overview

Jake Hunter (She is Tantei Jinguji Saburo) – one of the most long-playing adventure series in the history of the industry, and in Japan -. The first part of the adventures of the Title detective Dzingeji Saburo came out back in 1987 on the Family Computer Disk System, and about a year later the second issue with advanced graphics and detective plot appeared on NES. And rushed. Since then on different home consoles, it turned out under two dozen games – it is not counting the reprints, collections and remakes. Plus 24 games on laptops. Plus eight novels based on. And this summer, almost a miracle happened: absolutely new part of the series, Alternate Jake Hunter: Daedalus – The Awakening Of Golden Jazz, Released not only on consoles, but also on personal computers.

A japanese man in new york

Why am I talking about a miracle? The fact is that the series Tantei Jinguji Saburo For a long time, a purely Japanese story remained, and a few years ago it seemed that she had died at all. In the West, they found out only in 2008-09, when the collections came out Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles And Jake Hunter Detective Story: Memories of the Past. Only Name of the Main Hero changed here (Saburo turned into Jack Hunter) and the place of action – the diverse crimes we were investigated not in Tokyo, but in New York. However, in 2011 Studio Workjam was closed, and the long pause came.

And only in 2017 it became known that the rights to the series bought a publisher Arc System Works, which announced his plans to reanimate this detective antiques. In Japan, they began to actively produce remakes of portable branches of the series – and not only on iOS and Android, but also on PlayStation 4 with Nintendo SWITCH. And most importantly, in the fall of last year for the first time in 10 years the game appeared in the West – Jake Hunter Detective Story: Ghost of the Dusk, visiting 3ds. She also entered the remake of the “pocket” releases of the series.

And after all this, it turns out, firstly, a completely new story (and not another remake, a collection or reissue), which is actually prequisitive to the most ancient and first parts. And secondly, its Western version visits not only PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, but also our favorite Steam. Well, isn’t it a miracle?

Not hardcore!

I hope a certain proportion of irony in my words you still felt. It is clear that we have, where a lot of quests went out very much, this Japanese “miracle” is evaluated in different ways, and many do not notice at all. And certainly no one in the air capes. Much in local chart is processed photos.
Moreover, the worldwide veterans of Point’n’Click adventures are unlikely to be able to perceive the game seriously. As expected, Alternate Jake Hunter: Daedalus – It is practically deprived of complex (and simple too) puzzles mixture from visual novel and terry “pixel-kanting”.

The lion’s share of time we overlook the eye in the static mode, turning the chamber for 360 degrees, we are looking for active points and evidence on different locations. Or poke in characters and for a long time we communicate with them. New topics and key to passing a replica become available only after we thoroughly study one or another subject. At the same time, it is often necessary to poke into the same photo several times / toothpaste / book / door and so on before the game deign is finally advanced. Somewhere for this you need to go to the search mode – just so the desired script works. Somewhere logic generally behaves strange.

For example, having received the task of searching postcards, you come to the bar, see the rack with them, poke into it, looking for, but nothing happens. It turns out that you first need to chat with a key character, inform him about my intention to search these very cards, he conditionally shows a rack for us, and only after that the script will work.

In addition, we are often forced to return several times and consider the same subject (as a rule, some photo or a whole stand with them), looking for new details there and paying attention to the fact that they did not notice before. There is something like everything is just logical (although sometimes new details and pictures appear not to understand where). But these are the constant runs around the map between the same locations, when it is really not to understand where you need to send the stops (the normal log here was not delivered – you can only re-read the dialogues), already to the second chapter begin to be pretty annoying.Artists also worked well.

Children on guard of the law. And Tianship

But, as it often happens in detective series, in the games of this genre and in this series in particular, (it is not for more than 30 years now), if not all, then much Alternate Jake Hunter fascinating history, which is also not tied to the events of previous issues.

We act as a completely young Dzingeji Saburo, when he has not yet become a famous detective. History tells how he met with his faithful friends, where his pretty helper Ekoko Mesono came from and some other famous characters.

Moreover, Saburo is often hit in memories, and then we turn out to be a child or a teenager from the summer camp. And as it turns out, our hero since childhood was simply destined to become new Sherlock Holmes. And all thanks to his grandfather, also a well-known detective that loved to arrange tests for the granddaughter – they say, the old man stole something valuable, and it should be guess that, how valuable, who stole and stole whether. Naturally, no one has grown anything, but we learned this far from immediately.

Then in the summer camp, together with very young friends, investigate the loss of one of the educators – and almost die at the same time. Finally, when the action is being transferred at present, Saburo arrives in New York to her grandfather, who was short enough before. Naturally, it is our hero that I really want to reveal this case and find a criminal.Without knowledge of English will have to be not easy, but also a particularly difficult language here.

Real Japanese detective

The case is understandable, it turns out to be very confusing. New York detectives are looking at the young Japanese skimmer, the old friends of the grandfather hide something, and one of them immediately becomes a suspect, but he seems to be crazy – asks us to protect us already like the dead grandfather from “thisdamned city “and says something about daedalus. What or who it is? By the way, it was this word that was the last that Grandfather Saburo said.

In general, intrigue – in full growth, characters and dialogues are spelled out well, girls (and there are many of them, like in any Japanese game, a lot) are pleased with the eye, and lyrical music – ears. Is that typical again, Japanese concerns are sometimes knocked out of the overall style. Young Saburo, having seen a teacher in a swimsuit, can tell her: “What is your beautiful breasts!”And his juvenile buddy almost shakes out of impatience when the heroes enter the girl for girls to look for evidence. “Oh, it’s her shorts, how they smell!”He squeals, and at this moment I want to close your face with my hands. Well, the Japanese, what can you do ..

But in general, as I said, the story delays. And you will soon oversleep the effect of a detective series – I just want to just take popcorn, lean in the chair and follow the development of history. I wonder how everything will end there. But the hands are busy – you still have to click on locations to run.New replicas in dialogs promote history.

Detective method … and choice

However, everything is not so primitive with the gameplay. Yes, there is little real call here, but at key moments you need to make decisions – what to answer, how to behave in a dialogue, blame someone or calculate that he is innocent. With all the ensuing consequences.

In addition, the collected conclusions, just like in games from Frogwares about Sherlock Holmes (and in The Sinking City), stored in a separate menu. Only here it is not the draws, but the gardens of the mind. At any time they are allowed to examine, and then we will definitely be asked to conclude on the basis of the collected thoughts. The system is arranged here, naturally, more primitively, and to lose, making something wrong, it is almost impossible – when an error is removed, the wrong option is removed, and we kindly offer to make another attempt. But still the desired feeling is created that we still act as a detective, and not just a replica of dialogs we wash.

Like any detective, our hero loves to dig in the archives.
***
Alternate Jake Hunter: Daedalus – The Awakening Of Golden Jazz It can be recommended not only to those who remember and love this feature, but also just all lovers of fascinating detective stories. Especially since there are no special bindings to the previous parts. It covered, from which the best to start acquaintance with this detective. Just need to remember – it’s still a Japanese game. Even New York detectives are similar to the heroes of JRPG, but the game itself is on visual novel. What, in principle, not bad – simply complex riddles are practically no, but there are many runs between locations and dialogues. And the heroes periodically sniff female linen – even if they are 10-12 years old.

Pros: Fascinating detective story;well-prescribed characters and dialogues;There is a choice in key plot situations;Pleasant graphics.

Minuses: The game rarely challenges;Many runs between the same locations.