|
One of the most successful
sound novel games ever released and what makes it better is that it was
a Saturn exclusive for many years. I say was because it was finally
ported to the PSP then on to many other systems.
So what is Machi all about then? Well Machi basically means town or area
of a city depending on which Kanji is used (町 or 街) The basic plot of
the game has you taking control of one eight players. As you live five
days in the life as one of these characters you come across allsorts of
problems that you must resolve in order to continue with your life.
However to mix things up a bit you can select between any of the eight
characters at any point in the game (who are also living their virtual
life in real time according to your progress) but take heed because as
you are playing as another character time is still moving for your
previous character. Sound confusing doesn't it? Well considering the
entire game is in Japanese it will be but that's not to say you can't
work it out and work it out you will have to because if you don't you'll
be facing the bad ending.
The eight characters you can take control of are Keima Amemiya - a
policeman, Jintaro Umabe - an actor; Masami Ushio - Yakuza member,
Yoshiko Hosoi who doesn't seem to do anything plus the only female
character you can control, Masashi Shinoda - a student, Ryuji Takamine -
a deserter, Fumiyasu Ichikawa - a writer and Yohei Tobisawa the
high-school boy.
Overall Machi is a well executed game mixing True Motion video with
stills coupled with a pretty impressive story line. Well worth checking
out if you're looking for something different and can understand
Japanese.
|
