Nintendo’s decision to revive the Famicom Detective Club series seems to have kick-started a mild rush of new games that are, effectively, mystery visual novels, but have point-and-click elements and light puzzles to keep players interested and intrigued. That’s a good thing. This genre is excellent. And Aksys’ decision to localise Path of Mystery: A Brush with Death is a very welcome one.
You play as Doppo Akazawa, and before you go thinking that’s a rather esoteric name (and hardly a common name in Japan), you should know that “Doppo” is both a pen name for writers (including the very famous Kunikida Doppo), and means “to walk alone” or “self-guided”, which is very on-point for a mystery novel. But I digress. The story opens with our hero, Doppo, heading off to the fictional town of Narumizawa (though based on the real-world town of Karuizawa) with some pals in the Teito University Mystery Research Club.
They’re on a mission to try and solve a murder mystery that is decades old, and while that may sound presumptuous of them, the group does have one unique thing going for them: Doppo is, at times, capable of travelling back in time to witness events that once transpired. He can’t do it all the time, but when he can, mysteries do tend to get solved thanks to what he observes.
Not that you’ll initially think any of them are actually serious about their mission. The opening chapters feature the group “solving” a farce of a mystery on a train, and then heading to a mountainside inn. Once settled in there, they… go play tennis with a cute local girl. It does very much seem like the “mystery” is just an excuse for a group of friends to go spend the summer playing together in the relatively cool mountains of Narumizawa. If you’ve ever been to the real town of Karuizawa in summer, then this would be familiar because that’s exactly what happens in the real world, too.
Eventually, the crew does settle into a rhythm and sets about investigating the real and very serious murder in front of them, but one of the immediate hallmarks of Path of Mystery is that it strikes a brilliant balance between jovially playing off the very appealing group dynamics, and allowing them to be affected by the more serious moments. I can’t think of a time since the original Danganronpa that a visual novel has had such an appealing dynamic, with writing that straddles serious drama and levity so well.
Equally appealing is the presentation. In the “real world,” the developers rarely give you a moment to look at the traditional “sprites” and backgrounds you’d expect from a visual novel. Instead, scenes are filled with dynamic camera angles, animation in the backgrounds, and a generally cinematic approach that rivals Nintendo’s own Famicom Detective Club for production values. Then, as a cherry on top, with Doppo heads back in time, the visuals shift to retro-style graphics, which are such a charming way to handle “flashbacks”.
At certain intervals, whenever there is progress to make in solving the mystery, you’ll be presented with a series of questions. Choose the right response and you’ll get a “point.” Choose incorrectly and… you won’t. For the most part, the questions are reasonable tests of your ability to recall and interpret what’s going on around you. The writers never seem like they’re trying to catch you out with “gotchas” that make an incorrect answer seem like the more reasonable one. With that being said, getting a perfect score really is down to how closely you’re paying attention.
Or how active you’ve been with saving progress and are willing to reload when you do get a question wrong, I guess.
Those times when you go back to witness the past also put some pressure on you, to observe as much as you can without wasting time picking the wrong things from the menu. Doppo can only spend a limited time in the past, and every menu option you choose causes the screen to distort that little bit more. Most of this “pressure” is smoke and mirrors, but it’s effective in making you consider carefully what menu options you choose, and a nice point of difference to Famicom Detective Club itself, where you’ll simply spam the menu options until you manage to trigger the correct one for progressing the plot.
Outside of the main narrative, there is the ability to explore the town to find some hidden goodies, and a couple of minigames based on retro classics. These are blatantly put in to appease people who wouldn’t be caught dead playing a linear, kinetic visual novel. They serve their purpose, but they’re not what you’re going to remember about Path of Mystery.
Ultimately, Path of Mystery might not have the impact that a Famicom Detective Club, Phoenix Wright, or Danganronpa might, but this visual novel has plenty going for it. A cast of characters with a brilliantly written and believable set of dynamics between them, a clever mystery, told well and surprising enough to keep its hooks into you, and truly gorgeous art and presentation. Aksys picked a good one to localise, and the game deserves more attention than it’s getting.
