The 25th Ward: The Silver Case review

Reviewed on: PS4

Eccentricity has always been a term that defined the work of director Goichi Suda (or Suda 51) and developer Grasshopper Manufacture well; anyone who played Killer 7 or No More Heroes knows it. The 25th Ward: The Silver Case not only proves it, but shows that this eccentricity goes back a long way. Originally released for mobile phones in 2005, the game is a sequel to The Silver Case, a visual novel/adventure released in 1999 for the PS1 that was Grasshopper’s debut title.

The 25th Ward is set in an alternate version of Tokyo, which at first seems quite confusing to anyone who doesn’t know much about Japan’s political divisions, which is practically the entire Western audience. To explain briefly, the real-life city has 23 “special wards”, which are a sort of mini-city from an administrative point of view. In the game’s universe, the government orders the construction of wards 24 (where The Silver Case takes place) and 25, which is where most of the game is set. These new areas are autonomous and have their own social and administrative divisions. It seems a bit odd to go into these details, but believe me, it makes a difference in understanding the game’s plot.

Speaking of the plot, the story of The 25th Ward takes place 5 years after the events of the previous game and is divided into 3 parts that happen in parallel with each other. The first part of the story, “Correctness”, shows the detectives of the 25th Ward Heinous Crimes Unit, Mokutaro “Jabroni” Shiroyabu and Shinko Kuroyanagi, investigating a mysterious murder that soon evolves into a much more complex case. The second story, “Matchmaker”, focuses on investigators Shinkai Tsuki and Yotaro Osato of the Regional Adjustment Bureau, a secret government agency that has to deal with serious matters involving the underworld of the 25th Ward. And finally, “Placebo” follows the investigations of Tokio Morishima, a recurring character from the first game, who wakes up on a boat with part of his memories missing and tries to find out what happened with the help of a mysterious partner over the internet.

Themes such as social control, corruption, crime and even existentialism recur in the dialogue, although they are often hidden amid trivial conversations, bizarre situations and a good dose of dark humor. As in Tarantino’s films, a simple chat about life between two characters can reveal more than a key moment of the plot. Also, expect many twists and truly unexpected events, because the game spares no effort to surprise the player and keep the plot interesting, even if things get somewhat confusing in the end. This is quite apparent in the final chapter, which was added along with two other extra chapters exclusively for the remake and is a very different experience that can either please or frustrate players (I personally loved it).

As for gameplay, The 25th Ward follows the visual novel standard: the player follows the characters’ dialogue over static images and every now and then is given the option to choose an action or line of dialogue. There are puzzles and riddles that require a good deal of attention to the dialogue, and sections where you have to navigate the environment in a “dungeon crawler” style. Although these moments help break the monotony of being just a passive spectator amid the events, the interface is quite problematic, complicating very simple tasks such as typing a code or even navigating the menu.

The game’s graphics and interface were completely redone for this version, since the original The 25th Ward was a 2005 mobile game and would look quite strange in HD resolution without any adjustment. The look is at once impressive and sterile. The few environments shown in 3D are quite basic and bland, contrasting with the stylized look of the monochromatic illustrations used to show characters and events, which manage to convey the whole beautiful, dark and strange mood of the plot. And there is also a third component, the HUD, which follows an 8-bit style quite similar to the one used in No More Heroes.

The audio does an excellent job of complementing the story, setting the right tone for the scenes and also punctuating the moments of impact through sound effects. Often a simple change in the soundtrack is enough to create tension and anticipate that something important was about to happen.

I ended up liking The 25th Ward much more than I would have imagined. The strange but very well written and engaging dialogue, and the bizarre and charming world created by Suda 51, are the game’s great strengths. The story, for lack of a better definition, is something incredibly “Japanese” with a few extra doses of eccentricity, which is definitely not for everyone. It’s like recommending a cult film from an independent film festival: people may like it, but it is quite different from what they are used to.

Story: 9.0

Mechanics: 5.0

Audio and visuals: 7.5

Worth the price? On Steam yes, on PSN only on sale. Even though it is a new release and has more content than the old mobile versions, the price is still a bit steep. But if you fit the game’s niche (weeaboos, Suda 51 fans and strange people in general) and have money to spare, welcome to the club!

(PlayStation 4 version reviewed)