Return to Shironagasu Island Switch NSP Free Download Romslab

Return to Shironagasu Island Switch NSP Free Download Romslab Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. A New York socialite is found dead in their house, and the secrets lie on a mysterious island. The only ones capable of solving this mystery, of course, are a Japanese detective and a 15-year-old girl with a nervous stutter and supernatural abilities. Wait…OK, maybe this isn’t as typical as you might think. Return to Shironagasu Island is the first visual novel published on Steam by both publisher TABINOMICHI and developer HYOGO ONIMUSHI. The story centers around the aforementioned mysterious death of a millionaire and focuses primarily on two protagonists. ROMSLAB.COM Best Switch Games

Return to Shironagasu Island Switch NSP Free Download Romslab

Sen Ikeda, the narrator, is a rough-and-tumble detective originally from Japan, while Neneko Izumozaki, his ward, assists with the case via her supernatural powers and constant anxiety. The two have to work together to both solve the mystery, and – if possible – get out alive. The premise of the game’s story itself is admittedly fairly bog-standard. However, I was genuinely pleasantly surprised by how atmospheric and absorbing Return to Shironagasu Island managed to be at points. Right from the opening scene, the game hints that there’s something more going on with the world than might be apparent.

Discover the hidden secret of Shironagasu Island!

This only continues to ramp up upon reaching the eponymous island, and when the game was at its best, I was hooked. We play as detective Sen Ikeda and his younger, rather reserved underling Neneko, whose impressive memory makes her an asset in his investigations. They are asked by a client to investigate the mystery surrounding her millionaire father’s death. What initially seems to be a suicide ends up turning into something far more sinister, all leading back to the titular Shironagasu Island — a place known for the fact that its arrivals never tend to depart again — and secrets yet to be uncovered. Just Dance 2019 Switch NSP

Return to Shironagasu Island Switch NSP Free Download Romslab

How you interact with the other shady visitors will have a hand in determining your fate; who can you trust, and will you keep your identity a secret? Will you get out of here alive before it’s too late? What is immediately apparent from one look at the title is how much of a budget visual novel it is. It has an appealing design due to its dark and gritty appearance, and that grittiness helps to reinforces the overall atmosphere of an island no one in their right mind should be snooping around on. The blinking sprites work wonders in bringing more life to the game’s characters, and elevates the overall sense of style despite the obvious budget limitations.

Solve numerous mysteries and murders!

Especially notable are the few graphics which move, such as the elevator indicating its motion as we explore different floors. While the game’s overall production values are nothing to write home about, it again frames the many desolate scenes nicely, and projects a sense of dread and anxiety onto the player. Additionally, the small cast of characters and the setting predominately being a small and cramped island further aids this sense of dread. The game’s outdated menu will be off-putting to some players; moving the cursor to the top of the game’s window is the only way to make it appear, and the game never tells you this. Just Dance 2020 Switch NSP

Return to Shironagasu Island Switch NSP Free Download Romslab

But in some ways, this suits the overall simplicity of the title with it being a hand-crafted doujin game from an individual producer — but a more stylised UI would have reinforced the atmospheric aesthetic even more. In the end, that aesthetic is the game’s main charm, as we get into the more disappointing elements of it now. These moments were, however, frequently let down by the game’s myriad translation issues. Translating Japanese to English is a daunting prospect for any developer, and were the problems limited to the odd typo here and there, I’d have been able to look past it. Unfortunately, the issues really bleed into the characterizations, as well.

Meet enigmatic and captivating characters!

Neneko especially suffers from what feels like translation whiplash, sounding like a nervous schoolgirl for half of her scenes and like a rude tough kid the other half. Plenty of the banter between her and Sen also reads very confusingly, leading me to feel that this game needed another pass between translators. As to the actual gameplay itself, Return to Shironagasu Island tries to spice things up from the average visual novel. You’re often called to investigate environments by clicking on different parts of them in order to search for clues. While this might normally be a welcome change of pace, it quickly becomes a pain.

Return to Shironagasu Island Switch NSP Free Download Romslab

Many of the clues in an image are only indicated by the mouse cursor changing, and it can quickly begin to feel like pixel hunting. To boot, the game never informs you of this, but some clues need to be clicked multiple times to actually advance the story. It takes a potentially fun concept and makes it feel like guesswork, which ultimately makes these moments feel pointless. Some of these issues could be forgiven if the presentation were any better, but aside from some of the nicer pieces of character art, the game’s production is clearly a budget affair. The music is inoffensive if forgettable, and the environments are largely generic static images. Just Dance 2021 Switch NSP

Add-ons (DLC): Return to Shironagasu Island Switch NSP