I hate this game/VN

[Yew Nough]

I beat the first chapter and delved into the second. I really tried to like it, but it bores me to the point where I sleep at the keyboard around 30 minutes in, without fail.

The interface/gameplay is clunky, the writing is lackluster, and the characters aren't interesting enough to remember.

Does this game get better quality-wise, or is it more of what I mentioned with a twist here and there?...

[Arrowdance]

This game is very complex. If you didn't understand the case you played, you have to replay it again until you understand it. For me, it's was very difficult to understand it at first, but as long as I continue playing it, I got hooked up with the story. And after I finished the game, I learned that other games from SUDA51 are conected with this one: Flower, Sun & Rain and Moonlight Syndrome. The Case #0: Lunatics is connected with Moonlight Syndrome. In that case, they were killing the survivors of that game.

[Yew Nough]

I understood what was developing in the story, but the material is poorly written...it's as entertaining as a geography textbook (from what I experienced). Does it get better from Chapter 2 on?

[Arrowdance]

If you are still interested, keep continuing playing. When you finish with the case #1 Decoyman, if you need more answers, you have to go the left part of the main menu (that one with the DJ set) where the reports are. That part is called Placebo, where you play as Tokio Morishima, a reporter who has the job to investigate everything about Kamui. Since that part, all the cases are connected with the reports. I recommend that after playing a case, you have to go to Placebo to answer some questions you may have.

[Arale//Zero]

The game is completely insane. If you just find it boring now, you will probably find the other insane things it does to also be boring.

I know it can make a bad first impression, though. A lot of the character writing is deliberately a certain way. What I mean by this is, the way that Republic talks nonsense about armament rank and jurisdiction, that's because that's the kind of group it is. And the way the HC Unit comes off as misanthropic and irresponsible, that's because that's the kind of group it is. These aren't mistakes, they are important.

case#0 was a tutorial/opening, and isn't that reflective of the rest of the game. case#3 is a turning point in the overall narrative arc.

[Yew Nough]

Thank you for your response. I'll aim for case #3 and see how it goes then.

[平将門]

To be honest, i will tell you something: play first a Transmitter case, then a Placebo one. Always alternating.

If you don't play in this order, the plot will be REALLY HARD to understand. And even playing in the correct order will still require you to use your intelligence to connect some dots (and that's actually on purpose, it's a game about investigation and part of the concept is having the player to connect the dots by himself).

Placebo mostly explains some events in Transmitter and it's a more personal story about depression and coping mechanisms. Really engaging. The Silver Case is a game that rewards the player a lot if you persist after the boring intro.

Btw, skip all the puzzles: they added this little magnifier button in every numpad puzzle. Just use it. Suda51 himself said that the ideal way of playing is skipping the puzzles since they are really dated and obtuse. It was a PS1 game after all. The movement is kinda clunky and sometimes the exploration parts are just trial and error, but the sequel improved a lot at this perspective. Just remember that this game was really experimental in the PS1, and i would even recommend you to use a controller since the controls were meant for one.

[平将門]

The plot is also very focused on meaning. Trying to decipher the criticisms each chapter represents and what they do to the overall overarching plot is part of the fun. It's kinda allegorical.

It's a weird setting (supernatural + early cyberpunk), but it's pretty interesting. Up to Case Spectrum (i think that's case #2) is mostly worldbuilding, but after this one: the game really gets where he wants.

[Yew Nough]

This is great information, thank you.

[Netsa]

I'm a fan of the game and I don't think most of it was very interesting, either. It has a few high points, Case #3 being one of them, but the reason they're so exciting is because so much of the rest of the game isn't (and don't get me started on Placebo).

While boring, the way it's told also makes the story much more believable, which is important for the theme they were going for. They aren't just skipping from plot point to plot point, characters have conversations and personalities, so it's easier to immerse yourself and believe that it's really happening, kind of like your favorite _____-drama TV show.

[平将門]

I do love Placebo though. It's very repetitive gameplay-wise but it focuses a lot more on writing. I love Placebo's writing and Tokio Morishima is one of my favorite characters.

In my opinion: if you are playing The Silver Case for fun or interaction, you are doing it wrong. It's more like an arthouse movie with lots of themes that challenge you to try to understand the meanings than an actual "fun" experience.

I also think that's fine. Another opinion of mine is that games need to be engaging, not exactly fun. They need to give meaning and interest you enough so that you will think the experience was worth it. This game is more like reading a book than blasting some Devil May Cry on your screen (which i agree that is a pretty great game), and that ain't no criticism: it's just the style and the intention.

Fun is also a very relative concept. I loved how the game challenged me constantly to connect dots and how Placebo chapters normally answered a lot of my theories. It was fun for me.

I don't think TSC is a perfect game by no means, the controls are really counterintuitive, the visuals are great but there are some bad design decisions (like flashing the name of the character who is speaking in 0,5 seconds, the game has like 10 key characters and only at the second half of the game i knew all the names) and the intro is so ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ slow and badly paced that it impresses me that it was written by the same guy that did Killer7's intro.

I can also agree the game is slow, but i think that's what makes it so striking: since the game takes his time to develop all the characters, when ♥♥♥♥ starts going bonkers, you'll probably like a lot of the characters and then it starts finishing almost all of the character arcs. I can easily state that Tokio Morishima is the most well developed character i've ever seen in videogames... And we are talking about a medium that has Francis York Morgan, Joel, Ellie, Nier, John Marston, Max Payne...

[俄]

the storytelling is slow paced, indirect, and maybe has deep implications. These are a constant from beginning to end in the silver case, don't expect any of those things to change later on. You need to be in the right kind of mood to even consider reading the game.
Maybe that mood never comes. And that's fine. Not every game is for every person at any point in their life. I hope you don't feel like you wasted your money in this game, but maybe eventually you give it another shot and end up reacting differently.