A romantic adventure framed in a suspenseful story that will make us reflect on institutional justice.
Living a love story is one of the most vibrant adventures we can experience. We may not face arch-powerful dragons or have to save the planet. Or maybe yes, side by side with the person we love. But love adds a very special force to the narrative and also creates a very emotional bond with the player. Thus, the romantic genre exploits the fantasy of living a story of epic passion, with the growth of that feeling among lovers, their difficulties and most ardent moments. In video games, we observe how dating simulators appeal to the desire to have multiple suitors to choose from, which provides an incentive to experience another match with another choice. In other genres such as role playing, love subplots are incorporated that we can explore, such as Dragon Age or The Witcher. In a more specialized branch, we have the otomes, romantic narrative adventures for young girls. Within this classification, we have Collar X Malice (Otomate, Idea Factory), launched in 2016 for Android AND PlayStation Vita, and that since last August we can enjoy on Nintendo Switch.
Under the yoke of Adonis
Otomate, specialized in the development of otomes, proposes a visual novel that proposes the traditional romantic dynamics typical of shojo, but with a background of a mature thriller and loaded with a daring social criticism against the judicial system in Japan. We are in Shinjuku, the most important commercial and administrative district of Tokyo. Yet here it is stripped of its usual glamor of neon lights and nightlife. The area is in a prolonged quarantine due to the threat of the terrorist group Adonis, which has started the countdown until the so-called X Day, the date set for a revolution that will begin the judicial purge of Japan.
Adonis presents himself as a faction disenchanted with police corruption in Japan, and every month he commits a crime with which he intends to punish and expose the country’s judicial miseries. Its targets are individuals whose wickedness is harmful to society and who has somehow evaded the weight of the law. Fear has nested in a population that fears every day for being the next target, while Adonis’s message has penetrated deep: mistrust in the police increases every day, and the fact that each citizen has been provided with a Weapon as self-defense only increases an insecurity installed in daily life. Throughout the game, we will see how Collar x Malice not only proposes us to live a romance of butterflies in the stomach and electrifying caresses, but also puts on the table an interesting debate on the role of the police, the concept of justice and the ethics of law.
We play the police officer Ichika Hoshino, whose first name can be personalized, – although in the audio we will continue to hear the official version. Their job is to answer the numerous calls from citizens distressed and enraged by the situation in Shinjuku. One night, while she is going to answer an announcement, someone knocks her unconscious. Upon awakening, he finds himself in a mysterious place, with a closed necklace around his neck. Adonis, from this macabre accessory, contacts her and informs her that the device contains a lethal poison that will be injected into her if she informs the police of her situation … or if she fails the test to which they are subjected. The young woman has been chosen as a subject of observation by the terrorist group, who wishes to evaluate her ideals to determine if she is worthy.
Love in dark times
Hoshino is rescued by a group of attractive young men who work outside the police to unmask Adonis. Together, they must cooperate to save the city of Day X and Ichika herself from danger. Over 6 chapters of one hour each, we will traverse a gripping story of mystery and suspense, with tense moments despite some predictable twists and turns. And, of course, there will be room for love and throwing ourselves into the arms of one of our sensual accomplices. Unlike other dating simulators, the choice of our partner will not depend on an obvious choice of dialogue. In the prologue, through subtle decisions, we will express our interests and focus on the case of Day X, and according to this we will delve into one of the possible routes with its corresponding romance. Likewise, in each of the stories we will experience a totally different plot and this, added to the romance available after completing the game, adds a very interesting replayable component that increases the life of the game by about 20 hours. Among our sentimental candidates, we find charming stereotypes like the ice king, the clever rogue, the lovable goofy, the responsible mature man, and the mysterious guy who ends up being cute and warm.
As in any visual novel, throughout the game we will participate in some choices that will shape our investigation and the state of health of our relationship. The boy of our dreams will not only value us for giving him the answer that is more in tune with his way of thinking, but for how we carry out the investigation and the deductions that we make. Thus, we must apply a little care and cunning in the detective sequences and not respond randomly. We must also be careful to make a wrong decision, since we can pay for it with our own lives.
The love of our partner is calculated in a meter that we will feed with our decisions and responses throughout the game, which will determine our end. Our romance, moreover, will not be a bed of roses, since it will also go through difficulties and bitter events among other idyllic moments.
It should be said that the sentimental component of Collar x Malice appeals to a traditional narrative in the Otoms, where there is great care for the gradual evolution of the relationship. In addition, all the secondary characters are ascribed under the canons of the bishonen, which seeks the visual pleasure of the adolescent and young female audience. We will live scenes of great tenderness, where the infatuation of our partner grows to the rhythm of topics typical of anime, such as a fortuitous touch of hands or a discussion in which one expresses his attraction for the other without wanting to. As for Hoshino’s personality, he can seem too submissive in some situations, but in others he ends up showing his courage and integrity. Thus, our police officer embodies that duality of a strong and noble woman, but sweet and delicate.
A reading with limited interaction
On the other hand, despite the ramifications of Collar x Malice, greater player interaction and freedom of action is lacking. Despite the variety of routes and paths to dismantle Adonis, we do not stop feeling a certain constraint limited to dialogue elections. Likewise, a minigame is shown that consists of shooting at the right time, but this ends up being very little used.
At the graphic level, Collar x Malice starts from a very simple scheme that recreates an animation series within its limitations. With blurred photography backgrounds, the story takes place in the first person while we see a static image of the character with whom we interact on the screen. However, there is a certain visual dynamism: the expression of our interlocutor varies according to the moment, and the scenarios follow one another in a rhythmic way, with some beautiful postcards that represent the high points of history. Music, on the other hand, goes unnoticed, with themes that accompany the moment correctly, but end up being repetitive.
On Nintendo Switch Switch, the proposal is as playable as on a laptop or a dock, with acceptable readability. The glossary with police / legal terminology for the most lay public on some topics is also appreciated. With voices in Japanese that make the experience more immersive, it is a shame that the game does not have localization to Spanish, since it is a visual novel that goes beyond the conventions of the romantic genre to make us reflect on very current social issues.
This game has been analyzed in its version for Nintendo Switch.
CONCLUSION
Collar x Malice is a visual novel with a great incentive for replayability, with different routes that make each game different. With a narrative that follows the conventions of the traditional romantic genre and otome, we will live different love stories full of emotion. However, the background of the story offers a mature sociopolitical critique, which will lead us to reflect on institutional justice and authorities. It would make for a great adventure if it allowed more player interaction and got more out of the minigames.
THE BEST
- Reflection on institutional justice
- High component replayable, with different and attractive romantic routes
- A fast-paced and exciting story
WORST
- Not available in Spanish
- More interaction is needed
Okay
It meets the expectations of what a good game is, has quality and does not have serious flaws, although it is missing elements that could have taken it to higher heights.
