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The Death of Judgment: Memories of Annihilation is now officially launched on March 28, 2022 on the PS5/PS4/XSX/Xbox One platform. Next, after playing all the contents of the DLC, I will introduce the system and gameplay of the "Masaharu Kaito Event Book" without spoilers. If you want to completely avoid any spoiler content, you can choose to skip directly to the end of this article to read the author's evaluation after passing the level.
What Kaito, who incarnates as the protagonist, will face...
As the "Book of Events of Masaharu Kaito" literally describes, the DLC will tell a spin-off story from The Death of Judgment: Memories of Annihilation, featuring Masaharu Kaito as the protagonist. In terms of timeline, this story takes place after the end of the main story, and since the protagonist of the main story, Hachijin Takayuki, is on a business trip, Masaharu Kaito will have to solve the new events alone.
▲Players can have a brief communication with the eight gods through the SMS APP in the game
The author who played this DLC with the promotion story as the core, the final time to complete the level is about 7 hours. The events that Kaito will face in Kamurocho have both a thick plot that is not inferior to this part, a humorous section that makes people laugh, and there are many shocking unfolding and scenes... It's exactly the feel of "The Dragon Studio". In addition, by experiencing this story, we can also learn more about Haito's past.
▲ Scene of Haito's memories. It is worth mentioning that there is also a link in the game to manipulate the young Sea Vine
Since the storyline of this game is completely independent, and the game also provides a meticulous beginner's tutorial, there will be no problem playing without completing the main chapter. That being said, there are still some "better experiences if you understand the main plot" in the game, so if you don't have any special obsession, I still recommend that you play the "Haido Masaharu Incident Book" after completing the main plot.
▲It is best to understand the personality of the characters and the relationship between each other before playing
Powerful sea vine style combat
This DLC not only features Haito as the protagonist, but also has a major innovation in the combat gameplay based on the main eight gods action system. Although only two fighting styles, "Fire Fighting" and "Iron Plate", can only be used, either style has a greater sense of power than the Eight Gods, fully reflecting the personality of the character.
The "Firefight" that can be used at the beginning of the game is a relatively balanced fighting style, and in the case of the "Like Dragon" series, it can be said that it is closer to Kiryu Kazuma's action style. In this style, characters can use a variety of weapons, and can evade and counterattack at any time.
▲ If you want to attack quickly and continuously, use the fire fighting style
▲Find the right time to press the corresponding button, you can bounce against the enemy's attack. Mastering this move will make fighting in the Firefight style more fun
The "iron plate" that needs to be learned in the subsequent flow of the game is a fighting style that is specifically enhanced for weapon attack, throwing, and defense. In this style, the character will automatically pick up weapons dropped on the road to attack or directly grab the enemy to cast a throw, and Kaito is also more adept at withstanding attacks from the enemy at this time, and can always find the opportunity to counterattack.
▲In the defensive state, you can use EX actions, and it is highly recommended that players who are not good at action play use more
In addition, Like the Eight Gods, Kaito is able to use sp points earned in battle to acquire different skills. However, it is worth noting that some skills require certain conditions to be unlocked, and the discovery of "memory locations" in the game will be a necessary prerequisite for unlocking many skills, so it is important for players to pay attention to places that may be related to Haito's past when playing.
▲You can use the "Eye of The Sea" in the investigation action to find the location of the memory
Distinctive Sea Vines Investigate Actions
In the process of investigating the DLC incident, Haito also needs to go through detective links such as chase, tracking, and investigation. There is little difference between the chase and tracking system and the main article, but the investigation part is very different.
▲ Although the chase system is much the same, the movements used by Kaito to avoid obstacles are completely different from those used by Yagami
In conducting his investigation, Haido does not use any detective props other than drones, but makes full use of his superior "wild perception" abilities such as sight, hearing and smell to find the clues necessary to solve the incident. The following will briefly introduce several abilities that you often have the opportunity to use during the game.
The first thing to mention is the "Eye of The Sea Vine". Since it is to use the eyes to search and investigate the details that you care about, there is not much difference between the overall design and the search mode of the eight gods in the main chapter. In particular, the mechanism of obtaining clues by looking at the corners of care can be said to be no different from the main part.
▲ You can investigate the details you care about by looking, and if you need prompts, you can use the "thinking" ability like the eight gods
"Nose of The Sea Vine" is a method of investigation based on The Keen Sense of Smell of The Sea Vine. Once in this mode, the game screen will turn black and white, and the smell in the scene will be visualized. There are still many clues that are difficult to notice even if you have carefully observed through the "Eye of The Sea Vine", so please do not forget to use the "Eye of the Sea Vine" before activating the "Nose of the Sea Vine" survey.
▲ Smoke that visualizes the smell will appear in the places that need to be investigated
▲Using "No. Nin's Nose", you can also find collection elements such as "Coat of Arms of Pine Gold" and "Coat of Arms of Blood Stained" in all corners of the street
Then we have to mention the "Ear of The Sea Vine", which is the ability to detect all the small sounds around it. After switching to this mode, the screen will enter a black and white state similar to "Nose of The Sea Vine", at which time the dialogue of the characters next door and the cries of wild cats in the alley will be clearer and will be presented in a visual form.
▲ The investigatable points that appear in the black and white screen, after looking at the investigation, found...
▲It turned out to be a representative exploration element in the works of Rulong Studio - cats
In the course of subsequent investigations, Kaito will also use cross-dressing to sneak like Hachijin. Although it is impossible to use the physical movements in the main chapter, as a member of the detective agency, the game still designs a large number of scenes to show Kaito's abilities.
▲ Throw a coin to attract the attention of the enemy and knock the enemy down unexpectedly
Overall
These are the feelings I would like to share about the story, the combat system, and the investigation gameplay while trying to avoid spoilers. In conclusion, I think the DLC is a work that is "suitable for fans of the Eye of Judgment series to gain insight into the worldview of the work" .
The entire volume of the DLC, even if it only advances the main line, has about 7 hours, and if you add the exploration experience of learning combat skills and collecting emblems, the overall play time should be easier than 10 hours. As a plot DLC, this game is filled with a lot of cutscenes that don't appear in the main part (there is no reuse of the main performance!). ), and the combat and investigation gameplay is as interesting as the main part, so it is definitely not a loss from the perspective of cost performance.
In terms of story, since everyone's preferences are different, the author can only say "please play it for yourself", at least I played it in one breath. In addition, although the overall entertainment of the plot and the theme as the core of the story are different from the main story, its quality and completion are not inferior at all. Each of the characters in the game has a distinct personality, including characters who are "annoying at first, but may like it later".
To sum up, if you're a gamer who loves Death of Judgment: Memories of Annihilation, this game is definitely your thing.
Compile: Bluestoon