Written by. Nick Mosier based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2022-02-10 08:29 JST)

Square Enix has announced a live-action murder mystery adventure game called The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story. The game is scheduled to release May 12, 2022, on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC (Steam), and will cost 7,480 yen (roughly $65) in Japan.

The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story follows the Shijima family who have suffered multiple mysterious deaths over the course of 100 years. The protagonist of the game is a mystery author named Haruka Kagami. After receiving a request, Haruka, along with her editor, visit the Shijima residence at the foot of Mt. Fuji. Their goal is to figure out the identity of a skeleton that was found there and search for a fruit of endless youth.

Haruka doesn’t believe in the fruit, but while there, her editor finds an old book written by an ancestor of the Shijima family. In the book is the story about a murder revolving around the fruit of endless youth that occurred 100 years ago. Haruka reads the book and solves the mystery. However, just before her eyes another murder occurs that shakes the Shijima family. Haruka now must take on the challenge of solving four murders that occurred over the span of 100 years.

Haruka gathers clues and fits the pieces together like a puzzle in what the game refers to as cognitive space. These clues are depicted and obtained during the Incident Phase. During the Reasoning Phase, Haruka enters cognitive space and works to form a hypothesis. Lastly is the Solution Phase where Haruka finds the culprit and reveals the truth behind the murders.

Furthermore, the game features what they call the Multi-Role System, where one actor will perform different roles during different time periods. Perhaps the victim in one generation will play the murderer in another. The game is being directed by Koichiro Ito, known for their work as the scenario director of 428: Shibuya Scramble. Development is being handled by Neo: The World Ends with You and Layton’s Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires’ Conspiracy developer h.a.n.d.

Speaking of Square Enix, in the 90s and early 2000s, Enix, its own company at the time, released multiple FMV games including Murder on the Eurasia Express and øSTORY, while Square released a game called Another Mind. In 2018, Square Enix released a game called The Quiet Man which also has sections depicted in live-action. We have high hopes seeing Square Enix tackle live-action with a new game.

The official website for The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story can be found here.

Keiichi Yokoyama

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