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Critical Point
Reviewed by Rowena Lim Lei
(Originally published Animetric.com,
used with permission)
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| Japanese
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| Cost: |
$34.95 |
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AVG |
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Synopsis: The year is 2037. You are Capt. Leiji Osumi,
an agent of the Free Alliance Space Force. You are sent to
investigate a series of problems that have been plaguing the
Free Alliance Moon Base of late. Not long after your arrival,
you discover that most of the predominantly female staff members
of the base are having problems controlling their sexual urges.
To top it off, there seems to be a saboteur and murderer in
your midst. Will you be able to solve the mystery? Or will
you just become one of the casualties?
Review: To be honest,
I've never played a real sci-fi bishoujo game prior to Critical
Point. The closest I had come was "Desire", but then I found
its scientific aspects somewhat confusing to the point that
I wanted to skip the tech-y talk and just get on with the
story... so I wasn't sure if Peach Princess could pull CP
off. My fears were unfounded however, because as it turns
out, CP is one of the best bishoujo adventures I've played
through.
Like most other bishoujo titles,
Critical Point is something of a choose-your-own-adventure
type of game. It's an interactive novel more than anything,
with you the player in the lead role. As Capt. Leiji Osumi,
your primary objective is to find out who or what has been
causing the base's problems. But of course, depending on the
choices you make, you might also find love or meet your untimely
end in the process. There are over twenty possible endings,
ranging from bad, okay, good, to best. I believe there's only
one best ending, and you'll know you got it when you see the
full credits roll.
What I like best about CP is
definitely the well-written story, or rather, stories. The
non-death endings have varying independent plot-lines, so
there are several possible culprits and people you can end
up with. Some of the paths you take "fill-in" certain details
of other paths... so the more you play, the richer and more
detailed the whole experience gets. Despite the sci-fi theme,
there are no inexplicable jargons nor are there boring tech
talk to contend with. The narratives and dialogues are all
very readable, plus there's the handy dandy fast-forward button
for when you're replaying the same scene(s).
The artwork is excellent. The
girls are all pretty in their own distinct ways (meaning they
don't look like they all came from the same drawing board),
and the backgrounds look like a fine mix of CG and actual
photographs. CP dabbles in different kinds of sex (aside from
the usual heterosexual kind) -- lesbian, S&M... there's even
a bit of pissing involved. There are a few gory and violent
scenes to boot. It's all depicted very explicitly.
CP is not a difficult game, and
I was able to acquire all the endings and CGs in a couple
of days. I should mention that I found some of the sound effects
a bit disconcerting, particularly the sound of spaceships
taking off. It had this scratchy (for the lack of a better
term) quality that's anything but pleasant to the ears, and
I wasn't sure if it was because my PC's speakers suck or if
that's just the way it is. A minor gripe on my part, and the
charming Japanese voices of the characters more than make
up for a few moments of bad sound effects.
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