The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story, The New Time-Traveling Detective Game from Square Enix

---

Although The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story was only shown during the Japanese Nintendo Direct, it will be released in the United States as well

---

Nintendo Direct had something for everyone, from Wii Sports fans to Mario Kart racers to Kirby vore fans. But that doesn't mean something spectacular wasn't missing. In fact, the Japanese Nintendo Direct included something fantastic that the version we received did not: an announcement trailer for a live-action murder mystery game by Square Enix that appears to be a sleeper hit in the making.

The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story follows Haruka Kagami, an aspiring mystery writer, as she pursues the Scarlet Camellia, a secret group or entity that has taken the lives of four Shijima family members over–wait for it–get this! —the length of a century. The Scarlet Camellia's motivation for their century-long persecution of the Shijima family is an enigmatic McGuffin known as the Fruit of Youth, a Shijima family heirloom. The trailer voice-over guy reveals that Kagami must "transcend time and relive past murders" to uncover the truth behind the killings. It appears to be straightforward.

"Every story has a mystery, as well as clues to help solve that mystery," Kagami says in the trailer as she walks through an ethereal space in what I can only assume is her detective version of Jujutsu Kaisen's domain expansion or Benedict Cumberbatch's "mind palace" in the BBC's Sherlock. "In this cognitive space," she continues, "I piece together the mystery and clues like a puzzle, form a hypothesis, and construct a connected path of logic."

One clever mechanic allows you to look up clues and character backgrounds in real time while watching a surprisingly beautiful FMV. When a scene ends, you enter the previously mentioned cognitive space for what is known as the Reasoning Phase, during which you will enter Columbo mode and deduce the answer to questions such as "What did the killer use in the murder?" " Getting the wrong answer can have disastrous consequences.

To keep things interesting, the cast members play multiple characters in the game's various eras, which include 1922, 1972, and 2022. Someone who plays a mild-mannered character in one era may be the murderer in the next, which may work to keep you off the suspect's trail (a clever approach for a mystery game) while also allowing the actors to demonstrate their range.

As someone who has read classic murder mystery stories like Josephine Tey's Miss Pym Disposes and family-centric detective stories like Rian Johnson's Knives Out, The Centennial Case piques my interest. Thankfully, The Centennial Case, which was only shown off during the Japanese Nintendo Direct, will be available for American audiences to play as well. I can't help but imagine someone asking me what I'm playing on my Switch while I'm out and about, and I respond with "my stories" while proudly brandishing this Netflix-drama-looking game.

The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story will be released on May 12 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC.

#CentennialCase #SquareEnix #Shijima #ShijimaFamily #ShijimaStory

---

SOURCE: kotaku

---

What do you think of this blog? Write down at the COMMENT section below.