Disaster Detective Saiga: An Indescribable Mystery

Genre: Visual Novel

Players: 1

.

Review:

Disaster Detective Saiga: An Indescribably Mystery is a Visual Novel released in 2023 on PC and Nintendo Switch. In this game, players follow a private detective investigating odd and frequently supernatural mysteries, while himself being an absolute wreck with terrible luck. Will he manage to finally solve a case and get paid so he doesn’t starve? Can he even make it through an investigation alive?

Right from the start, this game’s style and tone feels very reminiscent of the Ace Attorney series of games, with a similar amount of whimsy and goofy anime-style characters. You play a down-on-his-luck but nevertheless skilled professional who soon finds himself with a spunky young female sidekick with experience in the spiritual and supernatural. There definitely seems to be some influence at play here.

That said, while this game captures the lightheartedness of the Ace Attorney games, it doesn’t do so well with the serious elements and deeper story that the Ace Attorney games tend to have. It’s hard to really take it seriously because the protagonist rarely ever seems to be more than a joke, so it’s hard to care so much when he’s in peril.

The gameplay also doesn’t measure up to the Ace Attorney games, and players here have very little interaction that affects the narrative. On occasion you’ll be given a multiple-choice question, but this doesn’t branch off the plot so much as just test to see if you got the right answer – if not, sometimes you’ll be asked again and given another chance to get it right, and sometimes you’ll get a game over, and continue right where you died so you can get another chance to get it right. So… yeah, this doesn’t exactly feel like high stakes here.

The presentation at least is good, with some nice 2D anime-style character portraits and nice looking 2D backgrounds. This is joined by occasional Japanese-language voice acting (good, but not consistent), and backed by a whimsical soundtrack. It all works well for the tone the game is aiming for, but isn’t especially memorable or noteworthy.

Oh, before concluding, I need to mention that the grammar in this game’s writing isn’t great, and at times it can be outright amateurish. The localization is also lacking in areas as well. This is a game that definitely could have used the talents of someone with better English skills.

Overall, I think Disaster Detective Saiga is an okay Visual Novel for those who enjoy the more lighthearted tone of the Ace Attorney games, but it can’t hold a candle to those games when it comes to the deeper story and characters or wonderful gameplay. Still, if you’re a fan of that franchise looking for something similar but more lightweight to act as a filler, this might be worth a look.

tl;dr – Disaster Detective Saiga is a Visual Novel about a down-on-his-luck detective investigating supernatural mysteries. The game has a lighthearted tone that seems reminiscent of the Ace Attorney games, but it lacks those games’ deeper stories and characters, as well as their more impactful gameplay. As a result, this game might be worth a look for fans of the Ace Attorney series looking for a disposable time-waster, but this isn’t a great choice if you want something deeper and more impactful.

Grade: C+

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