The House of Haunts

「答えはひとつ！」

『探偵学園Ｑ］　

"There's one answer!"

"Detective Academy Q"

Are we all playing Animal Crossing New Horizons?

Despite the sequel hook in the final episode in 2007's Tantei Gakuen Q Premium, readers were sadly enough never treated to more Tantei Gakuen Q ("Detective Academy Q") after that volume. I don't know whether the creative duo of Amagi Seimaru and Satou Fumiya really planned to continue the series at one point, but given that they have been working on various Kindaichi Shounen series since, I assume I shouldn't expect new adventures of Q Class soon. Which is a shame, because I really like Tantei Gakuen Q. In my mind, it strikes a perfect balance between the story types of Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo or Detective Conan, featuring both longer, relatively technical impossible murder stories like in Kindaichi Shounen, but also offering an overall storyline like in Conan, as well as having interesting short stories (the short stories in Kindaichi Shounen are usually not really interesting). And of course, it had a lot of unique elements on its own, most importantly having a team of young detectives as the protagonists, all specializing in different fields.

As I have already gone over each and every case in the manga in the past, I don't mention the series often anymore here. I guess I could still do the handful of anime original episodes, but I hardly remember them and I don't think they were particularly outstanding (and that's ignoring the fact the anime series has a completely different ending). But fortunately, there are still the videogames to discuss! I've already reviewed the GameBoy Advance title Tantei Gakuen Q: Meitantei wa Kimi da! ("Detective Academy Q: You're the Great Detective!") many years ago, which unfortunately I didn't like that much. But I can already tell you that the PlayStation 2 videogame Tantei Gakuen Q: ~ Kioukan no Satsui ~ ("Detective Academy Q ~ Malice in the Houses of the Eccentric Elder ~, 2003) is muuuuch better, offering an experience that truly makes you feel like you're going through another true adventure with Q Class, featuring a story that could've easily fitted with the original series. The game starts in a familiar manner, with the five students of Q (Qualified) Class attending a lecture at the prestigious Dan Detective School of the legendary detective Dan Morihiko. Kyuu is late for school like always, but he has an excuse: he received an odd letter from a childhood friend by special delivery. The letter by Urushizaka Haruka, who used to live in Tokyo but moved with her family back to the family estate in a remote mountain hamlet, seems to be a completely normal letter, but that's exactly what bothers Kyuu about it, for why would Haruka send him a letter like that by special delivery? The five Q Class students discover a hidden message in the letter where Haruka asks for help, and Dan Morihiko reveals to his pupils that a few days ago, Haruka's mother had died in what was determined by the police to be an accident. Dan suspects that Haruka's letter has to do with her mother's death, and he decides to send three members of Q Class to Okumiyama to poke around, with the other remaining in Tokyo as support.

Located in a snowy region surrounded by mountains, Okumiya is a very small hamlet with only one single general store. While the Urishizaka family fortune has dwindled in the last two generations, the family is still considered the 'lords' of this area, which is also apparent from the grand mansions Haruka's grandfather had built in the past in this otherwise very, very remote village. These houses are referred to collectively as the Houses of the Eccentric Elder (a nickname for Haruka's grandfather) and include the Clock House, the Lake House, the Incense Burner House, the Cherry Blossom Corridor House and the Elder and Younger Brother House. The kids pretend like they are just visiting Haruka as they secretly investigate her mother's death, who had apparently been crushed by the tower bell in the Clock House. While the local police determined it was an accident, Q Class soon finds evidence that the clock bell had been tampered with. Dan Morihiko orders his pupils to investigate the matter further, but they could not have expected that more murders would follow during their stay and to their great surprise, they realize these murders may have to do with the Mountain Spirit of an old local ball song (something like a nursery rhyme) and tales of a gold treasure protected by the Spirit.

Wa-wait, so we have a case where Q Class is split up in teams, about multiple murders (many with an impossible angle), murders patterned after a nursery rhyme, and we have ancient family secrets, hidden treasures, creepy , themed houses and talk about a vengeful Mountain Spirit? Yep, this is exactly the type of story you'd expect from Tantei Gakuen Q. In fact, I was surprised to learn that the scenario of this game was credited to a team of scenario writers, as the way this was written, I was almost expecting Amagi himself to be credited in one way or another for the story outline, because it was so much like the real deal. So if you're looking for more Tantei Gakuen Q, this particular game is definitely one to try out. The game features the voice cast of the anime series by the way, even though the artwork seems more inspired by the manga.

So while this definitely feels like Tantei Gakuen Q, I can also tell you this game can be difficult! While at the core a conventional mystery adventure game where you go around the hamlet questioning suspects and examining all nooks and crannies for evidence or other relevant pieces of information that allow you to answer questions that help you solve the case, Tantei Gakuen Q: Kioukan no Satsui also tries to make it a much more engaging videogame experience. For example, there's the notion of time in this game, with each action you take in the game consuming a certain amount of time. Each day, you have a time limit (usually at the end of the day to report back to Dan Morihiko) and it's important to have gathered all the relevant clues by that time in order to present a case to the teacher, so it's crucial not to waste time examining the same things or repeating your questions all the time. This ties in with the character affinity stats: some of the dialogue choices will either raise or decrease a character's friendliness towards you, which can affect how cooperative they are (and if they're uncooperative, you might not obtain the information you need to proceed in the game). And to receive some pieces of information, you even have to do well in the various minigames they throw at you at the oddest times (like a snowball fight with two twin girls, or learning to juggle), and that taken together can make this a tricky game to play, as gathering all the necessary data to solve the case isn't just a matter of clicking on "Yes" all the time.

And one warning: at the start of the game, you're asked to take two Q Class members along with Kyuu to Okumiyama, with the other two members remaining in Tokyo as support. While all members will help in their own way if they're brought along to Okumiyama, there is actually one specific character you absolutely must bring along if you want the best ending. That's really frustrating, because there is no way you could ever guess at the very beginning of the game that you absolutely need that character in the future, and even if you'd pick your two mates at random, there's still a good chance you wouldn't pick the correct one. Considering this series is all about showing how these characters all bring something unique to the team (Kyuu and Ryuu as geniuses in reasoning, Megu has photographic memory, Kinta boasts extraordinary physical skills and Kazuma is the resident whizzkid/data gatherer), it's a bit weird that the best ending of the game is written around the notion that one specific character must be present.

Anyway, the story features multiple murders with impossible features to them: Haruka's mother for example was crushed under the tower bell and her death was initially determined to be a suicide because nobody could've dropped that bell on her head and then gotten away from the tower before other people arrived, while another murder involves a body being hung from a tree, even though there were no footprints of the murderer in the snow around the tree. Most of the tricks behind these murders are perhaps not mindblowingly amazing or original, but they work well in the context of the game, making good use of the unique setting and also of the presentation in the game (while nothing impressive in comparison to AAA game titles, this game seems to boast better production values than most mystery adventure games of the era usually had, and they definitely help visualizing the mystery plot). There is one rather audacious reveal about the Houses about midway in the story which I really liked though and the presentation (clewing) there was pretty clever. It's an idea that invokes a rather famous moment in the series, but in a very different manner, and it leaves an impression here too. Also note that this game has multiple endings: each day, the members of Q Class solve part of the murders, but depending on how well you do on explaining the murders and other choices you make, you can actually identify the murderer early and prevent some of the later deaths from happening. Which is part of what makes this game really interesting, but also really difficult, for if you missed some clue, you might be forced to start all over again to get the best ending.

Tantei Gakuen Q: ~ Kioukan no Satsui ~ can be a tad tricky to play with its multiple endings, buddy system and time limit system, but this game undeniably feels like Tantei Gakuen Q. It's almost as if you're playing through a lost episode. While in terms of story, this game doesn't make any specific references to the main story of the original series, it's the type of tale that could've easily fitted in early to middle part of the manga, both in terms of atmosphere as well as the type of mysteries solved here. So for people who are still looking for more Tantei Gakuen Q after reading the manga or watching the anime and/or drama: this is as close as you can get. Probably. Perhaps I should try the second GameBoy Advance game too...

Original Japanese title(s): 『探偵学園Q　～奇翁館の殺意～』