Not the last review of the year, but probably the last game review!
Huh, has it been two years already since I reviewed the first two Shin Hayarigami games and the novel? Hayarigami was originally a horror mystery visual novel series released on PSP and PS2, but after a few years of hiatus, the series returned with the reboot Shin Hayarigami in 2014. While it was enjoyable enough as a horror game with an urban legend theme, it didn't feel at all like the original Hayarigami series though. What made the original three games so fun was each episode you could choose what to believe or what to focus on in your investigation, and based on those choices, you'd end up either finding a scientific answer to the happenings, or an occult one. Both routes were worth exploring, answering elements of the mystery not explored in the other route, and even the supernatural routes did have elements of proper mystery fiction, like figuring out supernatural rules etc. Shin Hayarigami however focused much more on the horror aspect of the story, and even the talk about urban legends wasn't as interesting as the earlier games. Shin Hayarigami 2 (2016) was an improvement, returning mostly to the old formula. The way it tried to ignore the events in the first game was almost comical, but the first half of the game was really good, presenting interesting cases based on well known scary urban legends. The second half however was very occult-focused (even in the "scientific" routes), making it feel like there was no split in the scientific and occult routes at all. So Shin Hayarigami 2 felt like it took two steps in the right direction, but at the same time it put one foot back again, as if it was about to retrace it steps. Shin Hayarigami 3 was released this summer, and for the longest time I was slightly hesitant: would it really be able to take the necessary step forward to make it feel like Hayarigami, and not just any horror mystery game?
Luckily, Shin Hayarigami 3 on the whole does feel like another step in the right direction, and it also has a very interesting story choices that tie the three Shin Hayarigami games together more tightly and at the same time, more closely to the original trilogy, but it's not always succesful. That said, if you liked the original Hayarigami games, or Shin Hayarigami 2, I think you'll find a lot to like in Shin Hayarigami 3. The game features an omnibus format, offering five unrelated episodes (+ one bonus episode) where Saki has to investigate very gruesome deaths that invoke certain famous urban legends. In the first episode for example, Saki and Sena are investigating the death of a woman who was found dead in her apartment, but for some reason every single gap in her apartment had been taped off. She was literally in a locked room, but there are definite signs she didn't die of her own will, and other little weird findings like long strands of hair inside the victim's stomach suggest this is exactly the kind of case for Saki and Sena. Other episodes feature murders apparently committed by killer French antique dolls, while the episode about men being found turned into human stew because they died in their bathtub with the reheat function on (meaning the bath will keep on reheating the water at a set temperature) is a deliciously inspired case based on urban legend! It's here where Shin Hayarigami 3 shines, as it not only takes motifs and themes from familiar urban legends to craft alluring cases, but the game also discusses these urban legends in detail. Sena for example is an urban legend geek, and he often retells the urban legends related to their cases, and the player will probably have heard about a few of them from a friend of a friend. Meanwhile, other characters like Kisaragi, head of the Forensic Research Institute, also analyzes these urban myths from a folklore perspective. If you're familiar with the works of Brunvand on urban legends, you have an idea what you can see in Shin Hayarigami 3: not just the retelling of urban legends, but also analyzing where these myths come from or how new variants are born. The way Shin Hayarigami 3 uses urban legends not just as a graphical skin, but really delves into the topic and shows you research is what makes this game so entertaining. Oh, and talking about graphical skins, the game is definitely gory horror at times. The human stew episode even starts with a warning not to play it right after a meal!
Shin Hayarigami 3 follows the same gameplay flow as we saw in Shin Hayarigami 2 and the old series: as you follow the story, you are occasionally presented with "Self-Question" segments, where you ponder about the direction of your investigation. Eventually, each episode will split in either the scientific route or the occult route. That usually means that Saki will focus on one specific aspect of the case in order to solve it. In the human stew case for example, Saki will focus more on the practical "how was it done" question in the scientific route, while in the occult route, Saki decides to focus on certain foreshadowing dreams all the victims had before they died. Both routes usually lead to different conclusions to the case, but you are always encouraged to play through both sides: both sides usually answer questions not answered/glossed over in the other route. That does mean that even in the "scientific" routes, the supernatural will play some role in the events, and vice-versa. Some might not be a fan of this, but I think it works in the context of this series: the supernatural does exist in this world, but it doesn't mean that Saki and Sena can't investigate these cases and for example figure out logically what the rules are behind a certain curse to prevent new victim to die, or some crimes do involve the supernatural, but still need an acting human to actually commit the murders. It is a shame however that the "scientific" route in Shin Hayarigami 3 is often better described as the "science-fiction" route, with pretty out-of-there events being the "logical" explanation for the events. Sometimes it feels like the difference between the scientific route and the occult route is like "it was a ghost, and the ghost used its supernatural powers to kill someone directly" and "it was a ghost, and the ghost used its supernatural powers in a semi-scifi manner to kill someone". But on the other hand, it does result in a few interesting locked room murder situations in this game that, granted, feature absolutely ridiculous solutions, but they do manage to get that sense of "it's definitely silly, but also slightly convincing" that make urban legends so fun to begin with in general, so it works in that context.
I think one of the more interesting episodes was the one about Ryoumen Sukuna. No, not the character from Jujutsu Kaisen. The mythological person mentioned in the Nihon Shoki, the man with two heads and four arms and legs. It's here where we have a story that isn't just about (modern) urban legend, but also about older mythology and the folklore discussed here is really fascinating, while the case itself is also great: Saki and Sena are asked to investigate a threatening note sent to an archeologist who has recently found he mummy of Ryoumen Sukuna with his team inside a series of abandoned mining tunnels. Saki and Sena, as well as other guests have only just arrived inside the tunnels when the entrance caves-in, trapping all of them inside the mining tunnels. Meanwhile, the mummy of Ryoumen Sukuna disappears, and then people start getting killed... The real-time, closed circle environment of this story is pretty new for this series, but the way this story ties back to the original PSP/PS2 games is also fun. The way it weaves old myths from centuries ago with more modern urban legends is also memorable, making for perhaps the highlight of the game, tied together with the human stew story.
The final episode is where the game trips up, as it tries too much in too little time. Whereas the previous game did its best to pretend the first Shin Hayarigami didn't happen, this episode suddenly tries to make meaningful references to it, while at the same time also telling a story about sightings of the dead rising from their graves and also even making links to the old trilogy, but it falls flat in both routes because everything feels rushed. As a mystery story, the final episode doesn't satisfy at all in both routes, and the things it tries to do hardly succeed. It works, at best, as a sequel hook as we are told a few things that are likely to come back in a potential Shin Hayarigami 4, but at lot of these ideas should've been explored in the direct sequel to the first Shin Hayarigami, not in the third installment! And talking about things I didn't like... the new artstyle doesn't work for me. It's a bit cleaner than the previous games, but it simply doesn't feel as unsettling as the previous style. In the previous two Shin Hayarigami games, the art style and character designs managed to convey a feeling of... oppressing dread, but it's a bit too clean now, and doesn't really support the dark, uncanny atmosphere of the game.
But despite my lukewarm reception of the ending, I still enjoyed playing Shin Hayarigami 3 overall, as up to the last episode, it manages to present entertaining cases. As a pure mystery story, the Hayarigami franchise has never been super impressive perhaps, but the way it delves so deep into the theme of urban legends, even from an academic viewpoint, and uses motifs from well-known stories to present alluring murder cases is quite unique and it serves a type of horror mystery you don't really see elsewhere. Shin Hayarigami 3 has a lot of blatant sequel hooks, so I sure hope Shin Hayarigami 4 will be developed in the future, and I hope they managed to keep up the trend of improving on the previous game. Perhaps the next time, I'll even be satisfied with the final episode!
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