# Article Submission System >

Article Start>

View Content >

(This is a draft. I will correct grammatical errors / typos / awkward expressions as I edit. – M. Shrike)

<Special Feature> ‘Crow’ Mike Shrike’s Review of ‘Game of the Topic’ – S.Call2

“A masterpiece-syndrome-afflicted game company’s orthodox failure. It’s innovative. But it’s not a game. Rating: 0.5/5”

Bread with chocolate spread is common. But no one eats raw dough with chocolate on it. Because it’s nonsensical.

Yet in today’s gaming industry, selling such nonsense disguised as “innovation” has become a major trend.

When customers complain of indigestion?

“That’s due to your weak digestive system, not our game company’s problem,” they say, scolding and looking down on customers.

In no other industry do creators look down on their customers.

But the gaming industry overestimates itself as if such behavior is acceptable.

We can easily find game companies that users describe as suffering from “masterpiece syndrome” or “world-class syndrome.”

The symptoms of masterpiece and world-class syndromes vary.

But there’s a common reaction: they want to be evaluated based on their “intentions” rather than their actual achievements.

This is nothing but amateurish, childishly regressive, and self-centered behavior.

If they wanted their intentions evaluated, they should have released a clear statement of position rather than a game in the first place.

Of course, to do that properly, they should take down their game company sign and put up one that says “Statement Specialist Company” or “Original Criticism Restaurant.”

What matters isn’t which company has masterpiece syndrome or world-class syndrome. The problem is that such terms have become popular at all.

But game companies don’t see it that way. They cling tenaciously to the childish defense mechanism that it’s not them but the world that’s wrong.

Why? I believe it’s due to an “inferiority complex.”

My thesis is that the current gaming industry is witnessing the unbridled expression of a murky desire by those who were once treated as “nerdy idiots who make games despite their age” to be respected as “Well-Educated People worthy of social admiration.”

What’s the result?

The current situation produces developers who expect professional treatment when getting paid, deliver amateur results, have a Work Ethic as lazy as their protruding bellies, and become arrogant “industry pioneers” solely because they follow certain ideologies.

Amateurs can be forgiven. Non-adults can be understood as experiencing growing pains.

But it’s immoral for adults over twenty who can legally enjoy alcohol and tobacco, especially professionals who get paid for their work, to adopt such attitudes.

I dare say such obtuse methods will never become “mainstream.”

Using games as tools for personal propaganda is merely a shallow extension of the ego that says, “Since no one would look at my amateur philosophy, I’ll package it prettily as a game.”

Users aren’t foolish enough to miss such underhanded tactics.

Sadly, the makers of “Call” also show symptoms of masterpiece and world-class syndromes.

What is the “Call” series?

I believe readers are already familiar with “Call’s” reputation, but for those new to the mystery-suspense genre, I’ll provide a brief introduction.

“Call” and its sequel “S.Call2” are mystery puzzle suspense games set in the “Cthulhu Mythos” world created by American novelist Howard Lovecraft.

In modern times, mystery, puzzle, and suspense genres are considered completely obsolete, yet mixing these three and adding Cthulhu resulted in a remarkable masterpiece.

Of course, Cthulhu is the core material throughout the story and also the most divisive element.

But even excluding Cthulhu and focusing only on the mystery puzzle suspense aspects, “Call” deserves to be called a masterpiece.

(For more details on “Call’s” success, see the next article -> [The Spectacular Revival of Mystery Puzzle Suspense: What’s Behind “Call’s” Game of the Year Award?])

What happened between “Call” and “S.Call2”?

There was a surprising change at the production company. It was acquired by “Eat All Games,” a mammoth-sized game developer and distributor that exceeds the term “major.”

Of course, the process wasn’t smooth. Users worldwide expressed fierce protests and opposition.

There’s considerable karma at work here, as many indie/minor game companies that were taken over by “Eat All” either lost their unique identity with each sequel, became completely ruined due to frequent design change requests, or both.

While there were cases where Eat All Games intervened strongly, and others where game companies became lazy and self-destructed, either way, the result was disappointment for users.

Amid worry and concern, “S.Call2” was finally released in an “early access” format.

Changes from the previous work – Outstanding System

Even for a 0.5-star game review, there are good points. Namely, that “S.Call2” holds tremendous potential.

First, unlike the previous game where you could only choose “John Crayfield” (though other players were available as DLC), the sequel offers various professions to choose from.

Journalists, retired soldiers, detectives, mafia members, and even college students are available.

That’s not all. Depending on which character you choose and their backstory, the challenges you need to solve and the background story that unfolds will differ.

If you choose a “journalist up for promotion,” they must uncover the truth of the incident and obtain evidence to write an article within a short time.

If you choose a “retired soldier seeking revenge for losing a comrade to a strange entity,” you can use your psychological symptoms as both a penalty and a resource to carry out your revenge (which becomes registered as the main quest).

This game goes further by emphasizing truly realistic interactions.

Therefore, depending on your purpose, you can form various relationships with NPCs in the game.

The success formula borrowed from proven popular board games, impeccable diligence, and the adoption of immersive realistic elements are positive factors.

“Drugstore,” the lead game developer of “S.Call2,” revealed that he was inspired by the board game “Gloomhaven.”

Characters in “Gloomhaven” have “personal quests” they must accomplish, and they venture into dungeons to complete these quests.

In other words, dungeon adventures are the means, and the true purpose lies in “solving personal quests.”

With diverse characters, diverse decision-making naturally follows, which is why Gloomhaven boasts an impressive total of 95 different scenarios.

This aligns with the game philosophy of providing new and interesting stories without needing to repeat similar scenarios.

That’s not all. The game world continuously changes and mutates.

It changes according to player choices, but the production company also distributes patches directly at one to two-week intervals.

Through the auto-update feature, they change NPC influence in real-time. Despite numerous flaws, such efforts themselves deserve high praise.

The problem with puzzle and mystery genres is that there’s no reason to replay them, but by changing the game’s worldview and background, you can receive a different experience even with the same gameplay, gaining new enjoyment each time.

However, excessive “realism” makes the game meaningless

“S.Call2” boasts an unprecedented level of interdependence, opinion exchange, and freedom in game history.

To reinforce gameplay that could become messy, they’ve also adopted numerous realistic elements.

Realism, if handled well, can maximize immersion in a game, but if excessive, it ceases to be a game.

Consider the thief class in the Commandos series. Being small in stature, they can hide well in wall or floor gaps. That’s a realistic element.

But Eidos, the developer of Commandos, didn’t include “realistic” elements like falling while climbing fences, injuring hands while stealing, or sneezing due to sudden dust in the mouth.

They considered these elements disruptive to gameplay, and indeed they are.

Not just in games but in all creative works, “realism” should be a “device” that helps users easily immerse themselves and adapt to the creative world, not an excuse claiming that because something happens in reality, it must happen in the game—which is ultimately just a defensive statement from those unwilling to admit they’ve made a poor game.

If we were to say that just as someone who does a terrible job in reality should rightfully be fired, developers who make bad games should also be fired immediately, they wouldn’t have much to retreat to, would they?

What was the “S.Call2” gameplay actually like?

The character I created was a political science and diplomacy student at Miskatonic University.

Fitting the political science and diplomacy concept, she excelled in charisma, persuasion, speech, and the ability to influence others.

Her name is Anne Molly, and she’s female. (For reference, Anne Molly is the name of this magazine’s editor-in-chief.)

Background is important, and I set her as having an “ancient lineage.”

Ancient lineage also varies depending on which deity you worship, and in my case, the setting came out as being from a family that worships “Firebreath.”

Anne Molly’s maternal line comes from a family of priests who worship “Firebreath.”

Firebreath is an alien plant sleeping beneath the surface of Mars, bestowing the blessing of immortality upon its worshippers.

Of course, as befitting an outer god in the Cthulhu mythos, it’s not a good blessing, as one must live as Firebreath’s slave amid extreme hallucinations and pleasure.

Anne Molly’s innate characteristic is “Dried Seed Pouch,” giving her the power to generate Firebreath’s seeds and plant them in victims’ bodies.

By offering more sacrifices to Firebreath, she can freely control the Firebreath plants that bloom from victims’ bodies.

However, there’s a penalty: true to the “ancient” modifier, she doesn’t know how to use her abilities.

To summarize, Anne Molly is a descendant of sorcerers who worshipped an evil ancient god.

She knows she has immense power but doesn’t know how to use it.

Just by creating a character, a priority quest has already appeared (a message was actually displayed in the quest window):

<Master the know-how to use Firebreath’s power>

Unnecessarily detailed specifics spark interest, while excessive detail forces restricted gameplay

My character is a college student. She has midterm exams in 14 days, so part of her daily schedule must be spent on studying, sleeping, and attending classes.

In this situation, mastering the know-how to use Firebreath’s power seems distant.

The progress level remained at just 1 out of 12. Progress level quantifies how close doom is approaching, with 12 meaning the final descent occurs.

For those trying to prevent the outer god’s descent, 12 means defeat, while for those like me who want the descent, 12 is the number of victory.

Instead, due to balance issues, reaching all 12 stages is very difficult, so regardless of progress, successfully completing the descent ritual automatically points to 12. (This information comes from the game’s tooltip.)

Moreover, in my case, it involves bringing Mars down from the sky to the earth, so there’s also the enjoyment of seeing Mars grow larger as the progress level increases.

(Continued on next page…)