NISHIMURA KYOTARO MYSTERY
HOKUTOSEI NO ONNA

(WOMAN OF THE GREAT BEAR)
北斗星の女西村京太郎

MAKER: NAXAT
RELEASE DATE: 23 FEBRUARY 1990
STYLE: DIGITAL COMIC
FORMAT: CD-ROM
RATING:

 

Overview
Hokutosei no Onna is a digital comic that puts you in the shoes of a detective tasked to investigate a series of murders. The game follows the basics of digital comics (which is mostly text menus prompting actions such as look, listen, move etc) along with some areas that can be examined in closer detail using an on-screen pointer.

Comment
Digital comics can be very different experiences to the player who cannot understand Japanese. Some are easy to play and very enjoyable, while some are more of a painful slog through repetitive menus and locations. Unfortunately, Hokutosei no Onna veers towards the latter. When the plot is unfathomable, all you are left with are a series of merely acceptable backgrounds and some slightly dodgy character art in places. There's not a massive range of locations compared to other games in the genre and the chip music is harmless but not memorable. One blessing is that it doesn't feel overly long - perhaps even a little short. If you can understand Japanese then there may be a decent story to get your teeth into here, but for those of us who don't, there are better digital comics to give our time to.
sunteam_paul

 

 

Screens

 

Visual Scenes

Images
Front CoverBack Cover CD