The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story Review — The Gamer’s Lounge

WTMG’s Heidi Hawes: “It’s hard to recommend The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story to anyone who isn’t a die-hard fan of FMV games. There’s an interesting story with some insightful themes about life and death, but it’s not strong enough to counterbalance the rest of the game’s issues. Honestly, I think it would have fared better as a game if it were presented as a visual novel instead of a FMV game. The campiness of certain characters just doesn’t translate well to a live action setting. It’s an incredibly unbalanced experience due to the long stretches of cutscenes you can’t interact with, followed by equally long stretches of agonizingly tedious tile matching, accompanied by low-quality CGI re-enactments. The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story brings a commendable effort, but the whole thing feels like being at a twelve hour murder mystery dinner with intermissions of the most boring game of dominoes you’ve ever played.”