The 25th Ward: The Silver Case

Developed by Grasshopper Manufacture, The 25th Ward: The Silver Case is a detective game. The main designer of the title is Suda 51 known for e.g. Lollipop Chainsaw, Killer is Dead, and the No More Heroes series.

This is a refreshed and extended version of The Silver Case: Ward 25, which is an episodic title for mobile phones, published in 2005-2007. The mobile production has never been released outside Japan. This remaster is a collection of all episodes.

Plot

The 25th Ward: The Silver Case continues the story from The Silver Case. The game introduces a new story, but still includes a number of characters from The Silver Case. Again, the action takes us to fictional, contemporary Japan. The plot consists of a few chapters, each featuring a set of criminal cases – mostly murders – to be cracked. Initially, all of them seem to lack any link, but further into the story, slowly the clues reveal that the murders are connected.

What is noteworthy, the game does not just recreate the plot from the original, but expands it with new chapters unavailable in the mobile edition.

Mechanics

The 25th Ward: The Silver Case is a detective adventure game. The game comes down to conducting investigations, exploring locations, talking to witnesses and suspects, collecting evidence, following leads, and solving logic puzzles.

The game offers a few playable characters – the action often changes its hero, so it is possible to assess the case from new – often very different – perspectives, like that of a policeman and a journalist.

Gameplay also offers diverse minigames testing e.g. our perception and reflexes. Moreover, the title often asks questions in order to check if we remember important information from the past events.

Technical aspects

Just like its predecessor, The 25th Ward: The Silver Case features unusual graphics that combine 3D elements with 2D photos. In comparison to the original mobile game, the remaster utilises much-improved visuals.

Last updated on 20 February 2018