Digital comics?

[Monster Bonce]

I've been playing Hotel Dusk on the DS and love it. It's set me wondering if any PCE/TG digital comics are available in English? I'd like to play some on the old Duo.

[sunteam_paul]

None in English but some of the Japanese ones are still good fun, like Ranma 1/2 and Secret of Blue Water.

[Keranu]

sunteam_paul lied, there is one in English: J.B. HAROLD MURDER CLUB! Though it's not as digital comic-ish as other games, I still consider it one and a really great game as well. The only other digital comics in English that I can think of our Sherlock Holmes 1 and 2, which is pushing it since they are even further away from being considered digital comics .

[SignOfZeta]

Yeah, those three are pretty much it. They are nice, I guess, but if you just came down from Hotel Dusk you are going to be disappointed.

There are two aspects to playing Japanese DCs if you are gaijin. 1) actually making progress in it, and 2) actually enjoying it.

Games that are easy to make progress in would be Nadia, Gunbuster 1,2, Yuna 1,2, and 3x3 Eyes. These are easy to make progress in because they aren't actually games. You pretty much just click "confirm" for about an hour or two and then they are over. Because of this the enjoyment factor is somewhat low now that the novelty of CD audio with semi-animated cinemas has diminished. You won't have any frustration with not making progress, but you might not enjoy it at all either. Its all a matter of preference.

Games that are harder to make progress in would be Snatcher, or Tokimeki Memorial. In Tokimeki there is an actual game there that consists mainly of just building stats. Once this is explained to you, its actually not very hard to play. I can't really remember Snatcher very well, but I seem to remember there being some gaijin protection on there of some sort. I'm sure someone here knows more than I do about it. Yuna 2 is a straight of DC, but Yuna 1 actually has real battles in it that are card style. They are incredibly easy so you won't have any trouble with them. They just give you something to do instead of hitting the "I" button.

Some Digital Comics are *just* a Digital Comic, and some have bonus stuff in them that IMO adds to the value a lot. For example, the Gunbuster DCs are essential collecting for fans of the anime because they contain new songs, a sound FX player, mecha and character stats. The 2nd one has a comedic "Noriko Battle of the Janken" strip janken game. Its more humorous than pathetic, but just barely...Nadia has a really cool quiz mode, but if you read zero Japanese you'll never pass it. 3x3 is, IIRC, nothing but a story mode.

[termis]

Though I don't have tons of experience with 'em, most of 'em kinda seem blah.  Ones I tried include a Korean (which I am) release of El Hazard on the Saturn, and even though I had zero language barrier there, it still wasn't all that much fun.  I gave a quick spin of Tokimeki memorial, and that didn't seem so great, though I only tried this when my Japanese was very limited.  Phantasy Star Adventyre (fan translated) wasn't all that hot as well.

On the other hand, JB Harold Murder Club was kinda fun.  There seemed to be "more to do" than your average DC on this one.  Haven't tried the Sherlock series.  Maybe I'll give that a go sometime.

[SNKNostalgia]

Sega CD is a better choice for Digital Comic games in English. Especially worth having for games like Snatcher, Rise of The Dragon and Cobra Space Adventure all in English. There really isn't that many of them released in the US. I don't even recall seeing any of them for PS1 or Sega Saturn in the US. I have Policenauts for the PS1 which is nice to visually enjoy and see what you are missing. Still, the enjoyment factor sucks compared to knowing what is going on in the game. You can kind of get the idea of what is going on with the visuals and emotions. I also got Snatcher for the Saturn really cheap just to see what changes they made to it.

[Black Tiger]

Sega CD is a better choice for Digital Comic games in English. Especially worth having for games like Snatcher, Rise of The Dragon and Cobra Space Adventure all in English. There really isn't that many of them released in the US. I don't even recall seeing any of them for PS1 or Sega Saturn in the US. I have Policenauts for the PS1 which is nice to visually enjoy and see what you are missing. Still, the enjoyment factor sucks compared to knowing what is going on in the game. You can kind of get the idea of what is going on with the visuals and emotions. I also got Snatcher for the Saturn really cheap just to see what changes they made to it.

Cobra kicks ass. Snatcher Sega-CD is the only english version and is worth playing first if you plan on tackling any of the imports. If you're after english digi comics, you're better off with Sega-CD.

But the PC Engine has lots of user friendly import digi comic type games than can be completed without any japanese knowledge and are still fun. A good one is Ranma 1/2 '2'. The commands are little cartoon icons.

[Monster Bonce]

Some helpful and interesting info there, thanks.

I was amused/interested to see reviews describing Hotel Dusk as a digital comic. I initially considered it to be an adventure game and thought the reviewers were simply being drawn in by the style of graphic art  and were probably too young to remember games like Yes, Prime Minister (http://www.ysrnry.co.uk/articles/yesprimeminister.htm) or Shadowgate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadowgate). Then I started to think about the PCE digital comics and guessed that they are, more or less, adventure games but likely developed in a different way—kind of analogous with how RPGs developed along separate but parallel lines in Asia on the one hand and America and Europe on the other. That said, there were a fair few French digital comics during the 1980s, particularly on the Amstrad CPC such as Blueberry (http://www.cpcgamereviews.com/b/index6.html) and Les Passagers du Vent (http://www.cpcgamereviews.com/p/index2.html).

I've been meaning to get JB Harold for some time so that's where I'll start. How do Sherlock Holmes 1 & 2 play? Any good?

I'll have a look at Ramna. Thanks.

SignOfZeta, you're quite right—I don't want to simply click icons and have no idea what the narrative is about.

Snatcher does look good but the chances of me getting a Sega CD are next to nothing. I've read a lot about the game on Hardcore Gaming and though it does look good, obviously the PCE version is not going to be any fun to me as I can't read Japanese. I'm managing Ys I&II but that doesn't require a lot of comprehension.

By the way, if anyone out there likes old-style text/graphical adventures, Ray Dunakin's games are very good: http://www.semitech.com/marc/ray.html

[SNKNostalgia]

You can get a Sega Genesis and Sega CD for dirt cheap these days. I got pretty lucky back in 96. Some kid I knew bought an N64 and didn't want his Genesis 1 model, so I got it for $15 with 2 controllers, AC adapter and AV cables. Then KB Toys was closing down at the old mall we had and sold refurbished units for $39. Back in 96 this was a steal. I am sure these days you can get both for under $100 easy.

I think it was worth buying the system alone for Snatcher. It is by far the best digital comic I have every played. It has one of the best story lines, good acting and lots of neat things you can do. The characters are well developed and it is a nice 5-6 hours long. Cobra Space Adventure would have to be my next favorite.

Policenauts would be up there on my list if it were in English. It sucks to know that 80% of the game was translated for the Saturn and was suppose to come out right after Suikoden did for the PS1 and then the project got canned by 97. I actually talked to one of the guys in Konami of Japan that was from the US. He worked with Kojima a lot and told me that their main focus at the time was on Metal Gear Solid for the PS1. Oh well, that was around the time the Saturn was beginning to bomb out in the US. If it were originally planned for the PS1 it might have been released.

Also, here is a cool game. Space Griffon VF-9 for the PS1. It isn't a digital comic but it has that style of story and cut scenes with a lot of interacting characters and was really fun to play. It is a little outdated as it is first gen PS1 3D, but still good to me. Another game series that suffered with the sequel comming out for the Dreamcast in Japan and got dropped as well.

[Necromancer]

Snatcher does look good but the chances of me getting a Sega CD are next to nothing. I've read a lot about the game on Hardcore Gaming and though it does look good, obviously the PCE version is not going to be any fun to me as I can't read Japanese. I'm managing Ys I&II but that doesn't require a lot of comprehension.

I won't say that a Sega CD is worth getting just for Snatcher, but you it is worth playing on an emulator.  It's easily the best digital comic that I've played, even if it is a rip off of Blade Runner.

[Arjak]

Snatcher is a big ripoff of several '80s Sci-fi movies that are then woven into a semi-convincing story. But still, one hell of a good game! But yeah, Blade Runner is obviously the biggest influence, they even joke about this in the Sega CD version if you search Ivan's bathtub several times. Metal says something like: "What? Are you looking for a snake scale or something?"

The other great moment that you have to see in the Sega version is in the bar Outer Heaven. After you have looked at several of the Konami character patrons, the following conversation begins:

Metal: I'm beginning to sense a theme here, Gillian!
Gillian: Yeah, I guess we must be a little out of place among all these Konami characters, huh?
Metal: Oh, I think we fit in better than we realize...
Gillian: Oh, come on, Metal! These are all fictional video game characters! We're the only real ones here!

And finally if you call Jeremy Blaustein (sp?) three times... oh, I can't spoil it! Besides, I could go on all day. And you probably wouldn't care for that.

[ParanoiaDragon]

Well, I remember reading somewhere, that some guys are finally taking whatever they can from the Sega CD version, & making a patch for the PCE version, though I don't have a link, I remember someone around here posting about it, & I think also about the translation of Policenaughts, I think for PS1.

[SNKNostalgia]

After seeing the Ys IV and Xak III translations this should be easy. The one problem with Snatcher for the PCE is that they really should find a way to do the PCM audio parts into English and Ys IV as well someday. I tried Xak III w/translation, but my Duo hates the CD-R. I need to re burn it on my old Win 98 computer with a TDK Velo-CD writer at 1X to see if it will work. My laptop has a minimum of 4X speed.

As for a PS1 version of Policenauts and Snatcher, Kojimas team needs to do a collection release of his games. Even on Metal Gear Solid 3:Subsistence for PS2 you get the official English translations of Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake from the MSX. Maybe some day we will get it, but it gets more and more less likely as the 2D age passes away. I still, till this day see there is a high demand from fans everywhere with the old petition page and fan sites.

What is funny is that I have played Snatcher soooooo many times on Sega CD in English that I know what is going on in the Saturn version without any problems. Luckily, there is a game faq that tells you what to type in Japanese when the keyboard parts pop up. BTW, it took me forever on Policenauts on the part to diffuse the bomb without the hints they most likely gave you in the game back in 96 before the FAQ. Another thing, I didn't see the movie Blade Runner until 2 years after I played Snatcher. It hit me fast when I thought about it 20 minutes into the movie.

[turbofan1]

Yep these guys here are doing the translations Of Policenaughts for the Ps1,and Snatcher for the Pc Engine-http://forums.junkerhq.net/index.php.Even though in order to play Policenaughts you will have to have A modded Ps1 or use one of the crappy emulators.

[ParanoiaDragon]

I've said it before, & I'll say it again, I wish they were doing the 3DO version.  That's the only version of Policenaughts that I have, & you don't need to mod the 3DO, it practically can play paper plates!