SIMULACRA 2 is a real-life horror story-based puzzle game. Its predecessor, SIMULACRA, has received rave reviews, but the lack of a Chinese version has deterred most domestic players from playing it. This new game not only comes with an official Chinese translation, but also adds new gameplay elements, a more tortuous plot, and a stronger cast. It is a masterpiece that players of story-based puzzle games should not miss.
Uncovering the layers of mobile interface
As early as 2016, there was a puzzle game called “Replica” that caught people’s attention. During the game, players had to operate a mobile phone to find the information left by the previous owner in order to escape. In “SIMULACRA 2”, all the player’s operations are also carried out in the interface of a mobile phone. However, compared with the small size and simple puzzle gameplay of “Replica”, this game has extremely rich content elements, more diverse gameplay, and a completely different performance effect, so it is still enough to bring enough freshness to players.
Specifically, the game starts with a rather bizarre but hastily closed mystery case. Players, as rookie detectives or hard-boiled reporters, get the victim’s phone and start investigating. The gameplay is just like operating a real phone. You can make and receive calls, send messages or chat in a group, listen to voice messages, view photos and videos on your phone, log in to social media to view key figures’ dynamics, and download apps and data. The music on the phone can also be played as background music, and it has to be said that the music is still very exciting.
You can also download software through this phone
Don’t forget to investigate! The key information of this case is undoubtedly in this phone, but it is not so easy to find. First of all, the quality of this phone itself is worrying, and the data has been deleted, so a lot of data is damaged and needs to be repaired before it can be viewed. Secondly, it is far from enough to solve the case with the information in the phone alone. Players also need to browse the social media updates of the victims and related people, and communicate with some key people to get more information about the case.
Fortunately, the detective in the game installed a high-tech APP for our mobile phone – Warden. Through this APP, we can extract some key information we find as clues and evidence. In addition, the mobile phone is authorized to connect to the police station’s archives. After entering the correct information, relevant archive information can be obtained as clues. These clues and evidence can mainly be used to repair damaged files, and are also very useful in communicating and interrogating suspects.
The communication with several key figures is not as straightforward as a formal interrogation, but a more casual way of chatting around various specific events, and choosing your favorite words to reply from several options. Because there are a lot of chats in the game, some replies do not have a big impact on solving the case, but many of the choices are quite important. Players need to carefully check the content of the chat and choose carefully according to each person’s personality and hobbies and the development of the event. Sometimes, a time-limited reply option may appear at any time during the chat, allowing players to make a quick decision and have a key impact on subsequent communication and reasoning.
Of course, some people will remain tight-lipped just by chatting and asking questions. At this time, you need to take out the clues and evidence you have found to slap them in the face and force them to tell the truth, so as to obtain new key information and repair new clues and evidence.
In general, the game closely links the four parts of existing information collection, chat communication, clue evidence repair, and archive information query, which influence each other and are intertwined. Players must repeatedly obtain information like peeling off layers of cocoons, so as to truly pull out the mastermind behind the scenes, restore the truth of the case, and find a solution. If it feels too difficult and you don’t know what to do, the game also has a prompt section for players to refer to, so as to avoid getting stuck.
Excellent performances create a real atmosphere
This game adds a lot of high-definition videos and pictures to enhance the performance. Thanks to the excellent acting skills of several actors and the special processing of some videos and pictures, it brings players a sufficiently amazing audio-visual experience. But to be honest, the horror level of the game is moderate, mainly concentrated in some video clips and website selection pages, which do not appear frequently, and sometimes are not as scary as sudden phone calls. It is indeed scary enough when the game is nearing the end, but I believe that after a long period of baptism, players have long been able to adapt easily.
Perhaps because the horror effect is insufficient, the game adds some “jump scare” horror scenes. Although the number is small, it does catch people off guard. However, these horror scenes are actually very unrelated to the main plot of the game. It is like some low-level horror movies that use a startling way that has nothing to do with the plot to enhance the horror effect. In my opinion, this “horror for horror’s sake” approach is unnecessary. If a horror expression method that is more closely related to the main plot is used, it should be more convincing.
Of course, the most impressive part of the game is not these thrilling and terrifying parts, but the real atmosphere it creates, just like real life. Perhaps the opening of the game will make people feel a little magical, but as the game progresses, players will soon be pulled back to reality. Each character has a very distinct personality, a serious but often dryly humorous detective, a businessman who looks wealthy and confident, a fragile and sensitive musician, and a beauty blogger who loves to express herself. Their communication and chat with the player are both in line with their own personalities and very lifelike and down-to-earth. There is no sense of memorizing lines at all, and they will give different responses based on the different replies of the players, just like living characters. The same is true for other characters who don’t appear much but communicate. Although there is not much writing, they are impressive.
In addition, in the process of operating the mobile phone to investigate the case, you can feel the various changes in the outside world. For example, when chatting with others, a call may come at any time. When you are busy with other things, you will receive some social media updates. When communicating, the other party will ask what happened after the mobile phone restarts. In the police system, you will see the broadcast of other case information that is not related to this case. After advancing some events, the relevant characters will post some dynamics. Some may have nothing to do with the case, but when you see these dynamics, you will feel that their dynamics are completely reasonable and are what real people would do. At the same time, the details of the game are also very in place. For example, as the player operates the mobile phone to advance, the power of the mobile phone will decrease, etc. (The power of the mobile phone is also very durable). These puzzle-solving and reasoning gameplays with a strong sense of life rather than a rigid performance have greatly enhanced the player’s sense of substitution.
A story with multiple endings and a certain depth
Finally, let’s talk about the plot of this game, which may contain extremely minor spoilers.
The plot of this game is somewhat related to the previous one, but it is very independent. Even if you have not played the previous one, it will not have any impact. In fact, the main plot of this game is not complicated, but it is arranged very cleverly. The first few videos left enough suspense, and then several key characters appeared one after another. In the process of pursuing the case, several characters kept breaking things and entangled with each other, allowing players to unravel the massive amount of information, fall into the story, and finally reveal the truth and the situation reversed. The overall rhythm is tight and sparse, and it is relatively natural.
The advancement of different important events in the plot is not fixed. When there are many clues, players can choose which things to deal with first and which content to find out. In addition, the different communication responses and processing methods of players will affect the ending, giving the game multiple endings. Although the main line of the game is not long, the multiple endings and the existence of perfect endings allow players to experience different new ideas in multiple games, which improves the playability of the game. The only drawback is that the game does not have a manual save function, and can only have one save at a time. Once restarted, all saves will be cleared. This may be to allow players to carry out multiple main line processes, but it is not user-friendly enough, making the save and read methods commonly used in such games unusable.
Looking at the plot, the game is not just a simple thriller. On the contrary, from the process of investigating the case, we can deeply feel that the game presents the lifestyle of the so-called Internet celebrities in the era of self-media so deeply and deeply. The creation of personality, fan economy, the pressure of attention, the deception of fans and the abuse of black fans, plastic friendship, false and real… Although the national conditions and personalities are different, in the rich life atmosphere of the game, we can still feel that it is really the case! It has to be said that the plot of the game has a certain depth and contemporary significance.
Conclusion: A decryption masterpiece worth trying
For players who value the plot and like puzzle games, “SIMULACRA 2” is a masterpiece that is definitely worth playing. It has a very innovative gameplay, an excellent story text, a large amount of information retrieval and processing, and several actors’ wonderful performances. In particular, it is very attentive to the creation of the atmosphere, which can bring players a strong sense of reality and substitution. Of course, this work is labeled as a horror game after all, and some scenes and photos are quite scary. The sudden horror plots often catch people off guard, so timid players need to try it with caution.
