Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories

I've always heard about the Disaster Report series but never looked much into them. I saw this title pop up on GOG and knew I had to give it a go. I didn't quite know what to expect, but what I received went beyond what I could have ever wanted. I've seen many compare it to weird and quirky games like Deadly Premonition, and to an extent I completely agree but make no mistake, this game is its own thing and is somehow an addictive experience where you do almost nothing for 12-15 hours. The general gist is this; your character is riding a bus through a city in Japan, a massive earthquake hits, you leave the bus. That's it. That's the plot. You go around to different areas affected by the earthquake and deal with aftershocks as well. You meet high school students and a timid teacher, aspiring chefs, murderers, shady businessmen, lovesick couples and so many more. This game is basically every anime stereotype in terms of character design rolled into one. This game goes from serious, to goofy, to 4th wall breaking to absolutely mind meltingly "What?" every chapter. There is no consistency but that's part of the beauty of this. You literally do NOTHING. You walk around. You talk to people. You watch cutscenes. You select dialogue choices. Maybe occasionally control a vehicle for a minute. Move on. Rinse and repeat and yet it's just so engaging. There is a Food/Water system that literally has no bearing on anything. There is a morality system that barely changes a thing. You end up caring about this because the game invests you into your characters decisions. It's so bizarre how it works. By the end you know all these towns, all these people and see everything wrap up and it just feels right. No words can explain this game. Just sit down and enjoy. It's goofy, doesn't make sense (why are shops open during a massive disaster? Why does nobody care about all the bodies around?) and that's the charm. If that appeals to you, get this. It's a one of a kind experience.

Is is less consistent then first game even. And any other games in series. It has less mechanics but still have lots of mechanics you don't really need. But it have wide variety of situations related to the real world. And the story over all feels more real. Even if some things are too ridiculous. And in lots of times you can do nothing to make in-game situation better. But at least here city will not be destructed completely for no reason. It hits hard. It is stupid. It is beautiful and interesting. It is clunky and raw. And yet it was released. And I don't know what to think. Hope they will do more with this game series in a future.

Big Disaster Report fan, this was not close to my expectations. If felt like a fairly boring designed Unreal Engine game, with minor amounts of the humor and silliness of past games. Even the disaster-related gameplay is extremely uninteresting compared to 1 and 2 (its mostly rumbling every once in the while, instead of lengthy fun sequences). To top it off, the game decides to get extremely serious and dark towards the end, tackling some seriously subjects this series has no business tackling (rape + death). Can't recommend this one, but still looking forward to more DR in the future.

I have played every Disaster Report game, from one through three AND the Japan-only Kyoei Toshi spinoff featuring Japanese kaiju. These games are unlike anything else out there, and they are great, in my opinion. I still hold out the second game as the high water mark for the series. It had the most complex story, and it had the most involved crafting system. Starting with three on PSP, they started streamlining things. Maybe this is a budgetary thing -- who knows. But the soul is still there. Disaster Report 4 sees you surviving an earthquake, with a heavy focus on the breakdown of society during a crisis. It essentially plays out in levels that are marked by new areas, and they vary a lot -- a completely flooded apartment building, an area that's been taken over by a CULT. Yeah, it's wild. Most gamers will not like this. The story in this one is this weird mix of goofiness (which is present in all these games) mixed with really serious moments. Kind of jarring. But I still love this game, and I really hope we get a fifth one someday.