Urban myths and legends—folklore that has wormed its way into our modern society to frighten and delight us, fueling our imaginations or serving as a cautionary tale. These tall tales spread by rumors and word of mouth, which means they are often diluted and distorted by their very nature, making the truth difficult to decipher. The Urban Myth Dissolution Center aims to investigate these mysterious happenings, differentiating between fact and fiction, phantom and felon. Now, my friends, it is time to get to the bottom of the mystery of the Center itself. Is Urban Myth Dissolution Center a thrilling, story-rich visual novel filled to the brim with intrigue and entertainment, or is the truth much, much darker?
Illustrated in high-contrast, pixelated anime art, Urban Myth Dissolution Center opens up on our protagonist, Azami, questioning her sanity as presumed specters cross her visage. Desperate to make these apparitions disappear and reclaim her sanity, Azami contacts a number on a poster for the Urban Myth Dissolution Center. At the operation's base, she meets the program's eccentric director, Ayumu Meguriya, who reveals that these ghostly outlines she experiences on a regular basis are not ghosts, but rather visions of things that have already come to pass. The director gifts her with a pair of special glasses that enhance her clairvoyance and, after some STRONG persuasion, recruits Azami to work for his agency.
Similar to our favorite video game-based ace attorney, Urban Myth Dissolution Center is most comparable to a visual novel experience in which the majority of your time will be spent reading through dialogue and social media posts in the hopes of gathering rumors about local anomalies and discovering clues to get to the truth of the matter. These mysteries are broken up by episodes, with each episode featuring a new urban myth.
Typically, your case begins with an assignment, which is then researched on social media. Azami and another agency employee, Jasmine, conduct this research on the commute to a location. Using Azami's special sight glasses, she can find keywords in posts to search for additional information on rumors and online murmurs. These social media research segments, while novel at first, were probably my least favorite part of the game. It involves a lot of going through senseless, trollish comments to find the elusive "important bits of actually helpful information," which honestly just feels too much like reading through the comments on any given Twitter or Instagram post. There's nothing inherently wrong with this; it's effectively realistic. I think I've just reached total burnout on social media at this point in the 2020s. It hits too close to home.
Once on location, Azami is tasked with gathering photos and evidence and taking witness statements. When she's exhausted all of the corporeal clues, it's time to don her new glasses yet again and look deeper, using the spectral traces of past events to fill in the gaps. After gathering enough info, which is chronicled neatly in her journal for quick reference, Azami uses the facts she's acquired to identify the myth over the phone with the director. When all of the basic questions of who, what, when, where, and why have been addressed, Azami and the director will enter the dissolution phase to explain the phenomenon at hand. This usually requires what appears to be a glorified memory game where you select the truth from multiple-choice options presented by the director.
In the gathering of clues, identification, and dissolution phases, there aren't really any sort of consequences for selecting incorrect answers, which means the game ultimately ends up feeling on the easier side. That said, the story, characters, and deeper subplot that ties the whole experience together are interesting and developed enough to keep the player invested. It's fun to play along with your own predictions, guessing what kind of urban myth we're dealing with and how things will ultimately play out. You may even find yourself surprised by how things unravel. It's a really fun twist on a few different gaming tropes that comes together in a way that I found particularly satisfying, even if I didn't feel like I was using my brain to its full 10% capacity (which is an urban myth in and of itself, by the way—look it up!).
In fact, Urban Myth Dissolution Center is a linear experience in general, meaning there's no way of doing things out of order or getting yourself lost. Even the individual episodes are broken up into clear areas with the number of available clues tallied at the top left corner of the screen so you know how close you are to finding all of the information you need. Some may find this a little too hand-holdy, but I actually found it quite refreshing in this case.
I do wish there were a few more puzzles or more of an interactive element to the gameplay to keep the player a bit more engaged, but as it stands right now, it's a visual novel and a fun read. The segments that did feature more riddles and interactive padlocks and puzzles were by far my favorite, however, so I would love to see more of these devices implemented.
Azami is a likable protagonist by nature, and the director was such a fascinating enigma, I couldn't help but be reminded of Death Note's "L" (if you know, you know). The writing is light-hearted, with plenty of humor sprinkled throughout to break up the darker moments. The presentation of the myths themselves is creative as well, resulting in a fresh take on many tired tales, from the man under the bed to the netherworld itself.
The visuals in Urban Myth Dissolution Center are striking and effective in their bold pixel art and minimalist color schemes. The game is able to portray an impressive amount of emotion through facial features and looping movements, even without the use of voice acting. Text stands out well and is easy to read through quite quickly, which makes the story easy to digest. The menus and systems throughout the game are neat and concise, making it a nice tidy product that is easy to navigate.
The musical stylings of Urban Myth Dissolution Center are earworm material, though they do become repetitive as it is the same cycle of songs for each mystery. Don't get me wrong, I was still bobbing my head along with the social-media research track every damn time it came on, but by the end, it was more out of habit than true enjoyment. By far, my favorite track (and the only one with vocals) is the one that plays after you've returned to the center and are speaking with the Director. This could be due in part to the satisfaction of solving another successful case, but it's also the song you'll hear the least and, ya know, distance makes the heart grow fonder and whatnot. Wait, is that an urban myth as well... suddenly I'm questioning everything.
Overall, Urban Myth Dissolution Center is a straightforward but positive experience. It has a darkly intriguing story to tell with distinct, memorable characters and plenty of laughs to be had along the way. I appreciated the modern tie-ins of smartphones and social media research, which help orient us in time (even if I don't love social media IRL), and the killer visual and sound presentation bring the package together beautifully. The game does feel formulaic at times and could have used a few more interactive elements to keep things fresh, but as it stands, it's an enjoyable game that fans of the Phoenix Wright franchise and general occult fans will be delighted to investigate further.
GREAT
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