What is the real identity of Kuripa? Step into the shoes of a prosecutor and search for the truth behind a murder mystery that brings courtroom deduction gameplay to the world of VTubers.
The Real Face of a VTuber
Developer: Lilien Games
Price: $12
Platforms: Steam
MonsterVine was supplied with a PC code for review.
While its title might not make it obvious, The Real Face of a VTuber is a courtroom adventure murder mystery inspired by games like Ace Attorney. You play as Justin Truth, a prosecutor who takes the case when the head of a VTuber company is murdered. The company’s VTuber, Kuripa, was streaming at the time of the murder and therefore appears to have an alibi… but her true identity is a closely-guarded secret, and three suspects all claim to be the real Kuripa. As a result, uncovering the VTuber’s true face becomes a key part of the investigation. Don’t worry if you’re unfamiliar with VTubers, though. Justin has never even heard of them, so everything is explained to him at the start.
Like its inspirations, the game alternates between out-of-court investigation segments and courtroom trial segments. However, you won’t be doing the legwork yourself. Instead, your primary job is to question the suspects to get new evidence and leads. Leads sometimes open up additional conversation options, so you’ll often need to question characters multiple times. There are also some minor dialogue options for flavor and humor that don’t affect the case. Between your rounds of questioning, you can assign your secretary and detective different tasks to investigate. Once you’ve performed a certain number of actions, they’ll report back with their findings, potentially opening up new leads and providing more evidence. This helps prevent the gameplay loop from feeling tedious, especially since you spend most of your time in a single location.
The second investigation segment adds another avenue of inquiry by letting you check the in-game social media platform “Y” for clues and also watch Kuripa’s videos. This aspect is a nice touch. Most of the videos are irrelevant to the case, but watching them lends some insights into Kuripa’s character and makes the world feel more real. All of these different elements mean you have quite a bit to do, but there are no time limits or restrictions on what you can investigate.
Once you have enough information, you can accuse a suspect to take the case to trial. The game has branching paths depending on who you accuse, and reaching your first ending unlocks a chapter select option so you can explore different options without restarting. You can even enter an investigation chapter with all your evidence and leads already obtained, so you don’t have to redo anything you already completed. On top of that, you can use an optional hint system to learn what steps you need to take to enter a particular story path. Some of the requirements to enter the true route are a little tricky, so this is a nice feature to have.
Ace Attorney-Style Trials Meet VTuber Culture
Fans of the genre might be familiar with the basic setup for the trial gameplay–using evidence to contradict witness statements–but The Real Face of a VTuber adds some twists to the formula that make it feel fresh. When it’s your turn to question a witness, you need to choose carefully to avoid leading questions, speculation, and so on. When the defense questions a witness, you must likewise pay attention and object to any such questions. Finally, during your cross-examination, you can press the witness for more details and present evidence to point out contradictions. Sometimes, the text displayed for you to present evidence against doesn’t actually contain the contradiction itself, which was instead in the preceding dialogue, which feels rather strange. However, there are no penalties; even if you miss a question you should have objected to, your secretary just does it for you. This makes the game somewhat easy, although that might be for the best, since there’s a lot to keep track of.
The mystery itself is fairly complicated. Numerous motives surface, multiple suspects have holes in their alibis, and it’s difficult to sort out the truth from the lies, which works well with its branching-path format. There are only three criticisms I have of the story. First, one character knows Kuripa’s true identity and won’t reveal it because it’s a company secret, even while a murder is being prosecuted, which requires some suspension of disbelief to get past. Second, I wish the characters were fleshed out more, especially the true culprit. The culprit’s motives are touched on lightly in a short story unlocked after the main game, but they would benefit from being explored in more depth.
Finally, its attempt to blend a serious murder mystery with an irreverent sense of humor feels jarring at times. I’m no stranger to stories that combine serious themes and wacky comedy, but it didn’t quite work for me here despite some genuinely funny moments. A handful of areas also lack polish, such as occasional bits of untranslated text, but fortunately, these only crop up in inconsequential places. Despite a few quibbles, The Real Face of a VTuber is an enjoyable game with a complex mystery and an intriguing take on the courtroom-adventure genre. It takes under 10 hours to complete, but it tells a fine story during that time.
The Final Word
While the tone can be jarring at times, a few areas lack polish, and I wish the characters had been given more depth, The Real Face of a VTuber is an intriguing murder mystery that brings fresh ideas to its courtroom gameplay. It’s well worth playing for fans of the genre, and you might even learn a little more about VTubers while you’re at it.
MonsterVine Rating: 4 out of 5 – Good
