Written by Alexander O. Cuaycong and Anthony L. Cuaycong
Title: Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories (NSW/PS4)
Developer: Granzella
Publisher: NIS America
Genre: Simulation, Adventure
Price: $59.99
Also Available On: Steam
To argue that Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories has an interesting backstory would be an understatement. Originally supposed to be offered for the Sony PlayStation 3, it found itself stuck in development hell after the 2011 earthquake in TÅhoku, Japan. Similarities between the natural calamity and its premise all but secured its place in the dustbin of history as abandonware — until, that is, popular demand brought it back to the public eye. The renewed interest spurred chief producer Kazuma Kujo to acquire rights to the title under Granzella, his new company based in Ishikawa. Working with former Irem staff, he finally managed to steer the project to fruition a full nine years after its initial release date.
Structurally, Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories sounds all well and good. That said, the quests themselves can get rather bland. They feel generic on occasion, as if Granzella needed padding to fill out the game's length. Meanwhile, the unique ones are held back by their incongruous tone. Not that they're terribly written; rather, their structure and predisposition for dry humor clash heavily with the game's serious bent at the outset. Parenthetically, it isn't helped by relatively subpar graphics that show its age, with stiff animations and drab backgrounds weighing it down.
For all its seeming frailties, however, Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories winds up being extremely hard to put down. Similar to, say, Shenmue, Sega's flawed opus, it can be hard to play in the face of its insistence on minute choices. At the same time, it remains strangely compelling in how its designs blend together. Players may find themselves struggling with strict mechanics and far-from-intuitive controls, and still they'll wind up appreciating the strength of its convictions. Its audio-visual presentation won't win prizes, especially when negotiated on a PlayStation 4 Pro, but it proves to be a guilty pleasure in any case.
No doubt, the appeal of Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories lies in its capacity to distinguish itself from its predecessors. While part of the Zettai Zetsumei Toshi series, it eschews the bombast and over-the-top inclinations of its siblings. In fact, it goes in the opposite direction. It dares to be different by highlighting the devil in the details. As with the aforementioned Shenmue, it stubbornly insists on being personal; small decisions have lasting consequences. Thusly, players are compelled to appreciate its nuances and see the symphony it tries to create from a seeming unrelated cacophony of events.
By the usual metrics, Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories is far from perfect. It's artistically a generation behind and technically wanting, with frame drops particularly evident on an undocked Nintendo Switch. In the final analysis, however, it possesses something most other programming marvels lack: a beating heart. It calls to the senses in a way few titles do, especially in this day and age of industrial proficiency. In other words, it's being itself — getting players to stop and smell the roses and, in the process, to understand the value of small things in seeing the bigness of life.
THE GOOD
- Interesting game design, with seemingly mundane player choices determining story arcs
- Compels player to see the trees instead of the forest
- Nostalgic look and feel
THE BAD
- Dry humor takes some getting used to
- Mediocre graphics that show their age
- Fairly simple story and quest progression
RATING: 8/10
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