Zettai Zetsumei Toshi 4+: Summer Memories was meant to come out on the PS3 back in 2011, but Irem postposed it due to the earthquake that shook Japan in march of that year. Between then and now a lot of things happened: Irem lost interest in the game; the director left the company to create his own firm, Granzella; he bought the rights to the series from Irem; Granzella developed Kyoei Toshi (review and thread available on this very website); and in 2018 finally Zettai Zetsumei Toshi 4 reached PS4s in Japan.
Starting with a brief technical analysis, ZZT4 does betray its origins as a PS3 game: compared to Kyoei Toshi textures are less defined, with a good amount of pop-ups when models first enter the scene, and the lighting less convincing; hairs look particularly "plasticky" under certain lighting conditions and some objects (like my character's shoes) are way too shiny. Loading times are about the same lenght as in Kyoei Toshi, but performance is a tad better. The PS4 does fire up its fans when a lot of effects are on screen, but those quickly die down when not showing fire, water, and accompaining reflections. Overall it's a good looking game, but its impact is somewhat lessened by the low number of NPC models, their animation cycles, and that in some of the most gruesome situations, there's only one "lying dead" pose. There isn't much blood in the game, in fact I can only point out to one instance showing a pool of blood around a victim, that might further lessen the impact of some incidents.
The thing that surprised me the most, however, is that sound design isn't on the same level as Kyoei Toshi: while the sorround effects for voices and sound effects do vary their source depending on character and/or camera position, the sounds of collapsing buildings is quite tame in comparison, there isn't a strong use of the subwoofer like in Kyoei Toshi; it might sound (ah ah) as a minor complain, but I really dig Kyoei Toshi's use of strong bass sounds during destruction scenes.
Typical of the "Toshi" series, your characters' appearance and backstory are chosen via a series of menu prompts right after you start a new game. I don't think any of the cosmetic choices affect what happens in the game (and that includes the sex of your character) but I'm still on my first playthrough. Soon after starting the game an earthquake strikes the city you're in and then you begin your journey to leave this city alive. During your trek you'll meet a good number of people in need of help and other that act as sort-of villains for the location you're in. Right now I'm following two "long" storylines, one involving an IT company and the other a possible yakuza struggle, but most of the people I've meet have been forgotten the moment I left for the next location.
The "villains" are...well, bad. Granted I never had to live through an earthquake and its aftermath (and hopefully will never have to), but I'm pretty sure I won't act like the biggest dick in the history of earthquakes or just break as many laws as I can like I was a stock bad guy in a Ken Shiro episode. To that effect, I think the former category (people trying to profit from others' sufferings or just trying their best to save their skin) are the most beliveable, but when you stumble upon murders and similar crimes I feel like ZZT4 doesn't really know where it wants to stand: is it a "serious" look on how to survive disasters sprinkled with some human drama, or is it an over-the-top, exploitative look where everything is exagerated to the Nth degree? I don't have problems with any of those choices, but I'd like for the game to pick one.
Progression is mostly linear outside storylines. ZZT4 throws you into this city and forces exploration. Interaction prompts appear only when you are right in front of an object or a door, and it's tedious grazing walls in search for places you can go to or objects you need to progress. In a few instances I was left wandering around locations trying to find the trigger for the next event, and some aren't particularly evident. I don't need to have everything shown on screen and I like some free exploration and experimentation, but there's a limit to the walls I need to hug to find that hotspot the game wants me to, especially if that hotspot only shows generic rubble.
It's not terrible, in fact this same structure was used in Kyoei Toshi, but probably the lack of giant monsters is making the whole situation less appealing.
I must also say that some disasters are next to QTE in how obnoxious they can be. When tremors occour you must brace yourself to avoid health damage and build up stress, and that leaves you vulnerable. Thrice already an aftershock forced me to brace, resulting in things dropping down on me and killing me instantly. These situations aren't immediate, there's usually a relatively long quake with things wobbling all around you, but if you are in the wrong spot, or are simply not fast enough in reaching the designated safe spot you die.
I want to complete this playthrough (when I'm trying to play as a decent human being) and a second one, but I'm not feeling ZZT4 as much as Kyoei Toshi. Probably it's the monsters (or lack thereof), but ZZT4 does give the impression of being less refined than its predecessor.
Starting with a brief technical analysis, ZZT4 does betray its origins as a PS3 game: compared to Kyoei Toshi textures are less defined, with a good amount of pop-ups when models first enter the scene, and the lighting less convincing; hairs look particularly "plasticky" under certain lighting conditions and some objects (like my character's shoes) are way too shiny. Loading times are about the same lenght as in Kyoei Toshi, but performance is a tad better. The PS4 does fire up its fans when a lot of effects are on screen, but those quickly die down when not showing fire, water, and accompaining reflections. Overall it's a good looking game, but its impact is somewhat lessened by the low number of NPC models, their animation cycles, and that in some of the most gruesome situations, there's only one "lying dead" pose. There isn't much blood in the game, in fact I can only point out to one instance showing a pool of blood around a victim, that might further lessen the impact of some incidents.
The thing that surprised me the most, however, is that sound design isn't on the same level as Kyoei Toshi: while the sorround effects for voices and sound effects do vary their source depending on character and/or camera position, the sounds of collapsing buildings is quite tame in comparison, there isn't a strong use of the subwoofer like in Kyoei Toshi; it might sound (ah ah) as a minor complain, but I really dig Kyoei Toshi's use of strong bass sounds during destruction scenes.
Typical of the "Toshi" series, your characters' appearance and backstory are chosen via a series of menu prompts right after you start a new game. I don't think any of the cosmetic choices affect what happens in the game (and that includes the sex of your character) but I'm still on my first playthrough. Soon after starting the game an earthquake strikes the city you're in and then you begin your journey to leave this city alive. During your trek you'll meet a good number of people in need of help and other that act as sort-of villains for the location you're in. Right now I'm following two "long" storylines, one involving an IT company and the other a possible yakuza struggle, but most of the people I've meet have been forgotten the moment I left for the next location.
The "villains" are...well, bad. Granted I never had to live through an earthquake and its aftermath (and hopefully will never have to), but I'm pretty sure I won't act like the biggest dick in the history of earthquakes or just break as many laws as I can like I was a stock bad guy in a Ken Shiro episode. To that effect, I think the former category (people trying to profit from others' sufferings or just trying their best to save their skin) are the most beliveable, but when you stumble upon murders and similar crimes I feel like ZZT4 doesn't really know where it wants to stand: is it a "serious" look on how to survive disasters sprinkled with some human drama, or is it an over-the-top, exploitative look where everything is exagerated to the Nth degree? I don't have problems with any of those choices, but I'd like for the game to pick one.
Progression is mostly linear outside storylines. ZZT4 throws you into this city and forces exploration. Interaction prompts appear only when you are right in front of an object or a door, and it's tedious grazing walls in search for places you can go to or objects you need to progress. In a few instances I was left wandering around locations trying to find the trigger for the next event, and some aren't particularly evident. I don't need to have everything shown on screen and I like some free exploration and experimentation, but there's a limit to the walls I need to hug to find that hotspot the game wants me to, especially if that hotspot only shows generic rubble.
It's not terrible, in fact this same structure was used in Kyoei Toshi, but probably the lack of giant monsters is making the whole situation less appealing.
I must also say that some disasters are next to QTE in how obnoxious they can be. When tremors occour you must brace yourself to avoid health damage and build up stress, and that leaves you vulnerable. Thrice already an aftershock forced me to brace, resulting in things dropping down on me and killing me instantly. These situations aren't immediate, there's usually a relatively long quake with things wobbling all around you, but if you are in the wrong spot, or are simply not fast enough in reaching the designated safe spot you die.
I want to complete this playthrough (when I'm trying to play as a decent human being) and a second one, but I'm not feeling ZZT4 as much as Kyoei Toshi. Probably it's the monsters (or lack thereof), but ZZT4 does give the impression of being less refined than its predecessor.
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