The Parascientific Escape series on the Nintendo 3DS is a fun but uneven journey that satisfied my need for short adventure games

Game box shot of Parascientific Escape: Cruise in the Distant Seas. From GameFAQs.

Okay, so I played the Parascientific Escape series on the Nintendo 3DS last year, I think, after going through an Ace Attorney game and before I replayed the Zero Escape games. I was looking for a shorter adventure in video games, so I decided to buy these when they were on sale although they were cheap to begin with.  

There are three games in total released from 2016 to 2017. I’ll go through each entry in this post as best as I can remember playing them. It should go without saying, but this post contains spoilers of the three games.

Parascientific Escape: Cruise in the Distant Seas

 

Intro video from CIRCLE Ent.

The first game, Cruise in the Distant Seas, introduces 4 heroines. I’ll be honest. I didn’t like their character designs. They suffer from having the same faces and having only their colors and hair different from one another.

The environments on the other hand? I liked them. Detailed as you would expect from a game that involves making the player investigate the scenery for puzzles and clues.

The music (across all three games) sufficed for the mood of the scenes. And the gameplay was split into two. One making the user investigate the room and another solving puzzles, utilizing the main character’s (Hitomi) powers. Puzzle-wise, I was really impressed with the progression of the game. It kept up with the pacing of the plot. In other words, when the plot was in its climax, the puzzles, too, had an increase of difficulty.

Regarding its story, I think that it was a bit boring and the characters were on the blander side, which I find disappointing since a setting in a sinking cruise ship is interesting. It did set up future installments, and I was more than intrigued to play the next entry to know more about the side of the antagonist.

Hitomi is really the only one of the heroines who returned in the next games if I remember correctly. Chisono, Merja, and Misaki are just mentioned in the succeeding entries.

Parascientific Escape: Gear Detective

Ah, my favorite of the franchise, Gear Detective. This game improved much from its predecessor. Better character designs, better characterizations, multiple endings, better-written story, better UI, AND it has a map.

Kyosuke is a big improvement of a main character from Hitomi. He has an interesting background, interacts well with other characters especially Yukiya, and has better motivation throughout the game.

Just like the first entry in the series, I also enjoyed the progression of Gear Detective’s puzzles and story. In the puzzle sections of the first game, you had the ability to see through objects and move small things because of Hitomi’s psychic abilities. In the second game, Kyosuke can go back in time and move stuff around. His ability makes for far more interesting gameplay.

 

Intro video from CIRCLE Ent.

Yukiya also made a far better friend of the protagonist than Chisono, Hitomi’s close telepathic friend, did in the first game. Yukiya had a sense of conviction, wanting to protect his family or the company he works at. He assists Kyosuke many times in this game and in the next.

Game box shot of Parascientific Escape: Gear Detective. From GameFAQs.

Tsukiko, the woman Kyosuke and his assistant Mari decided to help at the beginning of the game, also started interesting and mysterious. But, as the game went on and in the next entry, I felt she became cardboard and a cliche.

Parascientific Escape: Crossing at the Farthest Horizon

 

Intro video from CIRCLE Ent.

Crossing at the Farthest Horizon ties the whole series together arguably in a contrived way. A couple of characters are introduced or appeared for the first time: Ritsu who is Hitomi’s sister and their foster mother, Iori (again, if I recall correctly the facts). 

In the third entry, the player controls Kyosuke and Hitomi as they find themselves being locked in rooms by either Iori or Ritsu. Puzzle-wise, this game was a bit of a letdown. The sections with controllable Hitomi were bad, and there were less Kyosuke than I had wanted. Not to mention, the climax of the plot is just the screen flashing without any accompanying puzzle.

Credit is due where credit is due. The final entry does retain elements from the second game. The UI is still good and the characters from the second game had a more prominent screen time than, well, Hitomi. Hitomi also had a slight redesign for the better.

Game box shot of Parascientific Escape: Crossing at the Farthest Horizon. From GameFAQs.

Truthfully, I just couldn’t care less about Ritsu, Iori, and Hitomi. The plot should have spent more time building those characters and the tension between them. At least Kyosuke had an interesting subplot about his foster father.

In the end, the happy endings felt contrived. Kyosuke and Mari. Something weird is going on with Tsukiko, Yukiya, and Ritsu. Kyosuke dumps his ability, which was a 180-degree turn from his character development in the second game.

Final thoughts

I got my fill of short adventure games with the Parascientific Escape series. With low prices and short playtimes, the investment in these games is worth it. I just wasn’t completely satisfied with the ending, but Kyosuke and his journey in the second game make up for it.