Again (referred to as Again: Interactive Crime Novel), also released in Japan as Again: FBI Chō Shinri Sōsakan (AGAIN FBI超心理捜査官, lit. "Again: FBI Special Psychological Investigation Unit"), is an adventure game developed by Cing and published by Tecmo for Nintendo DS. It was originally titled Again: Eye of Providence.
The story centers around an unsolved serial murder case reopened after 19 years. Called the Providence Murders in 1991, the killer would leave cut out images of the Eye of Providence on American dollars beside the victims.
The player takes the role of Jonathan Weaver (whose nickname is J), an FBI agent, who along with his partner Kate Hathaway, takes the case after receiving a postmarked letter with clues addressed to him. This leads them to Hotel Miranda, Room 315, a starting point of new events. Again begins on March 6, 2010 in the fictional city of Clockford in Pennsylvania.
Gameplay[]
Again is primarily a visual novel; like Hotel Dusk: Room 215, the Nintendo DS is held on its side like a book. The player has a list of locations where they talk to characters, ask them questions, and show them items in order to find answers.
Unlike Hotel Dusk, the game contains far less exploration and only contains about ten major 3D "rooms" or crime scenes to investigate. During these investigations, the player can look into the crime scene from the past, with the goal of trying to make the past and present crime scenes closer together. There was also some puzzles during these investigation sections.
Plot[]
After a lot of investigation, J discovers the four victims from the past in 1991 (Sam, Isabella, Duke and Charles) all somehow obtained a mysterious enormous amount of money and, with the exception of Charles, changed their names. His paranormal visions lead him to discover that each victim killed the next victim in a chain.
In 1976, the "Baslock Incident" occurred in which the four 1991 victims, desperate for money, pulled off a robbery heist for a man named Hans Rickman. However, Hans intended to use them, take the money, and kill the four of them. The group of four found out about this and killed Hans together. The case was covered up by the police out of laziness and in order to keep their reputation.
In recent times, 2010, a similar string of murders occurs in the same locations where the original victims were killed. J discovers that the current Providence is Henry Mills, his boss. Henry re-enacted the murders hoping to draw out the old Providence. As part of the re-enactment, Henry almost kills J's adoptive father, but fails and instead succumbs to a seizure from a heart attack. Henry was also slowly dying from cancer.
While following the trail to an abandoned factory, J discovers that the old Providence is really Edward Gordon, his professor, and that Edward Gordon is the son of Hans Rickman. Edward Gordon is a psychopath who openly admits he is one, and came to believe his father was innocent and never intended to murder the other four. Edward wants revenge on his father's killers, hence the 1991 killings which he was able to achieve by using their paranoia and forging threatening letters.
J learns his father knew the identity of Providence and was killed by Edward because he got too close to the truth. J also discovers he, himself, was essentially an experiment by Edward to see how a child would grow and develop after witnessing his parents die. He learns Edward wants to cover up the truth from the past and frame the second round of killings on him, with a false claim that J used Henry Mills as his puppet. After J convinces Edward the evidence is stacked against him, Edward tries to kill himself. Kate ends up non-fatally shooting Edward before he can kill himself and the case is solved.
After, J returns to his childhood home, which strangely hasn't been bulldozed in 19 years. He tries to find a lead on Danny but finds nothing major; only that he remembers Edward taking Danny. After celebrating solving the case with his team, he receives a phone call claiming that the Providence case is not entirely over and that more killings will occur.
Characters[]
- Jonathan Weaver - The main protagonist. Nicknamed J, he is a talented detective with a tragic family past. He has the supernatural ability to see visions of the past.
- Kate Hathaway - J's work partner who is able to help J's work using her analytic skills.
- Henry Mills - The FBI supervisor and J and Kate's boss.
- Lane Martinez - The Clockford Police's lead investigator of the current Providence murders, until the FBI's involvement.
- Maureen Yashima - A talented forensic scientist and Kate's friend.
- Frederick Weaver - J's adoptive father who raised him ever since his parents died in a fire.
- Hugo Watt - A journalist and a reporter for the Clockford Times. He is also J's friend.
- Edward Gordon - A professor in criminal psychology who taught J back in his university days.
- Alfred Brown - Hotel employee and a coworker of Sam Coolidge.
- Philip Robbins - A retired detective. Former lead investigator of the 1991 Providence murders.
- Edgar MacDowell - Duke Desmond's former assistant.
- Natalie Emmett - Duke Desmond's commonlaw-wife.
- Dub Foley - Isabella Campbell's former manager.
- Lily Garfield - Charles Smith's daughter. Currently married (maiden name: Smith).
- Leticia Smith - Charles Smith's mother.
- Roger - A homeless man living in city park who has knowledge that can help with the case.
- Burnett Johnson - A former detective and the president of Johnson & Company. Former lead investigator for a few of the 1991 Providence murders.
Mentioned Characters:
- Sam Coolidge - 1991 Providence murder victim. Former hotel employee.
- Charles Smith - 1991 Providence murder victim. Former taxi driver.
- Isabella Campbell - 1991 Providence murder victim. Former actress who was featured in movies and stage plays.
- Duke Desmond - 1991 Providence murder victim. Former president of a real estate company.
- Nicolas Baker - 1991 Providence murder victim. Former university professor and J's father.
- Amy Baker - 1991 Providence murder victim and J's mother.
- Danny Baker - J's younger brother who went missing after his parents were killed. His whereabouts are still unknown.
- Kevin Cornell - 2010 Providence murder victim. Former hotel worker.
- Marty Adams - 2010 Providence murder victim. Former taxi driver.
- Johanna Lamoria - 2010 Providence murder victim. Former actress who famously appeared on television.
- Hans Rickman - A former police officer. Had a connection to Edward.
- Smokey Joe - Roger's friend.
- Charles Smith's father
- Lily Garfield's mother
- Alfred Brown's son
- Alfred Brown's mother
- Edward Gordon's mother
- Henry Mills' mother
Music[]
The music of Again was composed by Naoyuki Yoneda and Tatsuya Fujiwata. There is no official soundtrack for the game. The songs were only ripped by fans and given fan-made names.
Reception[]
Again received mixed reviews, holding a 52/100 on Metacritic. However, the game's music was complimented as being one of its better elements.
RPGFan gave it a 7.5 and said in their review, "As far as murder mystery DS adventures go, AGAIN is not that bad, but compared to Cing’s other efforts, AGAIN is weak." and "It’s not a bad game, but it’s not great either." They praised the photorealistic characters, commenting that it helps to give the cast emotion, but criticized the lack of a quick save feature.[1]
Game Informer was not as kind to the game as RPGFan, feeling that the game's plot development was not very interesting at times, commenting, "This title is far from a literary masterpiece. It’s just one huge snoozefest that can only be consumed in small doses." and, "I hoped the bland dialogue and puzzles would lead to some huge twist and grand finale as a reward for patience. Far from it."[2]
One common complaint is that those who do not follow a strategy guide will constantly need to revisit locations on the world map, but the game does not always tell or hint the player where to go next, resulting in having to watch a transition with J saying there's nothing to do here, a process which can become tedious. IGN noted this aspect of slow pacing issues in their review, saying, "Waiting is omni-present in Again. Talking to a witness always requires at least one introduction conversation every time you speak with them (and sometimes requires a pre-interview conversation between J and his partner Kate), and every location will occasionally subject you to a bizarre introductory graphic of J's silhouette walking across the two screens verrrry slowly, with the scene wiping behind him." They also said, "Again presents difficulties that no book ever will, as I found myself desperately talking to every character over and over again, waiting for a piece of information to be spontaneously volunteered, or for the game to consider enough time appropriately passed for someone to get back to their office or return my phone call. It's not just tedious, it's maddening."[3]
Although it is understandable that the cast do not crack jokes and have a serious nature, the script is incredibly serious and very focused on the investigation, which may make it seem dry for players who have played Cing's other games. Again is also a very linear game and there are no alternate endings or branching paths. Unlike the Another Code and Hotel Dusk games which offer some minor unlockables and differences for replaying them, Again lacks anything of the sort.
Trivia[]
In the script of the game, there are remnants of unused dialogue depicting an alternate scenario where J discovers his adoptive father died alongside Henry, instead of the parent coming out alive from the house:
Character | Quote |
---|---|
J | Both Dad and Henry are dead... What the hell is going on? I have to get to the bottom of this. |
Kate | So what do we do? |
J | Wait here, Kate. I'm gonna go view the past. As soon as I see what happened, we can- Argh... |
Kate | What's wrong? |
J | It's nothing... |
Kate | J, you really don't look so good. |
J | I'll be fine. |
Kate | You know, I've watched you have these visions. You always come out so drained afterwards. And it's gotten worse since you checked out the Desmond Real Estate building. Be careful, J. |
J | Thanks. I will. But this is something that only I can do. I don't have a choice. |
Kate | I know... |
J | I'm going back in. |
Kate | Okay. |