Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories

We have come across very few games that have left us as confused as Granzella's new disaster simulator/RPG/adventure, Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories. As we got ready to play it for review, we did so having not played any of the previous entries in the series (the game before this one released 11 years ago). So, after looking at trailers and reading short press releases, we went in assuming it would be a wacky little adventure game in which we would be saving people who had fallen victim to a major earthquake. While this is technically correct, that's not all there is to it, and while that might suggest that the game is packed to the brim with content, the content it's packed with doesn't go together with the rest. More isn't always more.

The game starts with you choosing your protagonist by first telling the game what you would do when facing a disaster that's potentially fatal to those around you, picking from a list of options such as: "I would do anything to help those dear to me", "I would save as many people as possible", or "I would only save myself". You then choose a male or female template, pick facial features out of a few different options, a skin tone, a hairstyle and a hair colour (get ready to see a completely different colour once you get into the actual game though, because the game's lighting is not friendly to your hair). Easy enough so far and customisation options are always nice to see. After "creating" your character, you get dropped onto a bus where the character can choose to let an old lady take a seat while you stand up or tell the old lady off and sit down yourself. These choices don't really have any severe consequences though, but the game does have some actual RPG elements. You can choose to be an angel or an A-grade asshole in pretty much every conversation no matter the situation, which at times is a little off-putting. Talking to a convenience store employee hiking prices to make a quick buck in a shady way? Chatting to an assault victim who's sobbing on the ground? You can shower the shady man with money and praise while slapping the victim in the face or sending a flirt her way because "she's your style" (the game's words, not ours).

After having chosen your personality in a way (you're not bound to answer in any which way, it's basically just to set the tone for who you want to be in the game), a major earthquake hits, and by major, we mean "holy hell, buildings are literally sinking into the ground and/or splitting in half and/or crushing all in their way" major.

In a nutshell, the game has you exploring a number of small, closed-off "levels" where you essentially have to stumble upon specific happenings at specific times and in a specific order to continue progressing through the story. The game doesn't really tell you what to do until you happen to fall into the lap of the NPC who's ready to give you your next assignment. At times, we found ourselves completely stuck trying to get to the next area only to realise that we could climb up on specific things by accident) after having searched far and wide for half an hour. The core gameplay of "talk to x, find x, talk to x" is then fluffed up a bit via the various collectables (such as clothing items and compasses of differing designs) and side quests that can be found on some maps.

The game's narrative is incredibly odd and the pacing is wild. One moment you're just minding your business in the midst of an earthquake, helping a mother get some water for her child amidst the chaos (fair, totally something that makes sense) and the next moment you're a multimillionaire cult leader buying stocks off random businessmen on the street. The dialogue is also, as we mentioned earlier, pretty darn tone-deaf, sometimes bordering offensive.

That said, there is a charm to the game that is hard to explain. If you've played Deadly Premonition, you'll understand what we mean when we say it's a charming disaster. It doesn't look great, it doesn't play great, it's incredibly weird but somehow, despite all that, it's charming and you can't stop playing. The odd nature of it all becomes intriguing and at some point, you can't help but appreciate the outlandish twists and turns the game delivers.

However, Deadly Premonition had a story that was cohesive, some great characters, a fun and interesting protagonist, and a grand Twin Peaks mystery for players to solve. Disaster Report 4 has none of those things and it just trails off into so many directions at once, and by the end, it's hard to even know what kind of game you're playing or even what genre it belongs to. Accompanied by the fact that the game has some crazy technical issues such as lag, lighting bugs, crashes, missing textures, long loading screens (all while looking and playing like a PS3-era game) - let's just say it's in rough shape, but oddly charming and fun nonetheless.

If you're looking to spend 10 to 15 hours in a game that tells you nothing but gives you a bit of absolutely everything, look towards Granzella's Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories. It's charming, fun at times and funny (even though the latter relies heavily on the odd pacing and outlandish happenings that we aren't quite sure are meant to be funny) and we actually had a good time with the game while playing it despite its flaws. However, if technical issues bother you even in the slightest, you should look away, at least for a while, and wait for a potential fix for the many issues that exist within the game.