Bad Player's Good Reviews
Gloomhaven
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
House of Earth and Blood
As even a quick glance at my blog will probably show, I’m interested mostly in mysteries and video games. But I love fantasy as well! (Perhaps not so surprising, since it’s the genre of many video games, especially RPGs.) The reason I don’t read much fantasy, however, is because, while I like fantasy, I like mystery more. So whenever I would buy a fantasy book, I ask myself… why not buy a mystery instead? And that's what I end up doing.
But HOEAB was gifted to me by a friend, and so bypassed that entire ordeal. Plus it features a murder, so it’s not entirely off-brand?
Turnabout Airport / 逆転空港
It’s finally time for Apollo’s time in the hot seat in Turnabout Airport, when the person in line in front of him at the security checkpoint rudely falls over and dies, stabbed to death by the bloody icepick in Apollo’s hand. (Apollo claims he just noticed it on the ground and picked it up without realizing what it was, a likely story.) And, of course, there was nobody else on line at the time besides Apollo and the victim. Whoops! Naturally, Phoenix must swoop in to save Apollo and prove his innocence.
Nobody Can Pass Judgment on Me / 誰も僕を裁けない
Anyway, Nobody Can Pass Judgment on Me is the third entry in the Lychee Kamiki series, and my favorite so far. One day Lychee, our high schooler prostitute detective heroine, receives a package with a maid outfit and a letter from a man named Touzou Sakai requesting to hire Lychee as a live-in maid for the first week of May. Lychee has never heard of him before, but an internet search reveals that he and his brother run a massive machinery business—in other words, he’s filthy rich. It’s an odd request and Lychee isn’t sure whether she’s actually being hired as a maid or if that’s just a cover to take in an escort, but Lychee can’t resist the allure of cold, hard cash. So she goes to the Sakai estate and is hired as a maid—but it’s clear from her interactions with Touzou that he didn’t actually send the letter. The letter had Touzou’s personal seal, so it must have come from someone in the house. Lychee resolves to get to the bottom of this strange situation—but the next morning one of Touzou’s sons is discovered murdered in his room.
Cat, the Great Detective / 猫には推理がよく似合う
Stray
In Stray, you play as a cat.
…Hm? No, that’s it. Were you expecting more?
Huh. When you take a step back, that’s actually a pretty small base to place so much hype on, isn’t it?
So, how was it? Is Stray the cat’s meow, or does it belong in the litter box?
Let’s just say I’m more of a dog person.
Vaporum
Operencia: The Stolen Sun
Murderer vs. Maniac / 殺人犯 対 殺人鬼
While some books take a while to get into the action, Murderer vs. Maniac wastes no time. The opening scene is all about the protagonist killing someone!
...Wait, what?
Six Pork Cutlets / 六枚のとんかつ
Those Who Cast a Curse Like the Headless / 首無の如き祟るもの
And so we arrive at the third book in the Genya Toujou series. The previous two books provided a wonderful blend of J-horror, murder mystery, and folklore, and Those Who Cast a Curse Like the Headless is supposed to be a contender of the peak of the series. So does this book have enough to take the crown, or is it getting ahead of itself?