An interesting adventure plagued by awful localization and some other minor flaws.
Main plot is really interesting. In a dark night we meet (or better we impersonate) Atsuki Saijo, high school student with awesome mental powers. Saijo can read other's people minds sensing their feelings. When they are too strong can condense in a specific form called shinen. Powerful evil shinen can then birth a parasitic form named silent.
Silents are really dangerous and can lead their host to murder innocents or commit suicide; moreover the silents are infective and contagious creating real epidemic of madness.
Saijo belongs to a secret organization named FORT that fights to eradicate silents from people' mind. The boy himself lost his entire family cause silent's infestation, so he was saved from FORT and submit a high risk operation in order to gain the Sigma: a mental power able to find and destroy silents.
Saijo is working (undercover) at the moment in Kisaragi city, searching for a terrible infective silent responsible of horrible crimes and accidents. From here, the game works like a classical graphical adventure roaming through locations and speaking with people. The plot presents soft moment (school days and walk with friends) told in a deliciously Nipponese narration style. Investigations (and silents infestations) shall lead the plot to face even tragic moments, including death of important characters (no spoilers!!!) and strong arguments like despair, mass suicide, murders, madness, cruelty on people and animals. Overall the plot is well organized; indeed don't show any real coupe the theatre, but can offer very touching moments (like when you learn about the sad destiny of the little Lil… aaagghhh… no spoileeeeers!!!)
Character design is simply gorgeous. Artworks are detailed, stylish and original and the color use is good; less impressive the background illustrations for the environments, often pretty bleak.
A good work was done even about their characterization and various attitudes.
Good even the sound with fitting music and good sound effects. Important dialogues are English subbed and the actors really did a good job, though a match with the original Japanese voices is out of discussion.
Let's see now the shinen finding and silent fighting mechanics.
During investigations Saijo can use his power either on locations (to find residual shinen) than on people. In both case you'll be called to scratch the surface of reality (with your mental stylus -lol-) discovering underneath shinens. Once spotted the shinens shall be erased simply putting the stylus on them for some seconds. Shinen can be hard to find and some of them move pretty fast. Luckily you can count on a handy search functions before to begin to scratch (too much useless scratching will mean a game over). Once erased the shinen Saijo will read the thoughts that compose it represented like text line often confused and delirious. First shinen readings are pretty exciting, but soon you'll can find them too slow and shady, considering that they don't add almost anything to the game plot.
Sometimes after the shinen erasing you'll must face the relative silent in a sort of mental fight. Silent's psychic attacks are represented by white spot appearing on the touch screen. The white spot must be erased quickly to avoid damage and low, as well, the silent's energy bar. The parasite can count on three different attack styles and the first fights are really suggestive; however, you'll learn soon that silents are more less dangerous of you though. Even against silents bosses is difficult to be defeated. More likely is the risk of a game over if some task of the game are non accomplished.
So, the core of the adventure is pretty good, even with some lacks, and the technical realization too.
Unfortunately the game keeps two very big flaws though only one is a developer's fault. The game is pretty long, but most time is spent in useless discussions totally unrelated to the other parts of the game with the only result to fragment some portions of the main plot. Derive so an interest curve really high at the beginning of the game (when you must get accustomed to the touch screen controls and meet other characters) and in the last chapters (when plot if revealed and events go fast to the final decisions and bosses), but tend to be low in the middle of the game.
The second terrible flaw is an English localizations simply awful. I think I've never saw a game translated so badly to trouble even the main plot understanding; and I don't refer only to grammatical errors, but we have even characters and places that change name three times during the game, and a lot of senseless sentences.
Moreover the voice acting use current (and correct) speaking that don't matched at all with text lines creating an annoying stroop effect.
A similar game deserved more attention from western localizators.
Though this flaws I really liked this game. Touch mechanics are original, characters beautiful and plot over the average with some moments fast paced and engaging.
I recommend this game to graphic adventure's lovers, but beware to the poor localization and to the inconstant pace of game that can change an overall good experience in a… pain :)