From what I’ve read about the first Caligula Effect is that while it was an interesting game, there was too much bogging it down, and in turn it received mid-to-low scores. I wouldn’t know because I haven’t played it. And when a new IP does poorly, it usually doesn’t see a sequel, much less a remake/remaster. But it seemed that developer FuRyu believed in the Caligula Effect so much that they went back to the drawing board and remade the game from ground up using the Unreal Engine 4. Now thanks to NIS America, the game has been reborn as The Caligula Effect Overdose. With a title like that, are we in store for a mind trip, or should the game have been committed? Let’s delve deep into the mind as we take a look at The Caligula Effect Overdoes for the Nintendo Switch
Virtual Paradise
Using psychology to craft the story- A cool thing about getting into the gaming industry today is that more and more people are coming in from other careers/jobs and have degrees that are not based around game design/programing. I bring this up because the director/producer for The Caligula Effect and Overdose, Takuya Yamanaka, has a degree in psychology. Now you may be wondering, “What does psychology have to do with a JRPG? How can that be used?” I asked that same question myself in an interview with him(which you can check out here) and here’s what he said:
Studying psychology, I had a lot of interest in human problems that are unique to each person. I wanted to make a game that would allow the player to step into other people’s barriers and dive into their sensitive problems. This game would have never been made unless I studied psychology.
The goal was taking sensitive issues that surround our society in Japan and incorporate them into the game. When I design a game, I like to consider how players interact with the game, thus I wanted people to experience the feel of guilt when doing something that is not allowed when playing this game. My first title proposal was “Caligula Effect” which got told that people may not understand the title, so from there we tried to come up with others but this title fit the theme perfectly I couldn’t think of anything else other than the “Caligula Effect.”
For reference, the Caligula Effect is a psychological term that means “the guilt and excitement that comes with doing something that you shouldn’t do”. To put it in simpler terms, its when someone tells you not to do something but you go on and do it anyway. At first you get a rush of excitement of not conforming to whatever rules or restrictions that were place upon you. Then you start to feel guilty as you realize the consequences of not following the rules/restrictions. As Yamanaka-san mentioned, there are several sensitive issues that surround Japanese society that we in the West (or in the US at least) don’t see as that much of an issue. He took these issues and wove them into The Caligula Effect/Overdose story so that we as outsiders can better understand how these affect everyday Japanese citizens and better empathize with them. I think that it’s pretty cool that Yamanaka-san was able to use degree help shape the story and bring attention to social issues through Overdose. It lets Western gamers get a bit of insight to what their Japanese counterparts go through, something that most JRPGs that are set in “modern day” Japan rarely do.
New additions– As you might have noticed by now, Overdose is an enhanced version of the original Caligula Effect that was released back in 2017. To say that changes have been made to the game is an understatement, as the game was redesigned and remade from the ground up using Unreal Engine 4. Also players are now able to play as a female protagonist which also give players new dialogue options.Players are also able to recruit more party members, getting to know them will make you and them. There’s also a twist that we’ll get to in a bit. All of this makes this version of the Caligula Effect the better version of the game.
Fight the power– We all have problems and issues we face in daily life. Whether it be bullies at school or an inept boss at work, there will always be some sort of problem that will throw itself at us. Sometimes we are able to face them and overcome it, other times we just ignore what’s going on and hope it goes away. And then there are times where we wish we would disappear and not have to face any hardships or pain. Now imagine waking up the next day as a third year in high school in some virtual world that an AI created because she wants everyone in the world to be happy and free from pain. That’s the basis of Overdose’s story. A virtual idol by the name Mu sees that everyone in the world is in pain and wants to help. So she creates the virtual world of Mobius and forces everyone to live in there as perpetual highschool students. She also erases their memories/brainwashes them so that they will live happy and at peace. You realize that this isn’t the real world and try to escape. Students who have conceded to this new world and its goddess (Myu) try to stop you when you are rescued by a member of a group called the Go-Home Club. This club is a group of students who have also realized that this isn’t the real world and want to go back home. And in order to do that you must kill Myu. While it sounds like your typical story/plot a la Matrix, it actually questions you about your actions. Yes you were forced into a world that you didn’t ask to be in and yes you should be able to make life changing decisions on your own, regardless of the outcome. But what about the other people trapped in Morbius? Yes they too were dragged into Morbius by force, but they seem happy. Who are you and the Go-Home Club to say that these people are unhappy here, you don’t know their situation back in the real world. From their view you and the Go-Home Club are in the wrong and need to be taken care of.
Blissful ignorance- Here’s the twist I was talking about. As you go through the game, you and the Go-Home Club encounter a group called the Ostinato Musicians. They are a group that support Mu and consider the Go-Home Club tobe traitors. They too are aware that they are in a virtual world, but have accepted the fact they are here forever and even like it. Now for some slight spoilers: midway through the story you are given a choice to betray the Go-Home Club and join the Ostinato Musicians as they try to stop them and protect Moribus. What’s pretty cool is that if you do decide to switch sides, then the story shifts over to the point of view of the Ostinato Musicians. You get to know them and their reasons as to why they decided to stay in Morbius and defend it from the Go-Home Club.
Very unique battle system- At first glance, Overdose’s battle system may look like any typical turn based system that most JRPGs tend to use. What makes this game’s battle system stand out is a thing called the imaginary chain phase. Simply put, the imaginary chain phase shows players a projection of what could happen when choosing actions. Here they can change the timing of the action and chain together other actions to carry out attacks, cast support spells and even counter enemy attacks. The hit rate is displayed during this time, showing the % of success. The higher the hit rate %, the more likely the actions will be carried out successfully. I find this system very interesting because it shows a behind the scenes look at how battle systems work. You don’t usually see things like hit rate percentages or see a projected outcome of actions. This is usually done in the background and I like the fact that Overdose integrates it as part of its battle system and UI. As the players party grows bigger, the Imaginary chain phase will allow them to chain the party’s actions all together for one big coordinated fight.
Persona/SMT influences- When I was demoing Overdose at PAX South back in January, I noticed that the game kind of reminded me of Persona/Shin Megami Tensei (SMT). From the artwork and music to the story, all of it gave off Persona/SMT vibes. Well there’s a reason for that. Those who have played the first release of the Caligula Effect will know this already, but for those who are playing the Overdose release for the first time, the developer FuRyu had a number of former Persona/SMT team members working on it. Such as Tadashi Satomi, who worked on Revelations: Persona, Persona 2: Innocent Sin, Persona 2: Eternal Punishment and the Digital Devil Saga series and former SMT series composer Tsukasa Masuko. To round out the Persona.SMT vibe the character designs were done by an artist by the name Oguchi. The guy is super talented and has a weird cyber-punk kind of style, almost similar to the Persona/SMT art style, if his works are anything to go by on the Japanese site pixvi. For those who are harccore into pixvi artists, might recognize him as one of the enemy ship designers for KanColle.
Virtual Hell
Too many friends to make- Much like the personal links in the Persona games, Overdose has its own social link system called Causality Links that allows you to befriend NPCs. Once befriended they will increase your stats, become side-quest givers or even join your party in certain missions. Now unlike Persona’s Social Links, which there are only a few of, Overdose has over 500 students to befriend. That’s a bit too much, and plus after a while side-quests and missions will start to repeat. Its a cool idea but honestly, Persona pulled it of better.
Performance trade off in Switch version- Thanks to the Switch being able to run Unreal Engine 4, many games are being ported to the system. This includes The Caligula Effect Overdose as the game was remade from the ground up using UE4. In theory that should mean that all ports should look and play the same across all systems, not so much for the Switch version. While this version of Overdose looks and plays the same as the PS4 and PC versions, there are a few technical issues that appear. One of these issues is that when a full party of four people encounter multiple enemies during a battle, there is some slow down of framerate. This mostly happens when playing in handheld mode and occasionally when docked. This doesn’t make the game unplayable, its just a bit annoying.
For a game that uses a psychological terms in its title, The Caligula Effect Overdose pretty enjoyable. I love the fact that a discipline outside traditional game development/design was used to write the story. I also loved that by using psychology in the story, we are able to get a deeper insight to the problems that modern Japanese society faces. I thought that the ability to betray the Go-Home Club and play through the rest of the game through the point of view of the Ostinato Musicians. Being able to see the views of both sides and questioning on who really is right was a great touch. This is all tied together with a unique battle system and Persona/SMT influanced art style, music and themes However having to talk to 500 students to get various upgrades and side-quests is a bit much and can get repetitive. Then there also the frame rate slow down issues with the Nintendo Switch version of the game. While its not game breaking, it does show that the Switch still has its limits.
Despite that, The Caligula Effect Overdose is an interesting JRPG that should at least be giving a chance, especially on the Switch now that its starting to become the home of JRPGs. If you are looking to increase your JRPG collection on the Switch, The Caligula Effect Overdose is worth a look.
