Sometimes fiction can closely resemble reality so much that it isn’t funny. Case in point Disaster Report 4 Summer Memories. This latest entry to the Zettai Zetsumei Toshi series of action adventure games that has layers escape from a sinking island city after a massive earthquake has hit. However a real life disaster in 2011 had put the production of the game on hold for a couple of year. It wasn’t until almost eight years later in 2018 that the game resurfaced and released in with it getting a Western localization two years later. Is there room for a game that hits close to home or should have the developer just left it under a pile of rubble? Let’s find out.
Off the Richter Scale
Switch port not the prettiest- Let’s get this out of the way: the Switch version of Disaster Report 4 isn’t the prettiest version of the game. Now I know that graphics don’t make the game, however that may be, the graphics are still an aspect of a game. The Switch version of the game looks like if the graphics were from a generation or two ago. This kind of make sense: the game was still in production for the PS3 and was suppose to release in 2011. But due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami it was later canceled. One part due to constant power outages making it hard to continue development and one part not wanting to seem insensitive due to the game closely imitating real life. While this version of the game may not the prettiest, it’s not completely ugly looking. But even then it went back into production in 2014 and was later released in Japan in 2018 and just released this year in the West. So that about an additional four to six years of development that could have gone into making the game look better across the board.
Annoying loading screens- It’s 2020, there should not be loading screens. Or at least there should not be loading screens during gameplay. Now I understand if there’s loading screens for when transitioning to different areas of the map that are not the same terrain or for loading up a important cinematic cut scene, but having a loading screen for simple in game cut scene that uses in game graphics? There’s no need for that in 2020. Disaster Report 4 has this issue throughout the game, really slowing down the pace in some scenes.
Compass not really useful- In every disaster/survival movie, a compass is one of the most important tool a survivor could have. It let’s you know where North is and when paired with a map, can lead you to safety. In video games, the compass either pinpoint the area you are suppose to head in or points in a general direction. The compass in Disaster Report 4 does neither of those things. Actually it doesn’t do anything at all. It just spins around point at the direction of North. And yes that may be the job of a compass, but when you pause the game there’s a map of the area you are currently in, thus making the compass useless.
Not as open as first thought- For some reason I thought that Disaster Report 4 would allow you to travel to various parts of the city helping with recuses, finding out the cause of the earthquake and trying to make it out alive. It turns out as big as the city is, its not as open as I thought. The game is more of a linear experience, which isn’t bad. I was just expecting to explore an open city instead of going area to area and being confined to that area until I complete the objective. Or run around in circles trying to find the objective in the first place. Speaking of which….
Objectives not made clear- The main objective is of course escape the city alive. Along the way you run into objectives that will push the story forward and objectives that will have you helping people. There’s one slight problem: these objectives are not visibly marked. The only way that you’ll figure out who you need to talk to is to look at the map, go to the general area that is marked and basically talk to everyone until you trigger a loading screen that will lead into you talking to the person that will give you an objective to do. Even then nothing is marked and once again you have to run and talk to everyone to trigger the loading screen and cut scene, rinse and repeat till the objective you first started out with is done.
Survival of the fittest
Actions and decisions/responses matter- Most developers that use natural disasters as backdrops for their games tend to lean on the action aspects of the disasters, ie jumping from burning buildings, crashing through glass windows, walking away from an exploding car, saving a person from falling down a sinkhole made by an aftershock etc and etc. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson you are not in Disaster Report 4 and that’s ok. The game goes for a more “realistic” approach, ie what would a normal person would do in a disaster. This means the you will have to think about your decisions and actions when interacting with other survivors. From hitting on them and lashing out to helping them in their time of need or standing up for them, your actions and decisions/responses to others do matter. If you happen to make poor decisions, survivors will remember than and if you run into them later one in the game, they will refuse to help you. On the flip side, if you help them out, they will return the favor and either help you out or reward you with an item.
Tremors and destruction give a sense of terror- Disaster movies are a mix of suspense and horror, at least that’s what I think. You never known when an aftershock or tremor with hit after the initial earthquake. You tend to walk with more caution while passing by a building that has been caught and being held up by the other building around it, not knowing if it will collapse. Remember your character is just a normal person, they can’t really do too much. These give off a sense of terror that most monsters give and the fact that earthquakes and the destruction left in their wakes are real things that happen, bumps up the terror factor.
Destruction physics are pretty cool looking- While I did mention that the Switch version of Disaster Report 4 isn’t the prettiest of the bunch, that doesn’t take away from how cool the destruction physics look. The initial earthquake and the aftershocks and tremors all have weight to them. This is shown by the reactions of the NPC when one occurs and when one big enough manages to crack streets in half and buildings collapsing. Speaking of buildings collapsing, the way they collapse is pretty cool looking. Some buildings implode on themselves. Others are knocked over onto other buildings, hovering over the street barley hanging on. Seeing a building precariously perched on another building, creaking and swaying as you walk under it raises the tension not knowing when its going to fall. And then running as fast as you can when it starts to collapse. Speaking of destruction happening everywhere….
Feels like a disaster movie- Like most disaster movies, the game starts on a quite unsuspecting day. Disaster Report 4 has the players take on the role of, well themselves (or as the defaults of Yuko Ichikawa and Masato Takeda), as they are on a bus traveling into Hisui City for a job interview during the middle of summer. Then suddenly a huge earthquake rock the city, causing the bus to rollover and crash. Dazed and confused you crawl out of the wreckage, shaken and confused at what just happened. As you stand up out of the wreckage, you see the damage that has been done around you as aftershocks start to rumble. Only one thing is running through your mind, getting out of the city alive. Along the way you encounter other survivors, grifters trying to make a buck off of the disaster, building and explosions going off all around you and rumors that the earthquake might not have been naturally occurring. Action, Danger. Love. Suspense. Disaster Report 4 has all the makings of a very entertaining disaster movie.
Disaster Report 4 Summer Memories is a mix bag. On the one hand it does a great job of making you feel like you are in a disaster movie. The destruction physics are really cool looking, the various tremors and aftershocks amp up the tension and terror and your actions do matter. However there are a ton of issues I had with the game. The Switch version of the game isn’t the prettiest looking, the loading screens are annoying, the on screen compass is useless, objective are not made clear and the area isn’t as big as it seems. Even though I did find some enjoyment in the game, there were many design aspects of the game that felt they were from the previous generation. There is a demo out for Disaster Report 4 Summer Memories if you are curious in checking it out. I would say skip this version of the game.
