The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story Review: 100 years of mysterious murders
I don’t know about you, but for me there’s a distinction between “mobile games” and “games on your phone.” And, sure, maybe that’s just a clumsier way of saying “freemium games” vs. “premium games,” but even then that doesn’t seem to account for some of the titles that can be found on iOS and Android. Case in point, Square Enix has been doing a fantastic job of uploading plenty of their long-standing quality titles to the platforms, including one of my all-time favorites, Final Fantasy Adventure (Adventures of Mana). Continuing in this vein sees one of Square Enix’s latest mobile offerings: a FMV murder mystery entitled The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story.
The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story previously launched on PC, Switch, and PlayStation on May 12, 2022; now, nearly a full year later, the game releases again on iOS and Android. An FMV murder mystery game with an entire century’s worth of suspects and victims, The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story already delighted players on previous platforms, so it stands to reason it should do well on mobile. And for only $19.99 (50% off the original release price), The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story promises quite a bit of entertainment for the price of a few cups of coffee. Not bad at all!
To quickly sum, The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story follows the story of Haruka Kagami, a mystery novelist, who finds herself investigating a 100-year-old murder at the request of Eiji Shijima, her colleague, that has occured on his family’s estate. Unfortunately for everyone involved, mysterious events keep happening on the grounds, including the attempted murder of Eiji’s father, the head of the Shijima clan. In order get to the bottom of everything, Haruka taps into the history of the Shijima family, the murders that keep happening in their orbit for the past century, and the mystical red camellia and the Fruit of Youth which seem to be at the center of it all…
Having previously reviewed The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story for PC, I don’t want to spend too much time covering ground I’ve already tread in terms of story, acting, mechanics, and aesthetics. The story really is quite scintillating, even if it needs a little time to unfold completely. The acting is superb, each actor playing their part competently without leaning too hard into their sometimes tropey roles. The aesthetics are nothing short of magical, from the set design to the interactive logic portions. The mechanics are the only truly trip-up, less because of UX/UI and more because of a confusing amount of information being presented all at once with a questionable reason for it.
When it comes to how The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story operates on mobile, I have to say that it outperforms my expectations. The biggest thing in my opinion — the entire game is something like 16 GBs, which felt like a pretty tough ask all at once (I have too many cat and nephew pictures, I can’t delete any of them!). However, The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story offsets this storage demand by allowing players to download each chapter individually, so you don’t have to have 16 GBs to spare in order to play one or two chapters. This, coupled with other factors such as the smooth interface and touch sensitivity, makes The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story an ideal mobile port.
As my phone is not the first thing I think of when I want to play video games, it’s not often that I reach for it when I’m ready to enjoy one of the many titles I have in my backlog. For those who also go for long stretches at a time not playing games on your phone, it’s safe to think that a murder mystery title — with all its moving components, small details, and important evidence — would be a bad candidate for small bursts of gameplay. The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story gracefully overcomes this by allowing players to replay scenes as necessary, cut up into small bites with accompanying details and evidence linked to each one. It doesn’t matter if you play the game in one sitting or go months between sessions, The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story allows all players to review every single section with ease, which is an absolute must for mobile platforms.
The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story’s narrative intrigued players last year when it launched on PC, PlayStation, and Switch; now, a year later, it entices mobile players to its tantalizing tale. While I stand by my PC review’s sentiments regarding the sheer amount of information presented without knowing what to do with every last tidbit, it doesn’t change the fact that this is a solid title that shines on mobile platforms. If you’re looking for a high quality murder mystery that you can play on your phone, The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story invites you to investigate its strange, sad tale a century in the making.
Final Verdict: 3.5/5
Available on: PS4, PS5, Switch, PC, Android, iOS (Reviewed); Publisher: Square Enix; Developer: Square Enix; Players: 1; Released: April 25, 2023; MSRP: $19.99
Full disclosure: This review is based on a copy of The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story provided by the publisher.
