The Zodiac Trial
- January 21, 2021
- Themisian
- 16h median play time
Get on Steam"The Zodiac Trial" is a visual novel adventure game where you play as a rookie lawyer defending a client accused of murder. Uncover the truth through investigations and courtroom debates, using the client's zodiac sign to unravel the mystery. With intricate cases and multiple endings, your legal skills and intuition will be tested in this immersive and suspenseful game.
Mac OS
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game features a gripping story with well-developed characters that keep players engaged throughout.
- There is a significant amount of content with multiple routes and endings, providing a rich experience for players who enjoy exploring different narratives.
- The writing is intelligent and clever, often allowing players to piece together mysteries in a satisfying way.
- The game lacks a flowchart system, making it difficult to track choices and navigate the numerous routes effectively.
- There are several spelling and grammatical errors throughout the game, which can detract from the overall experience.
- Some puzzles are either too difficult or not well integrated into the story, leading to frustration for players.
- story308 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 68 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The story of the game is a compelling and intricate mystery that keeps players engaged with its well-crafted characters and plot twists, reminiscent of classic visual novels like "Danganronpa" and "Zero Escape." While the narrative is praised for its depth and pacing, some players found it occasionally convoluted and noted the absence of a flowchart system made tracking choices challenging. Overall, the writing and character development are highlighted as the game's strongest aspects, making it a worthwhile experience for fans of the genre.
“A gripping story with highly memorable characters that at some points is genuinely scary.”
“Thoroughly impressed with the pacing and storytelling of this game, the plot twists weren't too obvious and the climactic events that occurred throughout each of the routes had me on the edge of my seat.”
“The zodiac trial rewards mental effort immensely, and I applaud the developer for putting together such an enormous story that flows so well and remains both charming and mature in each of its 12+ storylines.”
“This game honestly suffers from too many bland characters who all have branching storylines/endings.”
“The game became such a slog near the end of the last path I went through; I was pretty sure I wasn't even reading every line as a lot of it was rehashed backstory/subtext information I'd already figured out through other paths.”
“Story/plot: this game gets kind of annoying in the whole 'this part of the story is pretty much exactly the same up to a certain point, but you can't skip it despite having read very similar dialogue because it's a technically different path' issue.”
- music72 mentions
- 36 % positive mentions
- 58 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally described as serviceable, with some tracks effectively setting the mood, but it suffers from a lack of variety and polish, leading to repetitiveness over time. While some players found the soundtrack engaging and emotionally resonant, others criticized it for being generic and poorly balanced, with occasional issues like abrupt track changes. Overall, the soundtrack is seen as decent but not remarkable, with potential for improvement in production quality.
“The soundtrack is amazing; I love how engaging it is, matching the mood of what is being written at the time.”
“The music emotionally grabs me and never got dull throughout my playtime.”
“The soundtrack of the game is also excellent in my opinion and really adds to the atmosphere of this being a cryptic death game with lots of mystery, suspense, and unknowns.”
“Music/sound gets a 2/10.”
“If it weren't for the loud noises, the music and sound effects are royalty-free things, which is cool but nothing remarkable, and could have benefited from audio balancing as the sounds over top detract from the experience.”
“The soundtrack, while effective, didn’t contain any real standout tracks and didn’t have a lot of variety.”
- graphics44 mentions
- 7 % positive mentions
- 75 % neutral mentions
- 18 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many players noting the low-budget visuals and subpar artwork, particularly in backgrounds that are often described as blurry. While character designs are praised for their uniqueness and appeal, the overall aesthetic feels inconsistent, lacking sufficient visual content for key scenes. Players express a desire for improved graphics and additional artwork to enhance the experience, suggesting that the game resembles a fan project rather than a polished title.
“Characters' design is great and probably the best part of the story; each person is easily identified and personalized both in graphics and text.”
“It can use a fair bit of polish, and I would appreciate a hypothetical future update to fix some typos and maybe a couple of graphics errors, but if you're looking for a low-budget visual novel which takes inspiration from Ace Attorney and Zero Escape, you'll have a lot of fun.”
“Visuals are very hit and miss - character sprites are good, but backgrounds are somewhat bland.”
“The only downsides of the game are the low-budget graphics and UI.”
“I eventually got used to the backgrounds being blurry pictures, but it's disappointing how most routes have 0-1 pieces of artwork unique to that route.”
“Visuals are very hit and miss - character sprites are good but backgrounds are somewhat bland.”
- gameplay40 mentions
- 5 % positive mentions
- 88 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The gameplay is primarily a standard visual novel experience with limited mechanics, focusing on word puzzles and choice-making, which some players found restrictive and unenjoyable. While the writing and storyline are praised for their depth and twists, the low production value and structural gameplay choices detract from the overall experience. Despite these issues, the game offers a compelling narrative that can be engaging for those familiar with the genre.
“The writing is the highlight; a lot of mileage is wrung out of the different scenarios. The overall plot is compelling and has a fair few twists plus some attempts at mystery solving.”
“At some point in the game, there is a portion where a certain type of mechanic is added to introduce conflict and tension, with characters who will work against you.”
“The number of CGs used is limited and there's no mechanical flair of the sort a player accustomed to full studio productions like Danganronpa or Zero Escape might have grown to expect.”
“The overall gameplay loop is pretty short (most routes can be done in under an hour), which is convenient if you don't have a lot of time on your hands.”
“The main issues of the game lie in some structural gameplay choices and in the low production aesthetics that some players will understandably not be able to look entirely past, but the base content is good enough to more than make up for those trappings.”
- humor20 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is a mixed bag, with some players finding it consistently hilarious and engaging, while others feel that certain jokes fall flat or the dialogue can be stilted. Overall, the writing is praised for its cleverness and absurdity, with well-developed characters that contribute to the comedic experience, making it a fun and entertaining aspect of the game.
“Sometimes clever, sometimes absurd, but almost always engaging and hilarious.”
“It's consistently hilarious, and each character is well written both motivation and drama wise, as well as just interest wise.”
“The humor in this game is a lot of fun.”
- emotional8 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game effectively evokes strong emotions through its engaging music and well-crafted narrative, allowing players to connect deeply with beloved characters and experience their emotional struggles. Reviewers appreciate the balance of intrigue and fun, noting that the emotional depth enhances the overall experience.
“The music emotionally grabs me and never got dull throughout my playtime.”
“The best writers usually need to be minor masochists so as to not shy away from making your players feel emotional pain for the characters they have grown to love.”
“Bottom line, the game is intriguing, fun, and can explore strong emotional beats at times, all for a rather good price.”
- atmosphere8 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is praised for its intriguing mysteries and strong character dynamics, though it lacks the intense tension found in similar titles like 999. The writing and soundtrack significantly enhance the experience, creating a cryptic and suspenseful environment that captivates players, despite a less pronounced focus on the overarching death game plot.
“I wish this game had more budget since the writing and the atmosphere in the game is truly amazing.”
“Realistically, it is the characters, the tense atmosphere, and the intriguing mysteries that make this game worth picking up and enjoyable, not necessarily the total overarching plot, even if said plot is in no way bad.”
“Atmosphere-wise, this game definitely isn't as tense as something like 999, and there's less of a focus on the actual death game than I expected.”
“The soundtrack of the game is also excellent in my opinion and really adds to the atmosphere of this being a cryptic death game with lots of mystery, suspense, and unknowns.”
- character development6 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is marked by a mix of opinions on character designs; while some players find the designs phenomenal and indicative of strong characterization, others criticize them for being unappealing or lacking interest. Overall, the effectiveness of character development seems to hinge on the visual representation, with a notable divide in player satisfaction.
“The character designs are absolutely phenomenal, and the characterization shown just in those designs was great.”
- stability4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game features controller support, but users report it as buggy, with issues in cycling through options correctly. While some players find these bugs somewhat bothersome, others are less affected by them.
“There is controller support, but it is buggy and will not always cycle through the options correctly.”
“It can feel a bit buggy at times, but that never really bothered me.”
- grinding2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game somewhat tedious, particularly when searching for the last routes, but opinions vary based on individual playstyles. The inclusion of a 'skip' function helps alleviate some of the frustration, making the experience more manageable for those who utilize it.
- monetization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Reviewers suggest that the game's monetization strategy could have been more effective with higher production values, such as AAA art and music, which would justify a premium price point of $40 to $60. The current monetization approach seems lacking in comparison to the potential value the game could offer.
“If this game had AAA art and music with some advertising and hype, it could have been sold for $40 or $60 and been worth every penny.”
- replayability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Players note that while the game features multiple endings, the lack of a mechanism to revisit the hints and commentary associated with each ending limits its replayability. Users express a desire for a more accessible way to engage with the narrative insights after completing the game.
“At the very least, the hints that accompany each ending should be replayable. As far as I could see, you only had the option to see which endings had been unlocked and could not re-read the commentary or advice.”
