Resette’s Prescription ~Book of memory, Swaying scale~

Developer: Liz-Arts | Publisher: Sekai Project | Release Date: 2016 | Genre: Casual / Indie | Website: Official Website | Purchase: Steam

Resette’s Prescription opens with the titular character, along with her cat companion Gaede, wandering lost and hungry through the woods. The duos squabbling is interrupted when they stumble across a young boy who seems to be suffering from some type of sleeping sickness. Fortunately for him Resette has the ability to enter the minds of people and heal them, which is exactly what she does for the young boy, who we soon learn is called Achille. It seems that something traumatic happened to Achille in the not too distant past and for him to have any hope of waking up again Resette must probe deep into his memories to find the cause.

Resette’s Prescription ~Book of memory, Swaying scale~ is something that we don’t see every day, a 2D point & click adventure with a distinct Japanese style. The most striking thing about the game is definitely the hand drawn visuals. Not only are the backgrounds all designed to look like the watercolor paintings typically seen in children’s story books, but the characters are all also drawn in adorable “chibi” style. This technique works very well, so it is a pity that the locations players get to explore are relatively mundane. Everything looks very nice, but we would have liked to see more interesting areas than the stuffy courthouse and dusty mansion where the majority of the game is set. The backgrounds doesn’t contain any animation either, but this just contributes to the storybook look of the game.

The game does feature a beautifully animated opening scene and we quite like the way that characters converse using speech bubbles. The interface is also nice and uncluttered with all your inventory objects stored at the top of the screen for easy access. Controlling Resette (and occasionally Gaede) is as easy as clicking on a spot to walk there or double clicking to make them run. The cursor changes from a pair of shoes to a quill when hovered over something you can interact with and you can also combine items in your inventory. Despite this you don’t really encounter many inventory objects and while there are a couple of puzzles the focus is very much on the story. Some of the puzzles feel more like mini-games and players familiar with the genre should have no trouble breezing through Resette’s Prescription. Interestingly enough, the game also features a “final boss” fight that requires a bit more dexterity than is typically required from point & click adventures.

While the game contains plenty of dialogue none of it is voiced. The two lead characters are constantly at each other’s throats thanks to Resette’s short temper and Gaede’s penchant for sarcasm. This makes for some humorous exchanges between the two, but your interaction with other characters is rather limited. Most of the time Resette merely listens in on the conversations of others and the few times that you get to talk to someone there are no dialogue trees. Despite its whimsical style the game actually features a rather serious storyline that deals with somber matters. However, despite sharing some similarities with “To The Moon” the game never reaches the same emotional impact. There is still plenty of drama, but due to the short runtime it just doesn’t feel like there is enough time to fully connect with the characters. Sadly the amount of sound effects are also a bit lacking, although it has to be said that the music is very good.

Depending on how much experience you have with point & click adventures the game can be completed in about two to three hours. Since all the achievements can be obtained in a single playthrough and it isn’t possible to miss out on anything there isn’t much replay value either. We also encountered one or two glitches in the version we played, but none of these left us unable to progress. However, we did have fun playing the game and it made for a nice change of pace.

Resette’s magical ability to enter people’s minds is an interesting idea and hopefully this won’t be the last time we see her as a lot more can be done with this concept. Players who enjoy manga-themed characters and stories, but who want a break from the usual visual novels should definitely check out the game. It is a little short and easy compared to typical point & click adventures, but makes up for it with a lot of heart and charm.