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is a
visual novel A , often abbreviated as VN, is a form of digital semi-interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with and used in the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with sta ...
adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...
video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
developed by Killaware and published by
Marvelous Entertainment (MMV) was a multinational corporation that produced animation, music, video games and television series. MMV is known for its involvement in the ''Story of Seasons'' series. They merged with AQ Interactive in 2011 and became Marvelous AQL; the ...
for the
Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...
video game console A video game console is an electronic device that Input/output, outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home video game console, home consoles, which are generally placed i ...
. The game was released in Japan on March 27, 2008. It was published in North America by
Ignition Entertainment Ignition Entertainment Limited, doing business as UTV Ignition Games, was a video game publisher of Indian media conglomerate UTV Software Communications. After The Walt Disney Company acquired UTV Software Communications as a wholly owned subsi ...
on March 24, 2009, and in Europe by
Rising Star Games Rising Star Games Limited is a British video game publisher based in Hitchin. History Rising Star Games was founded on 10 July 2004 by Martin Defries as a joint venture between Bergsala Holding and Japanese publisher Marvelous Entertainment ...
on March 27, 2009.


Gameplay

This game is mostly a visual novel, but there are a few new techniques specific for the DS. When using Lux-Pain, the player 'digs' into their surroundings using the stylus and touch screen. The player can 'dig' into people's feelings and emotions to find worms, or deep emotions. However, if the player digs in too long and is unable to erase the worms that surround the person, the person's mind becomes corrupt and it becomes game over for the player. The game ends if a battle against one of the Silent is lost. However, in some cases, if you lose against a Silent (mainly in boss battles) you are able to retry.


Plot

''Lux-Pain'' is set in the historical Kisaragi City, a town plagued by mysteries from small mishaps to murders - with no logical explanation as to why these events occur. It seems "Silent", a worm born through hate and sadness, has infected humans and forced them to commit atrocious crimes. Atsuki's parents are the victim of such crimes. To avenge his parents, Atsuki goes through a dangerous operation to acquire Lux-Pain in his left arm, a power so strong that it turns his right eye golden when using it to seek and destroy Silent for good. In this game, however, there is a strong difference between Silent and worms. Worms are a sort of offspring created by Silent that are transferred to anyone who comes in contact with the host of the specific Silent. Worms are much weaker than Silent and are eliminated after simply finding them with the stylus and pressing on them for several seconds. Silent are considered the bosses of the game and though you face many smaller Silent they slowly show the larger Silent who is much stronger. After the first 10 "episodes" you face the first true Silent. This Silent is caused by the emotions of a deceased 12-year-old girl whose parents left for dead in her room. Though not mentioned specifically there are over 685 known Silent and you start with the 683rd.


Development

''Lux-Pain'' was developed by a team of ten people at Killaware, which was founded by former
Atlus is a Japanese video game developer, publisher, arcade manufacturer and distribution company based in Tokyo. A subsidiary of Sega, the company is known for video game series such as ''Megami Tensei'', ''Persona'', ''Etrian Odyssey'' and ''Trau ...
members Takeo Higashino and Kazuhiro Yamao. The game took a full 14 months to develop from start to finish. Higashino described the plot as being "dark," and stated that social problems such as
truancy Truancy is any intentional, unjustified, unauthorised, or illegal absence from compulsory education. It is a deliberate absence by a student's own free will (though sometimes adults or parents will allow and/or ignore it) and usually does not refe ...
, group suicide, mental abuse on the internet, and
cruelty to animals Cruelty to animals, also called animal abuse, animal neglect or animal cruelty, is the infliction by omission (neglect) or by commission by humans of suffering or harm upon non-human animals. More narrowly, it can be the causing of harm or suf ...
inspired him to create the game. He stated, "I think this game is a kind of 'antithesis' against the distortion of the current education or the recent crimes that occur amongst young people." ''Lux-Pain'' was translated internally at Killaware, but the Japanese
voice acting Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...
was replaced for its localizations. The soundtrack for ''Lux-Pain'' was composed by
Kenji Ito , also known by the nickname , is a Japanese video game composer and musician. He is best known for his work on the ''Mana'' and ''SaGa'' series, though he has worked on over 30 video games throughout his career as well as composed or arranged m ...
and Yasuyuki Suzuki. It was released in Japan April 23, 2008. A CD featuring two vocal songs from the game ("Holding the Holy Pain" and "On/Off") sung by
Yoko Takahashi is a Japanese singer, who is best known for her work throughout the 1990s, most particularly for her singles which were performed for and featured in anime, most notably the ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' franchise. Career Takahashi began her ...
was released on March 12, 2008. Two pre-order bonuses were included with the game with its release in Japan. They include ''Lux-Sound'', a set of pre-arranged songs from the game's soundtrack along with a drama track; and ''Lux-Paint'', an artbook.


Reception

''Lux-Pain'' received "generally unfavorable reviews" from video game critics according to the
review aggregation A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
. In Japan, however, ''
Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...
'' gave it a score of one seven, one eight, and two sevens for a total of 29 out of 40. Its localization was almost universally mentioned as being poor, with Austin Shau's
GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
review noting that it "makes the story harder to follow than it should be," and "results in too much unintentional humor to take any of ''Lux-Pain''s commentary seriously." The review expressed disappointment over the notion that what could have been a "poignant experience" is ruined by its failure "to deliver on the most basic element of a novel-style adventure," referring to its apparent poor writing. Daemon Hatfield of
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
remarked, "This graphic adventure doesn't make any sense, and all players are allowed to do is clumsily poke at static scenes and wade through endless pages of poorly-translated dialogue." Modojo's Robert Falcon panned the game entirely, calling the characters "useless." ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...
'' gave a more favorable review, though writer Chris Schilling also mentioned the game's "wonky localisation, with grammatical oddities ranging from female characters being referred to as 'he' to confusion over whether the setting is Japan or America." He opined that while "you'd presume those issues would be difficult to overlook (...) developer Killaware has crafted a world you'll find (...) difficult to pull yourself out of" and praised its "genuinely interesting themes – the kind most gamers are afraid to approach."


References


External links


Official website
* {{J.C.Staff 2008 video games Adventure games J.C.Staff Marvelous Entertainment Nintendo DS games Nintendo DS-only games Video games scored by Kenji Ito Video games developed in Japan Visual novels Rising Star Games games Single-player video games UTV Ignition Games games