MINDHACK
by Aethyna
Apr 10, 2023 |
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Genres:
AdventureGraphics:
2DLabels:
Adventure , Visual Novel , Typing , Text-basedPlatforms:
Publishers:
VODKAdemo? Hack minds, remove BUGs, and reform various criminals as you delve deeper into the FATAL ERROR incident involving a powerful Class 0 BUG 10 years ago that had killed many and is foretold to return… soon… in this one-of-a-kind visual novel, MINDHACK! Play Now Similar Games Played
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Disclaimer: MINDHACK is an early access game and is a work-in-progress. The game is estimated to complete in 2024. This is our first impression look at the game and we'll update our review after launch to include any new elements of the game that may be presented in later chapters. Summary
MINDHACK is a visual novel that’s set in a rather dystopian world where a person’s mind could be hacked and their very being could be altered, all because the human mind’s “source code” has been discovered to exist. Although not done on a whim, violent and evil criminals are subjected to such mindhacking treatments in an attempt to remove BUGs that supposedly turned them evil in the first place, and the person conducting these treatments are usually talented and specially trained mindhackers, like the protagonist, the Doctor.
Hack minds, remove BUGs, and reform various criminals as you delve deeper into the FATAL ERROR incident involving a powerful Class 0 BUG 10 years ago that had killed many and is foretold to return… soon…
Plotline
MINDHACK is set in a world where humanity’s every quirk is discovered to all be linked to their respective source codes. People who’ve done truly evil things are often to be found harboring a BUG that could eventually fester and “infect” others around them. This is why it’s imperative that these BUGs are eradicated. This is especially evident during the FATAL ERROR incident 10 years ago, where many good people, including innocents, were slain by a Class 0 BUG, the most powerful BUG type ever discovered.
Thankfully, with the discovery of the Mindhack technology where unique people have the ability to use certain devices to access a person’s mind and eliminate these BUGs, these abhorrent people have a chance at redemption and be completely transformed.
In this visual novel, you play as the Doctor. You are the Mindhack facility’s best mindhacker and in spite of that, you’re still learning the true extent of your ability. Forcibly help various reformation target remove their BUGs and turned them into whole new people, and in the process, learn more about the FATAL ERROR incident that is foretold to return… one day.
Gameplay
As a visual novel, MINDHACK is the kind of game that requires a whole lot of reading, but unlike a typical visual novel, there are no additional buttons around the text panel. Instead, the controls here is straightforward and simple – you click to progress the text and when certain dialogue options are presented, you click to choose which dialogue option you want. Naturally, your choices have an impact in the story and will change how others perceive you, the prodigal mindhacker.
Similar to a text-based adventure game, MINDHACK also comes with plenty of visuals to help illustrate what you’re reading, including character expressions and well, antics. Due to the game’s Japanese roots, the game uses an anime visual style here.
During the course of a mindhack, the game will also require you to type certain words and phrases to initiate certain procedures, whether it is to break a mind’s firewall or to access someone’s closely-guarded memory. At one point, you’ll be thrust into the critical part of a mindhack where you’ll need to successfully complete a typing mini-game. A slew of words will appear on screen one after another and you’ll need to type them out as quickly and as accurately as you can. Failing to do so will result in a failed mindhack.
There’s also a part right after the mini-game where you’ll need to choose traits that best fit the new persona the reformed target should have. You don’t just pick willy-nilly though – You can get some hints from what they revealed during the memory hack and the many words that appear during the mini-game. These clues should help you choose the right traits, though the responses from the reformed target should also clue you in whether or not your choice is the correct one.
There are three traits in total. As long as you picked two of them correctly (and rewritten those traits), the game will proceed with a successful mindhack. The mindhack will only fail if you chose two incorrectly. However, the game doesn’t penalize you for failures. Instead, FORMAT, the mysterious AI-like being who serves as the Doctor’s mentor, guide and assistant (at times), will simply rollback time and let you re-attempt the typing mini-game or choose the three traits again.
As you progress, you, as the Doctor, will discover that he could destroy a person’s mind during a mindhack as well. This is visualized by pulling the petals off a flower.
Currently, the game is in early access and has a total of three cases. Depending on your speed of reading, each case should take around 40 minutes, so there should be at least 2 hours’ worth of content. Of course, the game (and story) doesn’t just end with 3 cases though! The developers planned for 8-9 chapters and that the other chapters will be released throughout 2023 and 2024, though no schedule is set for the release of each chapter.
Graphics/ Sound
As aforementioned, MINDHACK has a typical anime visual style which actually fits its theme rather well. The colors used here are mostly muted as well, to confer a sense of dreariness, with the occasional (and sometimes overwhelming) bursts of color due to the flowers that appear – yes, the Doctor loves his flowers in this visual novel.
In terms of sound, the visual novel comes with a variety of background music that is matched with what’s happening on screen. The music doesn’t distract the reader from their reading nor does it negatively impact the immersion they get to enjoy as the story gets a whole lot more interesting. The texts also appear word-by-word on-screen along to the sound effect of a typewriter. This isn’t an issue for most, but it may likely bug some other readers.
Conclusion
All in all, MINDHACK is truly one of a kind! Impressive story premise aside, the storytelling (and translation work) is very well done. Couple that with the visual novel’s more “active” aspects, such as its typing mini-games, impactful dialogue choices, and excellent visuals, and you’ll end up with a visual novel that feels a lot more interactive than most. While we await for the later chapters with bated breath, some fans might choose to wait a bit before jumping in since MINDHACK is currently in early access and only has 3 out of the 8-9 planned chapters.
MINDHACK Blog
New Game Added: MINDHACK
by Aethyna
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