Cell of Empireo DLC: Mitsumitsu Isoi's Record (Free ADV) - Introduction and Review

Preface

This is free downloadable content for the free adventure game "Cell of Empireo".
This is official additional content that can be unlocked by clearing the main story with an S rank.
Therefore, you cannot play this game, and more importantly, you cannot enjoy it, unless you have completed the main story of Cellular Symphony.
Therefore, please be aware that reading this page is not only pointless for those who have not played "Cellular Symphony," but it may also contain spoilers for the future.

Game Overview

The game is basically an adventure game where you progress by reading text.
While there are some scenes where you can interact with the map yourself, most of the gameplay involves investigating designated locations or talking to people.

This will primarily focus on the pasts of the characters who appeared in Cellular Symphony, delving deeply into each of their individual stories.
The story is primarily told from the perspective of Mitsumitsu Isoi, with individual character episodes interspersed at key points.
The time period in which that episode takes place varies depending on the character.
Therefore, the first episode might take place five years ago, and the second episode ten years ago.
The timeline is not chronological, so it might be a little confusing at times, but if you understand the story, you should be able to follow most of it.

Review (contains spoilers)

I think it wasn't just downloadable content, but rather something that delved even deeper into the world of the new song "Cells."
In particular, there's a parade of new mysteries, including stories about the grandfathers of Theodore Riddle, Harada, Utsugi, and Rumelt, as well as factors and the Akashic Records.
I think this additional content delved deeper into the characters who died in the main story, while also moving the world of the work to a new stage.
As the credits and the conversation between Riddle and Utsugi suggest,If the "D" in DLC stands for "Dawn" and not "Download," then this game, while appearing to be bonus downloadable content, is actually not.
Below are my brief impressions of each record.

#ReCord.01 “Yo Jabuchi”
She was one of my favorite characters in the main story.
Since this is the first one, the content won't be too long.
He was a former teacher, but he seemed like a very ordinary, serious young teacher.
It didn't seem to directly connect to the more irritated character he was in the main story.

#ReCord.02 "Noa Enomoto"

She was probably a cheerful and innocent girl by nature.
However, I felt sorry for them, thinking that this is what happens when you grow up in such a closed environment without even being allowed to go to school.
As they continued talking afterward, I could sense Isoi's sympathy and helplessness as his expression gradually clouded over.

#ReCord.03 “Isoi Rai”
I never imagined he used to be such an extreme delinquent character.
The details of how she and Mitsuaki met were unknown, so it was good to have that revealed.
I was deeply moved by the fact that two people who longed for a normal family ultimately couldn't become one.

And finally,The sudden start of the genocide minigame was shocking and upsetting.

#ReCord.04 “Reiji Isoi”
This episode reveals details about Reiji's daily life and upbringing, which we could only speculate about in the main story.
Even as a standalone story about a father and son, it's deeply moving.
There's a bit of a puzzle-solving element along the way, but the date is easy to figure out.

This episode only deepens the mystery surrounding Theodore's true identity.
In the end, it was truly wonderful that the bad ending was avoided, almost as if it were a reward for getting an S rank in the main story.

#ReCord.05 “Hatsutori Hajime”
This episode gave us a glimpse into Hatsutori's past, which hasn't been revealed much.
And I could sense Theodore's unfathomable nature and the fateful connection between the two of them.

#ReCord.06 "Minoru Harada"
The story depicts various aspects of Harada's past and his current situation.
From this point on, the story shifts to new mysteries such as the "factor," and delves into the lives of Theodore, Harada, and Utsugi's grandfathers.

#ReCord.07 "Tokuyuki Utsugi"

This story reveals the past of Utsugi, whose image has completely changed from that in the main story.
The final scene, where the characters walk in a spiral pattern towards the center, allowing us to review various events in chronological order, was helpful in organizing my thoughts.

#ReCord.08 “Mimitsu Isoi”
It finally feels like the timeline has returned to the most recent state.
At this point, too many new mysteries have been added, and there are a lot of things we don't understand.
This story seems to end here, leaving the reader with a "to be continued" kind of feeling.
The feeling you get from playing this game is "you feel like you understand something, but in reality you understand almost nothing," which made me feel like I was watching the American TV series "LOST" (and I mean that as a compliment).

Hermit's Room

By loading the save data from completing this game into the latest version of the main game, you can enter an area called the "Hermit's Chamber."
Here, you can reread all the documents you were able to access in the main story in order, and check the records of the characters.
When you reread the documents, you might be surprised to find that even these early documents contained such detailed information.
Furthermore, looking at portraits of people can provide objective facts and other information about them, which helps in organizing your thoughts.
Finally, there is one person who enters numbers, and this can be viewed by entering the password obtained after clearing the Hermit's Chamber.