SHOCK-Last liquor (Free Crime Suspense) Introduction and Review

I played "SHOCK-Last liquor," a game where you play as a murderer and try to commit the perfect crime.
On TwitterIntroduction article for "Mogura Games"I learned about it and became interested in playing it.

In the first half, you play as the culprit, and in the second half, you play as the investigator.
There was a Kindaichi Case Files game in the past where you could play as the culprit, but I thought this was an interesting experiment because it's a configuration that you don't often see outside of that.
The game was created using RPG Maker MV, and the story progresses mostly through reading text.

The completion time was approximately 2 hours.

April 2026 Update: A remake was released in March 2026.
If you don't have any particular preference, I recommend playing the remake.

Game Overview (No Spoilers)

This film is divided into two parts: the first half involves manipulating the perpetrator to commit the perfect crime, and the second half involves the police uncovering the truth behind the crime.
In the first half, the protagonist on the criminal side, Harigou, aims to kill his superior, Kakuzu, making it look like a suicide.

After committing a crime, when attempting to make it look like a suicide or destroying evidence, several options arise.
You'll carry out various tactics before leaving the scene, but if you leave any unnatural details, the police's initial investigation will quickly uncover them and you'll be caught.
In that case, it's game over immediately, but you'll get hints about what you did wrong, so it's not too difficult to get the correct answer and move on.

Once you get through the initial stages, the next step is questioning by the investigators.
The goal is to answer questions correctly and get through the situation without arousing suspicion.
Making a careless answer can directly lead to a game over, creating a sense of tension.

If you can get through this part, the story will switch to the police's perspective in the second half.
From here on, there are basically no choices to make; you will simply have to read the text.

Review (no spoilers)

It took about two hours to complete, and I enjoyed it immensely, feeling like I was watching "Furuhata Ninzaburo" or "Columbo."
While there are many games that show the player the perspective of the perpetrator, I don't think there are many that leave it up to the player to sabotage the investigation.
Typical mysteries have a clear mystery to solve, such as "Who is the culprit?" or "What is the trick?", which makes it easy to drive the story forward.
However, this film reveals the culprit and the trick from the very beginning.
I think the reason it's still interesting is because the tension in the interactions between the culprit and the pursuing police is maintained.
Furthermore, the way the detectives narrow down the suspects by focusing on aspects the perpetrators would never have considered is fascinating, and it offers the pure thrill of a detective story.

The game's difficulty level is not high.
You can save frequently, and even if you make a mistake, you'll get hints for the correct choice, so I don't think you'll get stuck.

The most distinctive feature of this work is undoubtedly the sense of unease it evokes from the perspective of the perpetrator.
The anxiety you feel when you leave the scene after completing your work—the feeling of "Am I really sure I haven't left anything undone?" or "Have I done anything wrong?"—is something only those who have committed a crime can experience.

During interrogations, the police are quite skilled, using malicious questioning and trickery to try and get you to say something wrong.
Because I became so emotionally invested in the culprit during the first half, even when the perspective shifted to the investigators, I still strongly rooted for the culprit and sometimes felt frustrated that I couldn't intervene.
I felt the ending was satisfying and provided a proper conclusion.

I felt that the game has the framework to easily be turned into a series, so I would gladly play the next installment if one is released.
I would highly recommend this game to players who enjoy watching the battle between the culprit and the police, rather than the thrill of solving the mystery themselves.