May 202022
We’re entering the final stretch now, with less than two weeks to go in our mystery game celebration! Don’t forget to participate for a chance to win prizes at the end.
Today’s topic of discussion is a short otome visual novel called Who Killed My Father Academy!
(The exclamation point is part of the title.)
As you might guess from the title, it is about infiltrating an academy in order to learn who killed your father.
One thing that took me by surprise the moment I started is that this visual novel breaks the fourth wall and uses that as part of its story. The protagonist is aware of your presence and counting on your ability to try different choices to get all of the answers by the end.
From the premise, I expected it to be a story filled with intrigue, where you spend time getting to know each character while looking for clues that might implicate them as the murderer.
Well, it’s not quite like that. In fact, the actual dating part is short and gets to the point very quickly. In that way, I’d say there isn’t nearly as much “mystery” here as I’d hoped, let alone investigation, so it might be closer to a thriller.
I’m not crazy about the art style, but that’s just a personal preference. The characters are likeable enough, with four male love interests and one female love interest (although the romance feels secondary to the plot).
The story has some interesting twists, but some parts feel a bit rushed or handwaved with humor, which is another thing I think could have benefited from a longer, slower story that lets you get to know each character better. You had better pay attention to the story while you play, though, because eventually you’ll need to answer questions – by actually typing the answers in.
That was a cool way of handling it, and probably my favorite part of the story.
Who Killed My Father Academy! is light on mystery and even lighter on romance, but it uses some interesting ideas. I believe it’s also free, so it’s worth checking out if the premise sounds interesting.
The title actually did leave me guessing about what the game was about. My first guess was that it was some kind of anime academy for orphans where every character was trying to figure out who killed their father, or maybe the academy itself was a father academy and got killed…
…But the actual plotline makes sense I guess, even if not as fun as my headcanons.
Hahaha, hey, those might make for interesting games!