Ryo Kazan - so that's the dipshit that gets shot repeatedly by Kusabi. I haven't really figured out yet what was he doing at the beginning of game... Ryo, I mean.

I actually feel kind of sorry for him.
This guy had to go through all this bull shit just to cling on to the remaining things in his life that he held dear to him.
(Mainly, Mika Kishi.)
When he finally lost Mika.
(She first disappeared when he fucked her. Nullifying Mitra's contract that allowed Mika to live. She eventually died for good when Ryo killed Mitra.)

Especially when you see the credits roll in Moonlight Syndrome, & you see Ryo & Mika reuniting & hugging each other & shit.
Only to find out that it didn't actually happen.

His reunion with Mika prolly ocurred in his head.
In reality Ryo was really just sitting in front of his tv.
Clutching on to his sister's severed head.
His tv is still on, and we can Mika Kishi trapped inside it.
(Just like the Smith Syndicate.)
When Rumi walks in on Ryo, she gets all startled & shit.
I'm guessing that she eventually cuts her hair like Kyoko Kazan in order to resemble Ryo's older sister & Mika Kishi.
(Rumi doesn't llok like either of them. Although Toriko looks like she could pass for a younger Kyoko.)

What's the purpose of all these "Sumio"? Touba, Kodai, Mondo?

Sumio Touba isn't the same person at all.
I just assumed it was, because I never played Moonlight Syndrome before.
I figured that if Mondo turned out to be Kodai.
What's to stop him from being Touba as well.

I fucked around with every bodie's heads enough, and since FSR might actually come here.
I figure that I might as well reveal the shit that I was saving for the website.

Sumio Mondo is just Sumio's fake identity during FSR.
However he eventually forgot that he's actually Sumio Kodai.
That's why he's known as Sumio Mondo in FSR.
Sumio Kodai & Tetsuguro we're actually on a joint assignment in FSR.
Although Tetsuguro was searching for someone as well.
(It's never said, but I assume that he was looking for Toriko. It's the logical guess imo.)

Lospass Island is a man made island. The terrorist is actually Ed Macalister himself, lol.
The airplane bombs were originally meant for Lospass itself.
The purpose for the airplane bombs is to get rid of every bomb one by one, by having them explode inside an airplane. (& away from Lospass.)

Tetsuguro Kusabi masqueraded as Peter Bocchwinkur.
Peter Bockwinkurr was actually just a body/muppet suit that Tetsuguro was wearing.
Sumio's memory of his real identity (Sumio Kodai) came back once Tetsuguro took his Peter mask off.

I can't really tell you anything about Sundance & Toriko though.
I just don't understand what they're about at all.
Sundance is supposedly a native of Lospass.
However Lospass is man made.
Toriko thinks that Mondo is some kind of saviour.


As for Yayoi Hanayama. I believe that her & Yayoi Itsushima are one in the same.
image
Same facial structure, same build, same stature, similar hair line.
Although if they actually are the same person.
That would mean that Hanayama is only 18 or 17 years old.
(FSR takes place 2 yrs. after Moonlight Syndrome.)
I was always given the impression that Yayoi was in her mid 20's.
Than again Yayoi from Moonlight Syndrome seems like she could've been 18 or in her 20's already.
The only reason we know she's not.
Is because her older sister Chisato was only 18.

While I've always had Yayoi written down as a relevant character in Suda 51's games.
I had no idea that she was actually one of the majour players.
(Judging from her role in Moonlight Syndrome.)
Kinda makes moi wonder when Yayoi will come back again.

As to the reason for Yayoi's name change.
Who knows. I'd say to conceal her identity, but in order for that to work.
You would have to change your entire name. Not just your surname.
Maybe she got married in between MS & FSR, and is acting like she's not married.
She sure as hell does a good job of acting like nothing happened 2 yrs. prior during the Moonlight Syndrome game.
You'd almost believe they were 2 different people if they didn't look & act the same.
Yayoi was also capable enough to pull off the harmless normal person act In Moonlight Syndrome.
When I first saw Yayoi threw some fireball or what not at her sister.
"I was like wtf!? this bitch got ethereal esp!?"

So, in Japan, such games get a natural audience, while here it's a niche.
But of course, the sophistication found in Suda51's adventure games doesn't really need a niche to get appreciated, it's really common sense.

ADV games are pretty popular in the West.
Though only in the pc, and even then it's usually that Sam & Max bullshit , or that Sierra games crap that I hate.


NOW, having said that, kicking the preference thing out of the way, the rating makes sense to me. I'm also surprised with how Silver Case has been hanging on all these years. It must've really made quite an impression.
From what I've been playing so far, I can say it's awesome, and this from a purely atmosphere/setting point of view. It also reeks of sophistication and class, the kind that wasn't really present in neither Snatcher or Policenauts, two great games with similar mechanics.


Speaking of Policenauts. I'm not sure where it got placed.
I don't recall seeing it in the chart.
That's not possible though, because when I was in Japan.
Policenauts was actually still rather popular.
It even got rereleased while I was there.
I never once heard about Suda 51 at all. Save for his FSR game.
I didn't think much of that game at the time though.
I just thought it was weird looking as hell, and I eventually forgot about it.

I wonder why Moonlight Syndrome ranked so low in that poll.
Moonlight Syndrome is pretty damn good imo.
I typically hate stories that revolve around teenagers.
(If you're wondering why I like Persona it's because the Persona 2 games didn't revolve around high school kids at all.
Innocent Sin had you following the trail of a Bible that was based off of conspiracy theories. Eternal Punishment had an entire cast full of adults who uncover a conspiracy by the NWO.)

MS feels like one of them side story cases in Silver Case.
In fact that's exactly how MS got treated like in Silver Case.
Ryo & Rumi are treated like random hooligans in SC.
You would never guess that Ryo actually had to go through a lot of bullshit a night or so earlier.
Kinda like how I always envision Emir Parkreiner as popping in as some random ass killer guy.
Although he already did that with NMH.

I'm guessing the reason that Moonlight Syndrome fairs so poorly is because it alienated it's core audience.
(Twilight Syndrome)

Granted Moonlight Syndrome is in the same exact rank as Killer 7.
IMO, I feel that MS is way better than K7. K7 impressed moi with it's political knowledge.
(To the point that I eventually built a website based off of what I saw in K7.)

However I prefer the atmosphere of MS.
MS starts off as slow, & plodding, but the game gets crazier & more fucked up.
The farther you get into the game.
I also felt more of a connection with the characters.
Well, not really with Mika. Mika just felt like a normal inquisitive, but naive hot chick.
(Like Killer 7's Harman Smith, the real main character is actually Ryo Kazan. Although you only play as him two times through out the entire game.)

The only reason I wanted to get Mika back from Mitra is because she's hot, and it beats having to look at Yayoi's sister all the time, or Yukari's big ass forehead.
(You play as five different school girls after Mika disappears. Every single one of them dies including Mika.)

Than again I hear that Mika Kishi actually is from the Twilight Syndrome games.
(I've read that there's a shit load of fan service in MS from Twilight Syndrome, but I honestly can't what or who they are, because I never played those games.)
So I'm guessing that most Mika fans would already know all there is to know about her.

It's too bad that there are nearly 6 different Twilight SYndrome games out.
So I have no idea which titles Mika was in.