Overview
Missing Parts: The Tantei Stories is the first installment in a trilogy of adventure games developed by FOG inc for the Sega Dreamcast that was released in Japan on January 20, 2002. Part 2 followed soon after on October 24th and Part 3 was published in July 2003. Later the series was collected into two releases for the PlayStation 2, called Side A and B, which contained a few extras including a short bonus scenario. Again in 2012, Missing Parts: The Tantei Stories Complete was released for the PlayStation Portable which contained the entire series and another bonus scenario.
Story
The game follows a young detective named Kyosuke Magami that works for the Narumi Detective Agency. The agency was founded by a former criminal that became a famous detective named Seiji Narumi. However, after Narumi's sudden disappearance, the agency was taken over by his daughter which leads to Magami joining the agency to help find her father as well as find the answers behind an old pendant belonging to his late parents.
Gameplay Structure
The first entry in the Missing Parts trilogy features two episodes that contain different mysteries that need to be solved, with the trilogy containing six episodes in total. Each episode is self-contained but the pieces of the overall mystery come together as the story progresses throughout the series. Unlike many other Japanese adventure games, where the player can only continue after completing certain requirements, Missing Parts is open-ended. The player can go anywhere at anytime and needs to pay close attention to conversations and pick up on clues to solve each case. Time advances as the player moves around and after a certain amount of time passes the case will end and the player will be graded on their performance.
Log in to comment