Urban Myth Dissolution Center Review: Consider This Myth…Dissolved

We all know about Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, Area 51 - these urban myths are notorious. But what do you do when you think you’ve encountered one? Who do you call? Well, it’s not Ghostbusters, but it could be the Urban Myth Dissolution Center. 

From Developer Hakababunko, Urban Myth Dissolution Center is a visual novel adventure game where players must solve a variety of mysteries related to Urban Myths. You play as Azami, a young woman who has the ability of clairvoyance so she can see things that others cannot. After a very “Ouran High School Host Club” introduction where Azami breaks a priceless item at the Dissolution Center, she is forced to help the Dissolution Center Director Ayumu Meguriya with cases in order to pay them back for the damage. 

Urban Myth Dissolution Center takes place over six chapters. The first five chapters involve urban myths such as, The Man Under the Bed or Bloody Mary with chapter six connecting them all together into one final event. The game plays similarly to titles like Phoenix Wright where you must investigate scenes where strange happenings have occurred. You’ll question those involved and try to identify which urban myth you’re dealing with. From there, you’ll continue following up on clues before making your final statement and solving the case. 

The majority of Urban Myth Dissolution Center plays like a visual novel. You’ll read through dialogue and the game will automatically take notes in your journal so you can keep track of who you’ve spoken to and how their statements relate to the current case. The first case in the game involves a woman named Mio who has seen a mysterious man showing up seemingly out of nowhere in her apartment. Each case’s location may seem unassuming at first, but Azami is able to use her clairvoyance as well as a pair of special glasses that Meguriya gives her in order to be able to see glimpses of the past to help her solve each case. These glimpses are pretty creepy, showing up as red shadows representative of people, and add to the overall eerie atmosphere of the game. 

Before you arrive at each location you’ll do social media research to try and find out more. You’ll scroll through people’s posts to see if you can pick out key words and important information regarding your cases. Keywords will dance around in a way that only Azami can see and you’ll use those keywords to refine your search. Social media research was probably my least favorite part of investigating each case. Having to scroll through 20 different posts to find the one post with important information was…well it was like scrolling through social media which just generally isn’t a very fun activity. The characters don’t have anything particularly interesting to say about any of the posts so it really felt like a slog to get through each of these sections. 

My biggest issue with the Urban Myth Dissolution Center is repetition. A lot of what you’ll do while you investigate each myth is ask questions, look around, make conclusions, but a lot of information will be repeated back to you unnecessarily. There are moments that feel like an episode of Dora the Explorer. You’ll be introduced to a character like Mio, for example, who is Azami's friend from school. So Azami will pull out her notebook and prompt you with a question like, “I know Mio from school, so Mio is my….?” And then you’re given three options, “My teacher” “My friend” “A stranger.” When you pick “my friend,” Azami praises herself, “That’s right! Mio is my friend from school.” It’s a really strange mechanic that gets repeated throughout the game when you’re introduced to new characters or new plot points. It’s almost as if the game doesn’t trust that you’re actually reading all of the dialogue so it forces you to take a pop quiz every few minutes.

When you’re done solving a case, there’s normally a cut scene or two that allows Azami to reunite with the Dissolution Center Director to go over what they discovered and concluded. You’ll find that there’s also a subplot going on underneath these “normal” cases. Eventually, when you reach chapter six of the game, these subplots connect and any questions you found yourself wondering about throughout the rest of the game will be answered. Urban Myth Dissolution Center had one of the best twists I have ever experienced (and that includes in books, movies and games), so much so that I physically threw my arms up in surprise. While things in the story and gameplay are pretty slow moving all throughout the game, I still found this ending to be completely worth it.

What drew me to Urban Myth Dissolution Center the most was its beautiful pixel art style and I stand by it. This game is gorgeous and unlike anything I’ve ever played. Throughout each chapter there are occasionally short moments with cutscenes that will send a shiver down your spine because, at the end of the day, these cases all involve some pretty damn scary urban myths. Chapter five, despite being the slowest chapter of the game, had some especially creepy moments I really loved. The art style combined with an awesome soundtrack, brought everything together really beautifully. 

On the surface, Urban Myth Dissolution Center looks and sounds fantastic. As someone who loves horror and urban myths, I was excited from day one to play this, but the gameplay brings it down quite a lot. As much as I loved the story, it doesn’t really feel like you’re doing much to move it along. I might as well have just sat back and watched the game play out without me. And that was the most disappointing part. But, if you’re a fan of the genre, the plot and are able to commit to the 10+ hours it takes to get to chapter six, its finale is truly incredible.

Breakdown

Game: Urban Myth Dissolution Center

Developer: Hanababunko

Publisher: Shueisha Games

Availability: PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch

Game Length: 10-15 hours

Accessibility Options: N/A

Reviewed on PC

Final Thoughts

Urban Myth Dissolution Center has a great story concept and an ending that had me ready to jump out of my seat with surprise. Unfortunately, it’s bogged down by a lot of repetition and pacing issues. You don’t have to do much thinking at all to solve its puzzles, in fact, you don’t have to even pay much attention at all and you’ll still be able to follow along. Its final chapter had me on the edge of my seat, but its fifth chapter had me struggling to stay in my seat. It’s definitely slow moving, but it’s gorgeous art style, awesome soundtrack and the plot twist I would have never seen coming make it worth a one time playthrough.