YMMV / Shinrai: Broken Beyond Despair

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • The killer's plan. While Momoko made a few mistakes along the way (e.g. not burning Kamen's costume), her plan ultimately left Kotoba and Kamen's fates outside of her control. In Kotoba's case, the fire that was meant to kill him was meant to serve as a distraction to buy Momoko time to hang herself, and he was only included because Momoko needed an additional accomplice, but what about Kamen? While the cast concludes that framing her for murder in revenge for her supposed betrayal was Momoko's ultimate goal(although she fails in the good ending, and possibly some of the bad endings), why didn't Momoko kill Kamen herself? Was it because she would have been content with Kamen being imprisoned for murder, and having to live with the loss of her best friend? Was it because it would be too difficult to pull off a third murder? Or did a part of Momoko doubt whether Kamen had betrayed her, which meant she couldn't bring herself to kill her?
  • How much does Momoko care for Kamen? On the one hand, Momoko did confide in Kamen, even if it took Kamen a long time to get to that point, and is emotionally invested enough in their friendship that she'd be broken if Kamen betrayed her. On the other hand, Kamen notes that she ended up being the one who always did things for Momoko, Momoko refused to believe Kamen's claims that Hiro was cheating on her(even threatening to end their friendship), and when Momoko learned about Hiro's texts to Kamen, she plotted to frame Kamen for her and Hiro's murder.
  • While Hiro's behavior, particularly his treatment of the opposite sex, is deplorable, there's still the question of whether he actually did have feelings for Kamen. Was his asking her out while dating her best friend a callous and boneheaded move that proves he didn't care for either of them, or had he honestly fallen for her, and let his feelings cloud his judgment? It's fairly telling that as much as Kamen hates him, she doesn't completely rule out the possibility that he loved her. On the same subject, it's also possible that Hiro did, in fact, care for Momo at first, but found her issues to be too much to deal with.
  • Also related to Hiro, his Freudian Excuse. Raiko proposes two theories in "Raiko's Diary"- either he's a misogynist who thinks it's OK to two-time women and think of them as playthings like his father did, or a misogynist who hates women because his mother abandoned him- there's a third possibility. He may have wanted someone he could control easily, hence his attempt to use the Rescue Romance trope to win Runa over. He did give up on her due to her family being poor, then he moved on to Momoko(who also had a reputation for being an Extreme Doormat people could take advantage of easily), only to grow weary of her Clingy Jealous Girl act. That said, one can only imagine why he was interested in Kamen, who not only was a lesbian (unbeknownst to him), but made no secret of how much she hated him.
  • Taiko's inability to notice Rie's feelings for her and the fact that he doesn't seem to be close to anyone at the party besides his best friend Kotoba can be seen as proof that Taiko is gay and in love with Kotoba. While he does have a vaguely implied interest in Raiko, that doesn't stop him from getting very angry with her for defending Kamen when she's accused of the murders, including Kotoba either being killed or being badly burned.
• Awesome Music:
  • "Rushing Toward Disaster," which plays during some of the more intense moments in the story, such as racing to the breaker room to save Kotoba.
  • "Hidden Fragments of Truth," which is a somber and eerie track that plays during the crime scene investigation, as well as some parts of the climax.
  • "Conviction," which plays during the climax, such as when you present the decisive piece of evidence to answer all the remaining questions about how the killer committed the crime. It starts out slow, but quickly picks up pace and makes it clear that you're nearing the end.
• Base-Breaking Character: Mika. Some people like her for being an entertaining comic relief character with Hidden Depths, while others consider her obnoxious and irrelevant to the plot, especially considering that she is the only one of the four suspects for Momoko's death who does not become a serious candidate for the murderer.
• Fridge Brilliance: Considering that the police end up solving the murder by themselves, why does Raiko's success or failure at identifying the culprit matter? It's mainly so that she can prove to Kamen, albeit unwittingly, that she's the same person that Kamen remembers all those years ago, even if her personality has changed. It also helps that Raiko can help Kamen understand and come to terms with Momoko betraying her.
• Fridge Horror:
  • Raiko is knowledgeable enough to know that hanging victims generally don't survive a Bungled Suicide unscathed, and brain damage is a real possibility. Considering that it's implied that Reiko might have killed herself, it's possible that she hanged herself and was too far gone to be saved when her would-be rescuers found her.
  • Considering that bit of realism, it's most likely that Kotoba, who was hit on the head and knocked unconscious, has a concussion and possible brain damage if he survives the fire.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • Raiko's comment that she'd rather kill herself than wear the cat costume her mother got her earns her a Dude, Not Funny! from Momoko, but is mostly presented as a line that's in poor taste. Later, however it turns out that Momoko killed herself and Hiro in a Murder-Suicide, one that she was planning for days in advance. Worse, it's possible that Raiko's sister Reiko committed suicide, considering that Reiko died suddenly and Raiko believes that she caused it by not being there for her.
  • Rie's making a tombstone for all the partygoers besides herself and Taiko is Played for Laughs, particularly when Nobara overreacts and Taiko fails to realize why he isn't included. It's a lot less funny by the end of the night, when Momoko, Hiro and possibly Kotoba are dead.
• Heartwarming in Hindsight: Seeing the normally unpleasant Kamen hug Raiko and thank her for clearing her name is heartwarming enough on its own, but when you view Kamen's unlockable diary entry, you see that this isn't the first time Raiko helped Kamen. In other words, Raiko once again proved herself to be the person Kamen liked so much.
• Ho Yay: While there are no explicitly confirmed same-sex couples although Kamen has unrequited feelings for Momoko and possibly Raiko, a few of the characters get interactions like these.
  • Raiko and Nobara. The usually aloof Raiko gives Nobara the Affectionate Nickname of "Bara-chan," while the latter is quick to do a Security Cling on Raiko when frightened(which, given Nobara's personality, happens a lot). Raiko even compares the two to Kamen and Momoko, particularly wondering what she would do if Nobara betrayed her, like Kamen supposedly did to Momoko; keep in mind that Kamen turns out to be in love with Momoko.
  • As mentioned in Alternative Character Interpretation, Taiko and Kotoba. The two have been close since childhood, and while Taiko is implied to have a crush on Raiko, he still gets angry with her when after Kotoba is badly burned or killed, Raiko defends Kamen and insists that Kamen is not responsible, giving some indication of how strong his feelings for Kotoba are.
  • During the scary movie, Runa and Kamen end up hugging each other in fear.
• It's Short, So It Sucks!: Some reviewers complain about the length of the game, which is somewhere between five and ten hours, even though the game goes for only $15 US.
• Jerkass Woobie:
  • Kamen. She's an incredibly unpleasant person, especially to Raiko, but it's hard not to pity her when she's betrayed by her best friend(who happens to be the girl she loves), manipulated into being the fall guy for the murders, and suspected as the killer by everyone else. Despite disliking Kamen for much of the story, even Raiko feels sorry for her.
  • Even the killer counts. Momoko had many trust issues in the past, and fell for Hiro, only for him to be the kind of person who only saw her as a trophy rather than a girlfriend. The "jerkass" part comes in when you consider her Clingy Jealous Girl personality, and the fact that she thought that her best friend Kamen, who tried to warn her about Hiro, was planning on stealing Hiro away. After seeing messages from Hiro on Kamen's phone, Kamen erroneously concludes that he was cheating on her with Kamen (he wanted to, but she turned him down), and sets out to kill him and frame Kamen for murder.
• Jerks Are Worse Than Villains: The two most hated characters in the main cast are Hiro and Kotoba, who get much more vitriol from players than the actual killer, although the former's status as the Hate Sink of the story mitigates some of the flak he gets, since he's supposed to be hated.
• Magnificent Bastard: Momoko Mori is the mastermind of the revenge plot. Seeking vengeance on Hiro Shiratake for cheating on her and Kamen Eiga for seemingly being the one he cheated with, Momoko uses Rie Miyamoto's Halloween party as the location, getting Runa Hikari to pick a specific cosplay outfit that she uses to accomplish her plot. Tricking Hiro, Kamen, and Kotoba Gaikoku into thinking that she is pulling a harmless prank, Momoko fakes an argument with Hiro, gets him to cut off all contact with the police, then fakes her suicide as the 'prank'. After borrowing Kamen's witch costume, Momoko gets Hiro alone and kills him, then makes it look like Kamen did it. She then traps Kotoba in the basement and sets him on fire to keep him from talking, create a distraction, and get revenge on him for relentlessly stalking her in the past. Finally, Momoko hangs herself for real, forever escaping punishment, leaving Kamen to take the blame, and also having Runa, who defended Hiro's mean behavior, be an additional fall girl if that fails.
• Moral Event Horizon: Obviously, the murderer crosses it by killing their friends, but what really takes the cake is Momoko manipulating Kamen to take part in her plan, with the intention of having Kamen take the fall for Momoko's crimes.
• Paranoia Fuel: Imagine you have a friend. Things are going well between you and that friend, even though you recently had a heated argument when you tried to help your friend. Then, all of a sudden, your "friend" performs a Murder-Suicide with the full intention of causing you to take the fall for their killings, and almost everyone else seems to think you did it. This is what happened to Kamen in the climax in a nutshell.
• The Scrappy:
  • Kotoba is commonly cited as people's least favorite character, mainly because of his over-the-top perverted nature, which isn't helped by him stalking Momo. One Steam reviewer even compared him to Teruteru from Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair (who's also a Scrappy), and even went so far as to say that Teruteru actually had some redeeming features.
  • Nobara's father is similarly disliked for his creepy behavior toward his daughter. It doesn't help that his only role in the story is to drive Nobara and Raiko to the party, something that could be fulfilled by any other person with a car and a license.
• Scrappy Mechanic: Once you're given a dialogue choice, you can't save, re-read the previous dialogue or check your evidence. Naturally, this can be a problem if you're unsure about what you want to choose, and either want to review your information or save in case you make a mistake.
• Slow-Paced Beginning: Since it's a murder mystery visual novel with horror elements, this is to be expected. The first murder doesn't even happen until the end of Chapter 2, and to get there, you'll have to sit through a lot of exposition and character introductions.
• Stoic Woobie: Raiko is calm and unemotional, so much that Kamen calls her "gloomy," but has had to live with the trauma of her sister's rather sudden death and the belief that she played a role in it.
• That One Achievement:
  • Unlimited Guess Works. You need to get a 0% Detective Rating, which involves getting every question wrong at least once. This would seem simple enough, but there are a few questions that will give you a bad ending if you make the wrong choice, although they don't give points for correct answers. The tricky part is the question about the mastermind's identity; Momoko is obviously the right answer(which awards a point if you get it on your first try), but if you pick anyone besides Runa or Hiro (the only two other viable suspects), Taiko will stop listening to Raiko, and you will get a bad ending.
  • Unmasked, which involves viewing Kamen's Diary Entry B. To unlock it, you have to choose the nicest possible replies to Kamen, all of which are seemingly inconsequential choices (and two are in an optional conversation with her in Chapter 1).
  • Just In Time, which requires you to save Kotoba's life. There are three multiple-choice questions with four options each, and making a single mistake will cause you to fail. Be prepared to reload a lot or consult a guide.
• Underused Game Mechanic:
  • While the game is somewhat short, there's only three sequences in which you investigate areas. One is an optional tutorial in which you look at the decorations around the party area. The second is a fairly simple puzzle the first time Raiko goes to the breaker room (Open the window, check the breaker, check the shelves, get the broom to retrieve Raiko's cell phone, check the shelves again for a screwdriver and open the breaker). The third is the investigation of the crime scene.
  • There is also only one occasion in which you have to select a certain spot on an image (a feature that is fairly common in Danganronpa and Ace Attorney), namely at the end where you choose which room was the crime scene (and if you get it wrong, someone else will point out the right answer). Said mechanic could have been used earlier on, when pointing out how Rie got back from the breaker room so quickly, but instead, it's a simple evidence presentation prompt.