[PSP] 探偵オペラ ミルキィホームズ

Over the years, I have read a lot of detective stories, ranging from tween snippets like Encyclopedia Brown to more established classics along the lines of Sherlock Holmes. People who know me often say that my observational skills can be used in the same profession, but while I'm indeed OC with details, I'm also cursed with the "My Pace" habit. If I get too bored with something, I tend to abandon it halfway. That alone would make me an epic failure as a detective.

Bushiroad's Tantei Opera Milky Holmes follows almost the same tradition as any detective story, but adds a freaky aspect to it: the use of "Toys" or inborn abilities that exceed that of a normal human. Both detectives and phantom thieves posses such powers, which allows for a lot of confrontations that go well beyond the normal duels and dramatic pursuits. The PSP game actually serves as a prequel to the anime, so no worries regarding spoilers. Even so, my page break warning link still stands.

Even people unfamiliar with the "Toys" terminology in Milky Holmes will obviously think that Opera's just being a big baby over losing his own after that Kaitou L incident.

The player is put in the shoes of Opera Kobayashi, more popularly known back in his younger days as the "Genius Junior High Detective" of Yokohama. 5 years ago, he was a hair short of catching his nemesis Kaitou L above a burning mansion, but the structure crumbles underneath their feet and both men topple to their supposed doom. While Kaitou L's fate is unclear, Opera obviously survived, though not without incident: he has lost his "Toys" ability. Feeling that he's no longer qualified, Opera quits the sleuthing trade and slinks off somewhere with his tail between his legs.

A fateful call from the Holmes Detective Academy later on pulls him willy-nilly out of retirement. Though the details of the invitation were not divulged to him outright, he is introduced to four of the academy's students: Sherlock Shellingford, Nero Yuzurizaki, Hercule Barton and Cordelia Glauca. While wondering what a non-detective like himself was doing there, Opera and the girls are suddenly thrust into a case: The academy's student council president Henriette Mystere has been abducted, and they have to find her... fast!

There are a lot of inconsistencies within this crime scene, but the girls don't know it yet. You have to make them see it one by one.

The abduction case turns out to be just an elaborate trial, which they all passed with flying colors. Opera is then asked by Henriette to train the four girls to become a formidable detective team. Despite still being at odds with his vague professional identity, a few "bribes" (and some fangirl stares) finally convince Opera to accept the mentoring job. That being the case, the group that will soon be known as "Milky Holmes" is officially formed.

Now how many times have we seen scenes like this before? I don't give a hoot, the rescuing a damsel in distress gag never gets old in any medium... why the "gag" part you ask? it's what comes after this scene that's the killer.

Milky Holmes is primarily a galge, but it also introduces a handful of dynamic systems which suit it's detective slash magical girl theme. Opera will often find himself pondering case details, and the player is asked whether it's necessary for him to delve deeper into the current aspect or sort out another lead instead within a strict time limit. When checking out sites/pictures, Opera is working under a specific number of phases where he can ask one of his apprentices if they see anything odd or out of place. He also has the option of talking to them off-hand at the expense of another phase, and if you make the correct dialogue choice, Opera's relationship with them will grow.

G4's Saku may be an airhead sometimes, but she knows what she likes... and a young man dressed up like her grandfather isn't one of them.

Once the necessary data about the case is gathered, a confrontation scene will start, almost at par with those cross-examination parts in Gyakuten Saiban. (sans those OBJECTION! cut-ins) While Opera will be doing most of the deductions, he will also call upon the girls one by one to enumerate the details they gathered from their respective assigned areas (unless he gave them incorrect instructions during the phase event, in which case they'll draw up a blank) The culprit will be revealed in true mystery drama fashion, complete with cookie-cutter BGM for thematic effect.

Remember how I often say that I absolutely favor galges with engaging minigames? This one's so cool that a single screencap can't possibly do it justice. (lower the volume before playing the vid, people... it's rather loud)

Perhaps the most exciting part of Milky Holmes is the animated chase scene minigame that occurs after the confrontation. While in hot pursuit of the culprit, you need to keep up the pace while being wary of possible obstacles that might come up. When that happens, you have mere seconds to order one of the girls use their "Toys" ability. Choose correctly, and you will be able to move forward; otherwise, the animation instantly switches to a defeat cutscene. Don't fret though, you have a few retries available to make up for it. Running out of attempts isn't the end of the world, but it's detrimental to the story episode's net investigation rating. Once cleared, these scenes are featured in the Omake gallery, so you can run through them again without having to sit through the whole story.

Though supposedly the oldest and mature one of the group, Cordelia has her freaky moments... and this particular pickle started when Opera mentions going on a vacation to a known honeymoon spot.

The solitary complaint I have with this game is that you are only allowed to save during intermission breaks. If you goof up at any one point, you have to reload the prior save and have the scene run again (though thankfully it can be skipped) until you get a chance to remedy your prior error. Despite this minor snag, Milky Holmes proves to be yet another standout game within it's genre. You don't just read through a story and make generic choices, you can actually feel the pressure of having to make the right calls and using all methods at your disposal to get to the bottom of the case. As Opera would often say, "...that is indeed the important factor."

I couldn't agree more.