Sad thing is....no one knows about it. This is probably the first time any of you are hearing the title.
But if you don't know the title, then at the very least try to check it out. I think that this title rivals that of EVA, Trigun, Vandread, and all kinds of other top animes out there.
But...strangely enough, there are no fansites or anything out there (which I'm not really surprised given the structure of the game).
So let me explain a little bit (ahem):
What they say [the back cover]:
Asassinations by the mafia occur repeatedly in the underworld. Rumors of a mysterious organization called "Inferno" and it's most powerful assassin named "Phantom" begin to surface. A young man embarks on a trip alone to the United States runs into "Phantom" on accident. "Phantom" turned out to be a young girl about the same age as him. Erasing the young man's memories of his past, the "Phantom" trains him to become one of the top assasins in the organization. In a violent and lawless world, his journey begins....
What I say:
Everyone starts out with that basic freawork story...but...
You can choose paths that decide your fate and how the story goes. You may end up dead over a killing rampage, or you may end up making love with a girl in a mansion. The only catch is that you can't tell the plot from the choices. One path may lead you down a story that you had no idea would come. Your story may be 5 hours long, or 30 hours long. You may meet only 2 characters or all of them. Much of what happens depends on making a decision.
Now the way they do this is that every once in a while you make a decision based on two choices. A DVD menu choice shows up and you highlight the one you want and press enter. This will only happen seldomly, but when it does happen you will have the toughest time making a decision. Since of course this DVD is long, the way that you can continue later is a password that they give you at a story checkpoint. Just choose password from the menu screen and you're back to where you were.
How do they fit such long stories onto a single DVD? That detail is kind of the downside to this game... Most of the game is made up of still shots. Only occsasionally will you be presented with a full motion video. So in other words, you will be staring at the same images (maybe with different characters or colors) and even the same character poses over and over. They make it work though but it's a little difficult to explain. You'll have to see it for yourself.
So if you are more interested then contact me and I will be happy to answer any questions. You can of course just post a reply to this topic, thereby sharing with other people.
As for buying it, that will be tough too. I've only seen this in Suncoast stores. Even most online shops like Amazon or specialty anime shops do not even have it. My suggestion to you is that you buy it whenever you see it, or that you have a place custom order it for you. Places like Sam Goody or Suncoast can order these for you free of custom order fee (but of course you'll havta pay for the actual thing).
But if you have any anime decency, then you will definitely at least look into this title. I promise you as my honor as an otaku that you will not be disappointed if you at least look into it.
... maybe somone will have heard of it by now ... you guys are really going to hate me ... or jsut ignore me.
well taht was a different turn out then what i ahd expeceted ... seeing as how that was teh second oldest thread on the anime forum ... but ok whatever.