The Chrono Jotter
The Chrono Jotter
Game
Game2022
The Centennial Case : A Shijima Story
Developer Square Enix
Unravel the mysteries of death, and find the answers to life.A unique Mystery-Adventure Game:The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story From the Steam store page
219 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Oct 5, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
85
LovedLoved
159 positive · 27 negative
95% range 80–90%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 159 | 27 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 10 | 1 | 16 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 2 | 4 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
172 of 200 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
86% recommend · 163 yes, 27 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 190 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Mostly Positive (906 of 1,141 positive).
Players praise the game's story, acting, and production values, calling it a standout FMV mystery. [1][2][3] Some reviewers note the high price as a drawback, recommending it on sale. [2][4][5] A few players criticize the gameplay as tedious or the ending as unsatisfying. [6][7][8]
Liked
Representative posts
- [6]
This review is going to be mostly spoiler free because I firmly believe that everyone should approach it without too much prior knowledge. Everything, from the narrative to the game mechanics, should be experienced without being influenced by others' opinions. That said, I feel inclined to provide some insights into the game while avoiding revealing any major plot points. Early on in the game and even halfway …
- [1]
This is one of those games that might only come once every 10 - 20 years. It combines all the niche aspects of a video game (FMV, detective murder mystery, point and click) that rarely translate into financial success and also extremely rare where a detective FMV game has the quality AND the length of other full prices single player titles. I enjoyed this game so much that I fear I won't see anything similar ever …
- [9]
It boggles my mind that this has a "mostly positive" rating as of May 24th. This is the kind of mystery game that we get once in a never. If you're a fan of Ace Attorney, Danganronpa, 428, 999/VLR, etc. you can safely stop here and add to cart- even for the steep-ish price. ~16 hours of mystery goodness with some wild twists. IMPORTANT NOTE: Don't miss out on the epilogue that appears at the very bottom of the menu …
- [4]
I can highly recommend this game IF you get it on a sale. The base price of 50 Euro is too high but if you grab it on a sale by all means go for it. Now lets talk about the bad the good and why i recommend it: The bad: 1. The controlls take some getting used to and could be better but once you do the game plays great. 2. Chapter 5 changes how the game is played and i am not a big fan of that section 3. Even the 4k …
- [2]
A mastermind behind an extremely well written, plotted, twisted detective novel, film and game. Very high production value. The only problem is, the price is unbearably high along the way. Suited for players looking for one decent game, if not wanted to invest many in a short period of time
Summarised from 34 of the 223 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 12, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
The Centennial Case : A Shijima Story sits at 85% positive across 186 opinionated reactions from 3 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Reactions
60 of 219 · most liked firstThis is one of those games that might only come once every 10 - 20 years. It combines all the niche aspects of a video game (FMV, detective murder mystery, point and click) that rarely translate into financial success and also extremely rare where a detective FMV game has the quality AND the length of other full prices single player titles. I enjoyed this game so much that I fear I won't see anything similar ever again in my life time. I've played enough FMV games available on Steam, from the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A mastermind behind an extremely well written, plotted, twisted detective novel, film and game. Very high production value. The only problem is, the price is unbearably high along the way. Suited for players looking for one decent game, if not wanted to invest many in a short period of time
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Literally no one played The Centennial Case, even though Square-Enix made a 4K FMV detective game with a compelling mystery and rock solid direction? Even the folks who caught Paranormasight when it came out skipped this one, and that’s a damn shame.
positive · AI labelView post →It boggles my mind that this has a "mostly positive" rating as of May 24th. This is the kind of mystery game that we get once in a never. If you're a fan of Ace Attorney, Danganronpa, 428, 999/VLR, etc. you can safely stop here and add to cart- even for the steep-ish price. ~16 hours of mystery goodness with some wild twists. IMPORTANT NOTE: Don't miss out on the epilogue that appears at the very bottom of the menu after the credits roll. It's the true end of the game. Centennial Case…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very interesting style, for everyone who likes Sherlock Holmes and Detective Conan.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Saw someone else do this and it seemed fun! Favourite game of... 2024: Emio: The Smiling Man 2023: Pikmin 4 2022: The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story 2021: The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles 2020: Animal Crossing 2019: Link's Awakening 2018: Katamari Damacy REROLL 2017: Super Mario Odyssey
positive · AI labelView post →This review is going to be mostly spoiler free because I firmly believe that everyone should approach it without too much prior knowledge. Everything, from the narrative to the game mechanics, should be experienced without being influenced by others' opinions. That said, I feel inclined to provide some insights into the game while avoiding revealing any major plot points. Early on in the game and even halfway through, I thought to myself, "Wow, this is the most incredible FMV I've ever played."…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Next game! The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story
neutral · AI labelView post →What to say about this game? The idea of the game is novel, great even. After finishing the game, I felt like watching the Game of Thrones series. The end was just lacking, several things were far-fetched or made no sense at all. And that's a shame, because up to that point it was great detective game. Gameplay wise, there isnt much gameplay in all honesty. its mostly a move you get dragged along with. The clues system is slow, and drags the game down. If you make a single wrong assumption…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The maximum resource on console is 4K You thought you are watching 1080P on PC It's actually 720P Did I just spend money to watch pirated tv shows?
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good Starts , Nice Game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story is a chore to struggle through, and no amount of story can save that its mechanics are tedious, annoying, and distract from the fundamental joy of a game of deduction. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3602669878 The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story is an FMV mystery game. You play as Haruka Kagami, a mystery writer now thrust into the role of a detective, solving murders surrounding the enigmatic Shijima family and uncovering the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The first half of the game, I kept wondering why the reviews were so negative, because I was having such a great time. The second half made it abundantly clear why the score was deserved. This would have been a phenomenal Netflix movie, like one of those Choose Your Own Adventure stories like that Black Mirror one. If all of the actual gameplay puzzle solving aspects of this video game were removed, it would have been significantly more enjoyable. Instead, there's an unpredictable twist…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game's post-credits "epilogue" is quite possibly longer than The Return of the King. Don't be a fool like me and start the epilogue late at night, whatever you do.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →dont miss the epilogue at the bottom of the menu after you've beaten the game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Updated Review! If you want to record or stream it's a hard no, specifically asked by Square Enix. Thoroughly enjoyed this game. Love the concept of the game and imo beautifully executed. As an FMV it's done really well. Cinematography is amazing and they have great actors in there. I was constantly kept on my toes, intrigued and immersed in the story. Everything pieces together so well! Pros about this game: -Immersive, fantastic cinematography, music, actors, props, sets and story.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I can highly recommend this game IF you get it on a sale. The base price of 50 Euro is too high but if you grab it on a sale by all means go for it. Now lets talk about the bad the good and why i recommend it: The bad: 1. The controlls take some getting used to and could be better but once you do the game plays great. 2. Chapter 5 changes how the game is played and i am not a big fan of that section 3. Even the 4k Video has some artifacts The good: The game is long for an FMV game i…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Completed Games of 2025 1) The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story A well directed FMV detective visual novel. Super minimal from a gameplay perspective but the story was good with some twists and turns even if it does a "remember this one scene 4 hours ago" that proved a contridiciton in the end.
positive · AI labelView post →This is... frustrating, because technically, it's well-made, but... man, it just doesn't quite work. Mechanically, the game feels like it's designed to drag its feet a lot. Putting together hypotheses is a slow, time-consuming process where we must spend a minute on every single possible outcome through slow animations that just feel completely unnecessary, and the game fact-vomits all over you with tons of often completely spurious possibilities treated with the same severity as the actual…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Seeing a lot of best PlayStation game lists without The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story on them. Cowards and fools, everywhere.
positive · AI labelView post →Close, and yet so far. Firstly, this is the entire playtime of the game. If you spend a bit longer thinking about theories than I do, that's the only reason it would take you any longer to 100%. 3 of the 6 chapters were quite enjoyable. Sadly, the ending is truly laughable and the game's "Rules for Reasoning" are broken by the game. More minor complaints: I played with spoken Japanese and written English, which presented 4 occasions I can recall of a misleading translation, enough to make the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is poorly done, the story is lack luster. The actual game mechanics are non existent, you are supposed to find clues as the story plays out but you are automatically given them at the end, you are not allowed to be wrong with your choices and they use the illusion of choice to make you think you even matter. their clue board is poorly done with half assed deductions that make no sense for over 50% of them. This ends up being nothing more than a lack luster movie you watched for way…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →After reading the comment, I realized there's actually a TRUE ENDING after clearing the stories. You will see "you've got mail" on the title page and please click on it. This TRUE ENDING is really, really, really touching. It also explains all weird things in the previous chapters. Do not miss it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very good detective game that will put your mind to work if you want to properly solve all the crimes and mysteries surrounding the family. Highly recommended!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What are you looking for here? You might have heard that this is some kind of live action Phoenix Wright type game where you solve mysteries by presenting evidence and make deductions and such. And I mean... I guess it is like Phoenix Wright. Specifically, it's like those moments in the Phoenix games where you have no idea what the hell is going on and you just pick things from the list of evidence until the story continues. At one point in the story, you have to decide whether or not a…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Mindblown with the ending. Soundtracks are chef kiss. Nice game mechanics.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i love murder mystery. i honestly love em from the bottom of my heart. i've read a LOT all the way from the golden age to even modern shinhonkaku and i have to say while the deductions for almost all of it made sense, the last chapter took all kinds of leaps of logic to arrive to. some BULLSHIRT levels of logical leaps. and the epilogue that was supposed to wrap up it all and fix the plotholes? created 2 more in its wake. and all kindsa other tragic works. not gonna lie, I really enjoyed…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Beau reviews The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story for AGH. This review has a bit more emotion and persinal sentiment to it as Beau's father passed away while he was playing the game. Rest peacefully. adventuregamehotspot.com/review/5028/... #indiegame #adventuregame
neutral · AI labelView post →I found the story and actors good, but the game play tedious. You are presented with many clues and have to figure out which ones are correct. Too many choices and back tracking to discover the truth.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story is an FMV murder mystery set in Japan during three different time periods. Player character Haruka Kagami, a writer of crime fiction, is asked to help solve a series of murders connected to the Shijima family and a mysterious fruit which could hold the key to eternal youth. Each chapter contains three main phases of gameplay. First you’ll watch events unfold in live action video clips, then you’ll arrange clues within Haruka’s mind palace, and finally…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Centennial Case : A Shijima Story is a live action drama centered around the question of agelessness and the intertwining history of two families and a historical killer haunting their past. The way the game is told is interesting and a lot of effort has been put into making this drama come alive by the actors and everyone working at this game. The extra material was fun to watch as well - I always love watching the effort and production that goes into making live action movies with game…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As a fan of FMV and murder mystery, this game was a thrill from start to finish. The type of game that you play until your eyes can't stay open and that you lunge for the next morning. As with any FMV game, it can be a bit campy at times, but overall the story was very interesting and kept me fully engaged. The gameplay elements serve to basically make you think through the mystery, and although not perfect did not get in the way of my enjoyment. The mysteries were fun to think through and the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →finished The Centennial Case. i may or may not write something about what i think of its themes later, but i agree with this review on its strengths and weaknesses. at the moment, i'll just say since the game is on sale, it's worth picking it up: www.rpgsite.net/review/12751...
positive · AI labelView post →I think the most important aspect of enjoying this game is going in blind. I'm really glad I did, and what I would recommend. Don't read much about it. I only had a vague notion that this would be enjoyable for people who liked Ace Attorney games, and 428 Shibuya Scramble. So if you're into mysteries, try this. I was amazed at the attention to detail in this game; there were parts where I'd notice something slightly off, attributing it to average writing, or just trivialities, or little…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →IF you like FMVs and mystery film/novels, its damn good! The acting is great, the mysteries are well made and the general ambience is on point. Go get it, we need more of those!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/6142328/] With 1,100+ reviews, make sure to follow The Cpt Froggy Club Curator Page for plenty more! The game begins with the book signing of the mystery writer Haruka Kagami and her new book in the Detective Makoto Nishimari series. Standing in line to get their booked signed is Eiji Shijima, a friend who’s helped Haruka Kagami, however, Eiji isn’t really there for the book signing but wants a favour from Haruka. The Shijima family have a once in a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great mystery, managed to surprise me a lot, but always showed its working so I never felt cheated. Almost everything is cleared up by the end. Really enjoyed the main characters and the settings too. The gameplay isn't much to be honest. It's mostly moving boxes around and you don't really need to think too much. The translation isn't 100% and can be a bit confusing at times (particularly two character's names are mixed around on a piece of evidence).
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hypotheses: Many of the reviewers really wanted to give this game a thumbs-down They don't want to admit that the game is just a piece of junk that they can no longer refund, or maybe they're giving it a thumbs-up on purpose so that others can experience the same disappointment.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a fantastic detective game, made all the more unique by the story being told through a well-executed video drama shot in beautiful 4K (make sure to get the free 4K DLC!). There really is nothing else quite like it that I've seen, and if you like traditional mysteries that reward you for really looking carefully for clues, this is the game for you. It's a joy to watch as well, so even if you're not able to solve everything yourself, it's quite a bit of fun. Unlike a lot of other mystery…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The production of this game/movie is very well done. You won't find many other detective/choices matter movie games that are better in that regard. However, I did find the mystery/clues/hypothesis portion of the game to be very cumbersome and frankly tedious. This is the backbone of a game of this niche and when it's a chore to work through.....patience to continue the story greatly wanes.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What I'm playing: -Tales of Graces F Remastered -Chained Echoes -action game TBD What's on deck: -The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story -Makai Kingdom -Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii I’d like to finish those first two before Majima Pirates drops on 21 February, but… I have doubts lol.
neutral · AI labelView post →Expensive but good? Good but expensive? Pick your choice
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As a certified VN/ADV enjoyer, the announcement of this game during the (japanese) February 2022 Nintendo direct immediately caught my attention. Especially after hearing one of the writers of 428 Shibuya Scramble was at the helm. Centennial Case does a lot right. The characters, the mysteries, the music, the acting and camerawork. All are great. Aside from the gameplay. The gameplay is admittedly rather tedious. Honestly I'm surprised Square even decided to bring this game worldwide, but I'm…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Honestly out of all the Asian FMV's that I played so far? this is the weakest The story seems to drag out far too long for its own good, and for some reason square enix though it was a good idea to put the behind the scenes video as paid DLC which is just.... bruh... its a shame because I did want to see the behind the scenes but I'm not paying like 5.99 just to see it. I give it a 5/10 I still enjoyed the story but they really needed to cut it down in some parts here.... not great…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Excellent story. Terrible gaming mechanics. Overall I don't regret playing.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really liked this game and was completely hooked on the story. It’s an FMV detective game with six interconnecting cases that take place at various points over 100 years of the Shijima family. I love a good whodunnit and getting to do the analysis to solve the crimes. The game has a small cast that take on different roles in each case. One of the chapters is an escape room which is a fun break. The locations are beautiful, the cast was very good and the story was compelling and fun to…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My personal GOTY for 2022. Just a stunning achievement across the board. Production values and acting that put most Netflix shows to shame.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a good story - the only caveat is that you're essentially spending your money on a lengthy detective story rather than a bunch of gameplay, because there's very little gameplay to be had here. Overall I'd say it's worth it though, I really enjoyed it. Worth noting that there is a shockingly long and expository epilogue that is easy to miss, so don't just quit and uninstall when you think you're done.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A fun combination of old-timey FMV sequences with a mystery/deduction gameplay. I overall liked the game and its story but the UI could sometimes drag the enjoyment down a bit. One thing I have to praise is the soundtrack which was very moody and fit the game perfectly.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What I'm playing: -Hades -Resident Evil 2 (2019) -Ys X: Nordics -Super Mario Wonder What's on deck: -The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story -Makai Kingdom I’m not going to try and finish one last game in 2024 to cross it off, heh. Probably some Hades and chill with my girlfriend tonight.
neutral · AI labelView post →This is a good game for people that love detective stories. I enjoyed solving the cases although I only realized at the third case that important clues were the ones you are not using. The end was a bit too melodramatic for me but cleared up the leftover mysteries.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This was honestly a really good read/watch. Centennial Case manages to present an intriguing plot with a really interesting mystery that crosses time. You witness how Haruka, the main character, manages to solve the mystery regarding the Shijimas utilizing her smarts and the novels written by an ancestor of the Shijima family. Gameplay wise the game doesn't really shine, since the interactive bits of it are more of a drag than something really interesting. What I loved about this tho is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wanted to REALLY like this game, even at 50% off, but the solving clues scheme is so slow, so obvious, and that you go by matching of patterns over use of logic, makes absolutely no sense. They had to implement this because the clue topic 'questions', make no sense when aligned with the proper choices. Example, "Why was ____ killed", proper choice is somehow, "person was killed by sword". An example of the obvious, "how do you know that person was killed in storage", answer is , because thats…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you like mystery shows, and wish you could be Poirot, this is for you. The dubbing is fantastic and it really puts you in the story. I hope there are more games like this.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really wanted to like this game, I really did. And, for the most part, it was quite nice. The mysteries weren't jaw-dropping, but they were quite decent. The acting was good and the music was great. What made all this go wrong was the ending - if the ending is bad, then it doesn't matter how good the story was up until that point, it simply undoes everything and only frustrates you that you wasted your time with it. If you don't feel the same way, then I can recommend this game. But if you…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I enjoy this much more than the quarry and also has much more play time. If you like Sherlock Holmes stories, the story is quite similar and uses similar logic - very interesting and also quite challenging to proceed in the case. I love it so far.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It has a good story and a good amount of research has gone into it. My biggest critique of it though is that I don't like the gameplay mechanics themselves. It would have greatly benefited from a way to rule out hypotheses and especially ones that contradict clear and obvious fact and timing. It was definitely written far more from a movie perspective of knowing the answer already and surprising the viewer with it, than a game creator perspective, where it is important to lead you to the right…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This videogame is extremely literary. It very much feels like a novel which has been presented in videogame form, and while the actual videogame elements can be a bit rote (even dull, I daresay), the way they come together to display and enlighten the player to the various mysteries rather does set this apart from other mystery games. The acting is good (sometimes excellent), the costumes are detailed and lavish, and the cinematography/direction are top notch. I enjoyed pausing on a large…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Overall it's the best FMV game I played. Solid acting, well produced and featuring a decent story. The gameplay is overly repetitive, yes, but overall it is a good experience that engaged me just enough for the 12 hours it took me to complete it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not bad for a drama type of mystery game. I did get a bit bored with the repetitive hypothesis tree path gameplay, but not bad. If you like mystery and Japanese drama, this game is enjoyable.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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