Chaos;Head NoAH / Chaos;Child Double Pack Nintendo Switch Review
Summary: Chaos;Head NoAH / Chaos;Child Double Pack is a mixed bag of a bundle. While both games offer a fantastic story and endearing characters, the Nintendo Switch versions are unfortunately ridden with odd issues and executions.
3.1
Chaotic Madness
Chaos;Head and Chaos;Child are two thriller adventure visual novel games in the Science Adventure series, which comprise of the two games along with the Steins;Gate and Robotics;Notes series. Chaos;Child served as a thematic sequel to Chaos;Head and launched in Japan on December 18, 2014, before getting English localization for PS4, PS Vita, and PC in October 2017 and January 22, 2019, respectively.
Chaos;Head, on the other hand, while being one of the first games in the series, has never received any localization until now via Spike Chunsoft’s PC and Nintendo Switch release. While I’d like to sing praises for the localization, as it succeeded in maintaining both games’ charm, it’s, unfortunately, the worst localization of the two to date.
The first game in the series, Chaos;Head, takes place in 2009 in Shibuya Tokyo, and follows our protagonist and semi-shut-in Takumi Nishijou during the period of a string of grotesque and mysterious killings known as the New Generation Murders. One day, while taking a break from his marathon of video games, Takumi is notified about the killings by one of his online friends in a chatroom, and a stranger called “Shogun” sends him images linked to the event. Things take a turn for the worse when Takumi encounters a pink-haired girl committing one of the murders, which sends him into an anxiety fit and forces him to be a complete recluse. However, this changes quickly when he’s forcibly involved in the case by becoming a suspect.
Chaos;Head’s narrative is incredibly intriguing and engaging. It puts players in the head of Takumi as he goes through a myriad of emotions and delusions that are accurately portrayed in a haunting and sometimes unsettling way, making for a great thriller visual novel. Additionally, the game features many characters with multiple backgrounds and personalities, some great, and others painfully tropey.
Chaos;Child, on the other hand, takes place in 2015 and follows new protagonist Takuru Miyashiro six years after a catastrophic earthquake that left millions dead and others orphaned, including Takumi. In 2015, the New-Gen Murders that occurred last game have seemingly resurfaced. As the president of the press club, Takumi is unsurprisingly intrigued and decides to follow and investigate the new string of murders. As he does this, more disturbing events progressively occur and the full details of the case begin to unravel. My one significant issue with the game’s story is how slow it takes to get to the core of the main plot point, specifically because of its mind-numbingly slow prologue. Besides that, the characters and stories are highly entertaining, especially its many crazy plot twists.
Gameplay-wise, instead of the usual selection of choices players have to make in a typical visual novel, Chaos;Head and Chaos;Child uses a different approach by letting players choose between several positive and negative delusions via indicators that frequently appear throughout both games. Positive Delusions primarily consist of comedic and lewd events, while negative delusions are more intense and upsetting. However, upon completing the game, players can choose to replay it while choosing different delusions, which will unlock several endings, some of which are exclusive to Chaos;Head NoAH.
In terms of visuals, both games feature excellent illustrations and a nice aesthetic. Playing through them brought back nostalgic memories of playing other novels in the era and sports crisp visuals, picturesque backgrounds, and an overall excellent art direction. The character models in Chaos;Child specifically, are some of the best I’ve seen in a visual novel.
Unfortunately, that’s where my compliments end with the bundle, as the English localization of the games on Switch are incredibly unoptimized and ridden with issues. The first and most noticeable of which is the inconsistent translation that mainly plagues the first game like with most of the bundle’s issues. Chaos;Head NoAH features several weirdly translated slang and untranslated words that frequently appear in the game. Whatsmore, I noticed several grammatical errors in both games but mainly in Chaos;Head, along with awkwardly placed ellipses.
However, the last and most personal issue is the odd subtitling of Japanese text seen throughout the games but in Chaos;Head specifically. What makes this particularly jarring is that you’d expect the Japanese text to be completely gone as a full, official translation and localization. This isn’t the case, however, as the English text is simply added below the Japanese text, making for a very awkward reading experience and making it seem like some corners were cut.
Final Thoughts?
Overall the Chaos;Head NoAH / Chaos;Child Double Pack is a mixed bag of a bundle. While both games have a great narrative, aesthetic, and soundtrack, the Nintendo Switch versions are unfortunately ridden with odd issues and executions. It’s also worth noting that this version of Chaos;Head NoAH also cut some content from the original for censorship reasons. That said, if you’d like to play a genuinely interesting set of visual novels and don’t care about the issues highlighted, there is still some enjoyment to be had with this port. Otherwise, I advise playing them on a different platform.
About the Author
Abdul Saad Abdul Saad is a seasoned entertainment journalist and critic, and has been writing for five years on multiple gaming sites. When he isn't writing or playing the latest JRPG, he can be found coding games of his own or tinkering with something electrical.
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