Process of Elimination is a curious mix of murder mystery and strategy
It’s been quite a time for both strategy games and narrative-driven adventures over the last few years. So when the demo for NIS America’s Process of Elimination popped up the other day, its premise grabbed my attention. On the surface, it’s a blend of the two, combining puzzling strategy with a traditional visual novel format.
After playing the roughly two-to-three hour demo, my curiosity is even more piqued. What Process of Elimination actually plays like is a little difficult to dissect at first, but that loosely knotted-together genre blend is what makes it compelling too.
The set-up of Process is that you play Wata Hojo, an aspiring sleuth where detectives are in high demand. Crime is on the rise, spurred on by the actions of the Quartering Duke, an enigmatic serial killer who captures people and quarters them on illicit broadcasts. Some of the early dialogue around the Duke made me wince a bit, as the villain makes a joke about “getting canceled” on social media at one point.
It picks up a bit soon after that though, as Wata is kidnapped and brought to an island. There, he joins with members of the Detective Alliance, a who’s who of the investigate world, as a sudden surprise inductee to the Alliance. Suspicion abounds, murder ensues, and the game is afoot.
As you’ll quickly note, every detective in the DA uses a pseudonym, usually embodying either their particular skill-set or defining personality trait. Some, like the Bookworm Detective or Armor Detective, are fairly straightforward. Others are a little more broad or esoteric. The Workaholic Detective was particularly endearing to me, as he gives off big “Larry from Pokemon Scarlet / Violet” energy.
For each of these detectives, their traits might define them,
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