Tetris and Puyo Puyo may be out of style but this bunny girl brings something new to the table with a pretty addicting freeware puzzle game called Irisu Syndrome!
Irisu Syndrome! (ã„ã‚‹ã™ç—‡å€™ç¾¤!) is described by its creator wtetsu as an “instant-death puzzle game”, and rightfully so. It is a puzzle game where the main objective is to blast falling, differently-colored shapes, chaining and scoring high while keeping your HP replenished to keep going. It also features a short story about three university students on a camping trip.
Prepare to meet Bunny Girl of Death!
At first glance, Irisu Synrome! may look easy. Shoot the shapes with white blocks using left click and when they hit the shapes, these shapes will glow, exploding by the time they hit the ground, earning you points. You can also use right click to shoot faster gray blocks. Hit as many as you can and combo to earn more points. As you progress through levels, the games difficulty increases in pretty large increments demanding for quick thinking and fast reflexes. You also have an HP bar which replenishes when you score, and depletes when a non-glowing shape hits the ground. The HP bar is right above the score counter. When you’re out of HP, the bunny girl Irisu will greet you to your death.
What could be behind the unsightly censorship?
My only complaint about this game is the short story. It has a short and solid narrative, but it feels like one of its characters was completely left out when that character is the center of the story. Maybe to give the said character an eerie feel and mystery? I dunno but this game alone doesn’t explain anything about the said character. Don’t fret though, it has multiple endings, two of which in the original game, the rest in its expansion pack. I also don’t see the use of its ranking system because its only one-player, but hey, there’s nothing wrong with keeping track of your scores right?
Irisu Syndrome! is a challenging game despite it looking and feeling simple and easy. I really recommend it to puzzle game fans and to players who are quick to think and act and to those who think they could use some challenge. It is not really for the slow, but anyone can get used to it over time.
You can download the first game at Vector. Just click on the ‘Go to the download page’ button, and once there, click on the green ‘Donwload Now’ button. You can find the English patch here.
This reviewer is missing the point of the story. The story occurs after you close the game when strange text files start appearing, and the picture above changes depending on your progress. Score enough points, and another text file explains the purpose of the game itself. Don’t forget about the disturbing images in the game that become clearer the better you play. The latest version also contains Metsu Mode, a pseudo-sequel which delves into the thoughts of the character on the right of the picture and the effect he has on the main character.
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