Video Game / Moonlight Syndrome

"Lunatic"

Released in 1997, Moonlight Syndrome is the third installment in Human Entertainment's Twilight Syndrome series (technically second if you want consider Search and Investigation a single game split into two).

Carrying off from the previous installments, the story follows Mika Kishii as she experiences a series of bizarre, violent events that involve a demonic child named Mithra. Meanwhile, Ryo Kazan, a loner in a relationship with his older sister Kyoko, investigates the events surrounding the death of Kyoko.

And it only gets crazier from there.

Developed and published by Human Entertainment, the game was directed by Suda51 (then going under his real name Goichi Suda). While he worked on the previous Twilight Syndrome games, he was brought on halfway through development after the original director left. While those games dealt with supernatural horror, Moonlight leans more towards Psychological Horror, since Suda has a fear of the paranormal. Ironically, many consider this installment scarier than the previous entries. The game would also prove to be Suda's last project with Human Entertainment, as he afterwards would leave the company and form his own game development company, Grasshopper Manufacture.

The game was never released outside of Japan, despite Suda's next games building off of Moonlight's events and setting. It wouldn't be until 2022, 25 years after the game's release, when a serious attempt by fans to translate the game into English took hold. The translation can be watched on the YouTube channel Paradise Hotel 51 with Captions on. As of July 2023, the entire game from beginning to end can be experienced in this fashion.

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This game contains examples of:

• All There in the Manual: Many of the game's plot specifics, particularly those involving the new characters, are dependent on a working knowledge of Zoroastrianism and/or a specific interpretation of scenes which are presented in a way that is vague at best and often drowned amid the characters' long-winded pseudophilosophical rants. Such moments are addressed in an interview with Goichi Suda which was originally published in Moonlight Syndrome Deep Guide, a companion volume for the game.
• Ambiguously Related: Yayoi claims to be Chisato's sister, but the latter never confirms it. Even Yukari, a childhood friend of Chisato's, had never heard of her. The character profiles in Moonlight Syndrome Deep Guide underline the fact that there's no way to tell if she was telling the truth.
• Ascended Extra: Kimika and Miho, who appeared as throwaway characters during some dialogue scenes in Twilight Syndrome, are given slightly extended roles here (Arisa is in a similar boat, but is a Canon Foreigner instead).
• Author Appeal: One of Suda's first games, and it already shows his love of the moon, severed heads, surrealism, and graphic violence.
• Big Bad: Mithra, a sadistic demon taking the form of a little boy, is responsible beyond all the game's madness, having implied to have also had a helping hand in the previous game's events.
• Brother–Sister Incest: While it's not outright stated, Ryo and Kyoko's interactions heavily imply they were in a relationship, with Kyoko the more dominant of the two.
• But Thou Must!: Despite Dialogue Trees still being present, they only give minor variations in dialogue compared to Twilight Syndrome's Multiple Endings for each case. This is even lampshaded in a conversation between Mika and Arisa late in the game, where the latter won't allow the story to progress until the former agrees to hear about her dreams.
  Arisa: The branching paths can't help you here, my dialogue's not gonna change.
• Cain and Abel: Chisato and Yayoi have a... let's just say, complicated history. They even duke it out at the end of Chapter 6.
• Canon Discontinuity: While the Twilight Syndrome series kept going under Spike Chunsoft, Moonlight was declared non-canon, with the next installment, Reunion, taking place after Investigation, acting as a separate timeline.
• Company Cross References: A few scenes drop some cheeky references to the Clock Tower series, also developed by Human Entertainment (though without Suda's involvement) and whose gameplay/design style served as a basis for Twilight Syndrome's overall style, which this game also uses. Reading Mika's schedule in Chapter 9 even leads to a mention of a "Clock Tower 3 release date", probably referencing Clock Tower II: The Struggle Within, which was in development at the time, though ironically would not be called that in Japan due to its Gaiden Game status, nor overseas because of the series' Market-Based Title-caused inconsistent numbering (the actual Clock Tower 3 wouldn't be released until a few years after HUMAN folded due to bankruptcy).
• Darker and Edgier: While the first Twilight Syndrome games weren't sunshine and rainbows, Moonlight deals with far more darker themes, from incest, to psychological torture, to the darkness of humanity. Mithra himself is also the darkest villain in the series.
• Decoy Protagonist: Despite Mika being the main focus of the game, she ends up succumbing to Mithra's mind games and disappears for the rest of the game. It turns out Ryo is the one who's meant to defeat Mithra, as only he can wield the sword capable of killing him.
• Deus ex Machina: At the end of Chapter 6, Yukari is threatened by the collective of the dead children's souls, and things look hopeless until Arisa suddenly shows up and somehow drives them off using the same brand of Psychic Powers shown to be used by Yayoi and Chisato in the same chapter, something that she had never been shown to be able to do, never does again, and is immediately shrugged off in the ensuing conversation.
• Die Laughing: Sumio dies laughing as he's set ablaze by Kimika's burning corpse.
• Driven to Suicide: Episode 6 involves investigating an apartment complex that hosts a mass suicide gathering.
• Downer Ending: In hindsight. Sure, by the end of the game Mithra's defeated, but Yukari, Arisa, and Chisato are dead while all that's left of Mika is a soul-less body. From the beginning of The Silver Case, we find out Ryo went crazy and has potentially killed people, only for him and Rumi to get themselves killed by Tetsugoro Kusabi and the Republic Unit. While Mithra makes a cameo appearance in Killer7, the nature of that game as a separate timeline makes it questionable whether or not this is the same Mithra. The only main character to canonically survive the game's events is Yayoi.
• Filler: Chapter 7 is mainly just Mithra playing psychological tricks on Mika, without any impact on the plot.
• Frame-Up: Chapter 9 has the Headmaster attempt to frame Mr. Hirose for the schoolgirl murders, even going so far as to implant a school uniform and a wig to make it look like he disguises himself as Mika.
• Humans Are Bastards: Mithra's excuse to harm humans, though the game shows that he's not any better than them.
• Limited Animation: A lot of the game's cutscenes comprise of still images, with animated cutscenes a rarity.
• Loser Protagonist: Ryo, a timid, shy loner in a deep relationship with his sister and suffering a ton of bad luck, is one of the game's main characters. And keep in mind, all of that was before Mithra and Yayoi entered his life.
• Love Triangle: A really twisted one at that. Ryo is in an unhealthy relationship with his sister Kyoko, who is also in a relationship with Sumio Tohba, who's jealous of Ryo for loving her. This leads to Sumio killing Kyoko and presenting her decapitated head to Ryo as revenge.
• Man on Fire: Kimika, as revenge for Sumio impregnating her, burns herself alive, leading to Sumio dying from her flames.
• Mind Rape: A favorite method of Mithra's when dealing with Mika, whether it be making her hear people's thoughts, see disturbing images, or believe she has done terrible things.
• Mind Screw: Everywhere! While not as bizarre as Suda's later games, Moonlight loves to raise many questions and answer none of them, with many scenes intended to either be symbolic of the game's themes or create nothing but confusion.
• New Powers as the Plot Demands: Chisato reveals in Episode 6 to have powers that match Yayoi's, which were never referenced in the previous installments.
• No Sidepaths, No Exploration, No Freedom: Unlike the previous games, which offered multiple endings per episode, Moonlight is very linear. Dialogue choices ultimately don't matter, there's nothing in the way of proper exploration, and all roads lead down one very certain path to a single ending.
• Psychopathic Manchild: Mithra's child form is the perfect representation of his childish love of death, especially shown in the final level during his murders of Yukari and Arisa.
• Remember the New Guy?: Yayoi, despite claiming to be Chisato's sister, was never brought up in the previous games. There is probably a good reason for this.
• Serial Killer: Mika appears to have becomes one in Chapter 9 as a result of Mithra's actions, killing various students at school. It turns out that the Headmaster is responsible for the murders, fueling his twisted organ collecting hobby.
• Shout-Out: Arisa's bizarre dream in Chapter 8 namedrops Batman, Superman, Spawn, and Savage Dragon, amongst others.
• Story to Gameplay Ratio: The game's far more story-driven compared to the previous Twilight games. While those felt like adventure games with more emphasis on navigation and puzzle solving, Moonlight places far more emphasis on cutscenes and dialogue, with gameplay far more minimal and minimalistic in comparison.
• Subtitles Are Superfluous: While the main characters speak in silent text boxes, certain characters speak in un-subtitled voice acting. While it's a holdover from the previous Twilight games, this game has far more dialogue and voice acting in comparison. In fact, this is one of the reasons why the game proved very difficult to translate.
• Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: Played With. Yukari and Chisato end up dead by the end of the game, despite being established protagonists in the previous games.
• Surreal Horror: The game's main source of horror comes in the form of nothing making sense. Scenes of graphic violence happen, often without proper explanation, while some events have zero logic to speak of.
• White Hair, Black Heart: Mithra has white hair, but remains a cruel demon.
• Your Head A-Splode: Though made largely ambiguous through Gory Discretion Shot, this is implied to be how Mithra kills the girls in the final chapter, judging from the loud popping sound and the bloodstains which are then shown on their clothes. We say "largely" because the consequences of Chisato using her Psychic Powers to try and do the same to him for a Mutual Kill are clearly shown, but unfortunately it doesn't take and he quickly mends the resulting injury.