Yurukill: The Calumniation Games is a 2022 Visual Novel Point-and-Click Game with Shoot 'Em Up elements.
Sengoku Shunju has been falsely accused of a crime he didn't commit: arson, and the murders of 21 people. Now held prisoner in the amusement park Yurukill Land, he must fight to prove his innocence. He is one of six Prisoners who must team up with one of the five victims known as Executioners. There are five teams available: Mass Murderers, Death Dealing Duo, Crafty Killers, Sly Stalkers, and Peeping Toms. Their objective is to overcome the entertainment venue's "attractions" to obtain what they desire. If the Prisoners win, they will be pardoned. But if the Executioners win, they will be granted revenge for the deaths of their loved ones.
Yurukill: The Calumniation Games provides examples of:
- And Now for Someone Completely Different: While Sengoku is the overall protagonist of the game, some chapters have the player control other characters:
- Chapter 2 has the player controlling Futa.
- Chapter 3 has the player controlling Gentoku.
- Chapter 4 does this twice, with Oka being the playable character for the first part, then Hanaka becomes the playable character for the second part.
- Anti-Frustration Features:
- The puzzle sections have three hints that can be viewed at anytime and have no penalty.
- As long as your ship has 20% charge, getting hit triggers a smart bomb that saves you from losing a life. Additionally, anything hit from the smart bomb doesn't break your combo.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Sengoku, Futa, Raita, and Hanaka are all serving time in prison for murder (and in the case of Sengoku, actual arson). Allan Poe is in the clink for peeping. Apparently he was a last minute entry in the Yurukill Games.
- Boss Rush: The STUMP segment of Chapter 6 pits Sengoku against Kagura, Keiichi and Rina.
- Boss Subtitles: The shmup bosses have names and epithets, like "Azamonstrosity, the Judginator" and "Sleuthing Scout, the Bloodstone Blade".
- Bullet Hell: Oh yeah. Lampshaded in game, as the hardest difficulty is called "HELL."
- Clear My Name: The ultimate goal of all of the Prisoners who participate in the Yurukill Games.
- "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: Saori Hayami, who voices Rina, sings the opening theme. Also, the ending theme is sung by Akari Kitou, who voices Izane.
- Everybody Lives: In the end, everybody survives, including Raita and the villain.
- Explosive Leash: The Prisoners are forced to wear poisonous collars during the Yurukill Games.
- Filler: Narrative-wise, Chapter 6 is pointless and don't add anything to the plot. Plus, since Sengoku and Rina scored 3rd place in the previous attraction, they should've replaced the Peeping Toms by default.
- Foreshadowing:
- While the player only gets clues pointing towards the real culprit's identity in the final chapter, Chapter 1 already hints that the culprit is a woman. Other hints towards this revelation are given in Chapters 4 and 6.
- In Chapter 5, when Sengoku asks Gentoku about the cell in the ship he was placed in before the games started, Gentoku stays silent until Izame casually remarks what Gentoku had told her. Gentoku's hesitation seems in line with his decision of not cooperating with the other contestants, but it's later revealed that he didn't tell which cell he was in because he wasn't in a cell in the ship - Izame was, before she convinced him to switch places as Prisoner and Executioner.
- Longer-Than-Life Sentence: Several of the Prisoners serve up to 78 to 110 years in prison, with the protagonist Sengoku serving up to 999 years.
- Averted with Allan Poe, who only got a two months sentence. Also averted with Gentoku, who wasn't in prison prior to the games and wasn't even aware that he was accused of the slaughter of his real family - then again, he wasn't intended to play as a Prisoner (though the person who was originally the Prisoner in his team wasn't in prison, either).
- Out of Focus: The Peeping Toms are the only team to not get a chapter focused on them.
- Rotating Protagonist: Downplayed. The first four chapters have different protagonists, but the rest of the game focus on Sengoku and Rina.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: In Chapter 5, Binko is found murdered in the train. After Sengoku reveals how she was murdered in the Yurukill Judgment, Binko reappears alive; the story never explains who was the person murdered - and, if the corpse was really Binko's, how did she manage to come back to life.
