Makibishi Comic is a point and click flash adventure/puzzle game that features beautifully drawn and atmospheric levels.
It was created by Japanese outfit Makibishi studios to provide, as they put it “an entertainment experience” and “a strange and fascinating world online”.
It is playable in Japanese and English.
In many ways this is a very typical point and click flash adventure/puzzle game.
It scores a lot of points by virtue of the gorgeous scenery and graphics that they have managed to pack into a browser-based flash game. It also has a very distinct Japanese/anime feeling, most prominent in the visuals but also in the dialogue.
The storyline has to do with what seems to be a ninja order of sorts (supported by little dispensable robot ninjas) which apparently shies away from confrontation in adherence to some sort of code of ethics. The game starts with the ninjas conferring amongst themselves regarding a monster named Asahi who apparently is after them and whose arrival at the scene is imminent. They decide to hide, each within one of the five different levels of the game.
At first it was a little bit confusing to me as the player as to what my role was and what I was trying to do, but I realized midway through that my task is to find and capture the ninjas, that I was in fact the ’monster’ Asahi and not a sort of director if the ninjas as I had at first assumed. Oh well, I guess you do what you have to do.
If you are not familiar with the flash point and click game genre here’s a quick primer: the objective in these games is always to trigger and/or unlock a sequence of events that will take you further into the story. In order to do this, you have to scan every inch of the game environment with the mouse in order to discover clickable elements/objects that you can use. Objects/characters which that are not clickable (or are clickable but do not seem to do anything useful) can change once another event or sequence of events take place. Generally speaking, clickable characters that do not perform a useful function may give you some information or tips to help you on your quest. Finally, some objects need to be clicked more than once in order for something to happen.
One of the five levels, in my opinion (the Saegakure level with the giant gorillas in the tree) is of rather lower quality compared to the others, but in general, the game is very well done. The characters would say things that seemed odd or even inappropriate in English but my guess is that this is due to an at times too literal translation from the Japanses. Despite these 2 gripes the game manages to deliver a spectacularly rich and atmospheric world that is as much fun to look at as it is to play. Makibish studios’ aims of delivering “a strange and fascinating world online” were certainly met in spectacular fashion.
Compatibility: This is a cross-platform browser based flash game.
Play Makibishi Comic.Note that the game may take some time to load; the TV style color bars at the beginning are part of the game.
