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"Toroidal: Awaiting the Spring" (aka "Harumachi Toroidal") is a great game with a great idea! Developed by the small outlet at "Same Same Summation" in 2023 for PCs and published by Kemco a year later in 2024 for consoles (as their first "finished" game), there's only one thing I'm perplexed by... with all the budget JRPGs Kemco localized, why didn't they release this game in English!? SSS doesn't have a large following, but they do have others interested in their works including myself and Indie Tsushin (comprised of "Daikon" and "Renkon" of "Nice Gear Games") and I took some time to really play this game and understand its idiosyncrasies. At its core, the game can be described as a "Mystery ADV Simulation x Visual Novel x Roguelike" game with a basic RPG structure and deckbuilding elements, and the game puts a big emphasis on the power of words and building bonds. SSS is working on another game, called "The Dream Shark Hypothesis" -- I hope both games eventually see an English release.

The game starts off in a somewhat typical manner and deliberately cryptic... our protagonist is in a strange place with partial amnesia. As an ordinary 28-year old salary man (referred to as "Jibun" or ""Oneself" by default, though you can name your character), he came home from work, ate some instant noodles, took a bath, watched some videos and then loses consciousness. He awakens to discover that he is in a liminal space in the body of a transfer student from about 10 years ago and is tasked by a mysterious girl (who only refers to herself as "The Devil") to relive the last ten days of high school life on a mysterious island isolated from the mainland and make it through graduation. Sounds simple, right? Wrong. For reasons that are not immediately known to you, the graduation ceremony is disrupted with the cruel murder of one of the characters and, as a consequence, the player is sent back to the liminal space to try another loop. It's your job to deduce why this is happening, who would murder a high school student, and what kind of strange customs have been taking place on Takagashima Island. Just a few words of warning: some things are random and others are pre-determined, so be prepared for some trial and error.

Drawing inspiration from Konami's "Power Pro Kun Pocket" series, Capcom's "Ace Attorney" series, Cygames' "Little Noah: Scion of Paradise" and Hirohiko Araki's "Jojo's Bizarre Adventure" franchise, the game has a lot to unpack initially. During each loop, the player spends time going to school, hanging out with other classmates, and exploring different areas of the island. Deepening your relationship with characters in a certain sequence while fulfilling commitments at certain places during certain times while making certain deductions is the only way to see the game to its primary conclusion (there is an additional scenario after clearing the game to get the true ending), and bonds do not carry over between loops (so if you created a bond and were on to something, you'll have to initiate the bond again). After the first loop, the main gameplay opens up and "Dialogues w/ Talk Themes" can be conducted (more in a bit) as well as the manipulation of "Reinforcement Elements".

"Dialogues" and "Talk Themes" (Basically "Talk no Jutsu") is a way to engage characters on different subjects which are conducted as short RPG Card Battles. Cards differ in color (Hot Topics - Blue for Questions, Orange for People's Stories, Green for Small Talk, and Pink for Love Interests) and number (the higher it is, the more influential / stronger it is). Each dialogue happens over four turns, and the hand with the higher number wins. While one color doesn't have priority over another, if you can align on the same topic as your opponent, you will get a battle bonus. Determining what card an opponent will use is not exactly random either; characters have a tell based on their expressions, with high-spirited expressions using higher card numbers and gloomy expressions using lower numbers. It becomes second nature after a while and the outcome results in how many relationship points you can get as well as how much damage (mental energy) you sustain. You can earn new cards as you level up based on different actions as well as randomly, and there are also permanent perks (Reinforcements) you can purchase in the liminal space depending on your "score" to improve runs (generally, more difficult tasks yield more points). Balancing your activities and energy over the 10 days is key.

With a reasonably large number of events, over a dozen characters to learn about, an expressive 8-Bit visual aesthetic and an excellent soundtrack, "Toroidal" is worth every penny and a gem among gems. It does get somewhat repetitive if you get stumped for a long time (especially the talk battles themselves), but if you know some Japanese or have a translator, this one is a no-brainer worth the price of admission. This video highlights different aspects. Enjoy.