Game #1231: Trauma Center Second Opinion

 Medicine goes full anime.

 A few years ago I played Trauma Team and I quite enjoyed the game, vowing to play the entire franchise. Quite clearly, I didn't follow through, but hey, it's 2022 and I finally played Trauma Center: Second Opinion and I loved it.

 The game is sort of a puzzle/visual novel hybrid. The game follows an episodic structure, episodes you select from a list that unlocks in a linear fashion. Not every episode has a surgery for you to perform, but every episode will have dialogue between characters, represented by anime-style character cutouts, for you to read. Lemme tell you, the dialogue is very, very anime and thus, very, very cheesy. And I loved it. The story very quickly delves into anime fantasy, your main characters have THE HEALING TOUCH which allows them to slow down time, and in no time you'll be battling against a bio-terrorist group, so you have to do battle against GUILT parasites. It's super dumb, but fun-dumb. And did I mention the main character is named Derek Styles after the Nintendo DS? And the other main character, Nozomi Weaver after the Nintendo Wii.

 One thing, however, is that the story is incomplete. In a way. Y'see, Atlus has always been a bit slimy, and in what was probably a bid to get people to double dip, since this is a remake of the DS original, when the back of the box claims that this game has a 'new epilogue' it actually means that it has an alternate epilogue. When you reach chapter 6, you get a very brief summary of what happened in the end of the original DS game. Yes, the epic face-off against the terrorist leader? Better play the original game! Instead you get a new chapter that features the new Nozomi Weaver character. Man, it was such a let down, it kinda ruins the game's plot, in both pace and structure. It's such a huge blemish in what was otherwise an enjoyable script.

 But, after you are done reading through dialogue it's time to operate! The entire game is based on scoring, by being quick and precise, and not messing up. You've got an assortment of 8 tools you can select with the analog stick on the nunchuck, and then you use them with the Wiimote. Things such as sutures, forceps, a laser, a scalpel, healing serum are at your disposal, and they are all very intuitive. Coming off of Red Steel, lemme tell you, the controls in this game are delicious. The only issue I had, is that in order to use the Healing Touch you need to quickly draw a pentagram, and if you don't get it quite right... you'll lose time, which could mean failing the surgery. But then again, pretty much every surgery can be completed without it, so you'll only need it if you are bad at the game!

 The game works relatively well, but you'd better not spend too much time away, as the game sorta expects you to remember how to treat every virus. Failing my prompt the nurse to tell you what you are supposed to do, but still... Oh, and the final surgery of chapter 5 is sorta busted, if you use Healing Touch before the game uses it automatically you will soft lock the game, because you are expected to use it again, assuming you didn't use it before, in order to completely freeze time. Spoilers, I guess, but better safe than sorry.

 Trauma Center: Second Opinion was really good, and a fantastic use of the Wiimote. Not gonna lie, now I want to go through the entire series and experience the whole story.

 8.0