What is Hayarigami?

 

Linked above is the very first thing you see when booting up the first entry in the series.

So, what does Hayarigami mean?

The box art for the PS2 version of Hayarigami 1

Hayarigami (流行り神) is a combination of the adjective '流行り', meaning popular or trendy, with the character (or kanji) for god. However, '流行り' stems from the verb '流行る', meaning to spread widely (akin to disease). In other words, Hayarigami has the double meaning of "Popular Gods," and "Spreading Gods."

Okay, what's the series about?

This blog's banner, and also the logo that appears on the title screen

This question can be answered by the original series' sub-title, "Metropolitan Spectral Case Files." This series follows the (potentially) supernatural incidents investigated by Tokyo's police force. However, what makes this series interesting is that each case is tied to an urban legend or mysterious aspect of modern life. In fact, the first case of this game involves a chain mail that if not followed, may bring death to its receivers.

Alright, how's the gameplay then?

A mysterious photo depicting the protagonist

Every game in the series has been a Visual Novel, making it easy to show the game in a blog format, but hard to translate. The series' gimmick is that each case (or episode as the game calls them) is incredibly malleable, with choices that can remove or add entire aspects to them. Plus, at the end of each episode, you'll be graded depending on your investigation, unlocking additional content and paths.

Graded? How can that work in a VN?

This is where the other gameplay systems come in, but instead of introducing them myself, here is a translation of their descriptions from the game's official site:

Inference Logic

Inference Logic is an original system in this work, created for the joy of solving puzzles. As you progress through the story, you will see differently-colored words in the text. This is a "Keyword". By discovering and collecting these keywords, they can be used in the "Inference Logic" mode that occurs in each story. Cases can diverge greatly depending on the results of the Inference Logic.

Self-question

Self-question is a type of questioning done in between stories. Here, you will reorganize the increasingly complex case to decide on a course of action to take for the future. It is also an important occasion in which your playing will be evaluated.

Courage Points

Some choices require points known as "Courage" to make a decision (some choices do not require any Courage at all), and if the player's remaining Courage Points are less than the number required to choose a certain option, that option will not be available.

As you can see, only by choosing the correct options, which may or may not need Courage Points, will one find enough keywords (information) to build a perfect image of the case in the Inference Logic section, be it a grounded or supernatural one, and then answer the Self-questions optimally. Only then will you receive a high rank and reap its rewards.

However, there is an incentive to go out of your way to seemingly bad choices, and that is the FOAF Database:

Database

Various terms will appear in the game, related to not only urban legends and ghost stories, but also psychology, folklore, and law. These words are recorded in files named "FOAF Files". The recorded files can be viewed at any time during the game. In addition, in the database, you can check detailed information about each term that is not discussed in the main story, and the collection rate may be a condition for opening hidden scenarios.

What this description does not say is that there are 200 entries in the Database that can be up to the size of a high school dissertation. They are very informative, giving knowledge on things you may not have known, such as the origin of certain urban legends; the functioning of Japan's police force; even small biographies of important figures named in the stories.

Cool, so how will the translations be posted?

There currently is no set schedule for when they will be released, but I will do one episode at a time, initially following my own choices, then the ones that give the highest rank, and finally a collection of all other possible endings. They will be written in a theater script format, with my commentary within [] marks, and images strew throughout.

I hope you enjoy this not-so-little project of mine!