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CHAOS;CHILD (カオスチャイルド) is a visual novel video game developed by 5pb. (MAGES). The game is a thematic sequel to CHAOS;HEAD NOAH (2009) and the fourth main entry in the Science Adventure Series (妄想科学ADV). It was first released in Japan on December 18, 2014 for the Xbox One. It was later released for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita on June 25, 2015 and for Microsoft Windows on April 28, 2016. It also released on iOS in January 31, 2017 and on Android in May 28, 2017. It was additionally released for the Nintendo Switch as part of the CHAOS;HEAD NOAH/CHAOS;CHILD DOUBLE PACK on February 24, 2022.
The game received an English localization for the PlayStation on October 13, 2017. It was later published on Steam by Spike Chunsoft in both Japanese and English on January 22, 2019.
CHAOS;CHILD was well-received by critics, but the Xbox One and PlayStation 3 releases failed to chart on the Japanese sales charts. By October 2020, it had sold approximately 10% the amount of copies as STEINS;GATE.
The logo uses lowercase and special characters as ChäoS;Child.
Background[]
Despite CHAOS;CHILD being marketed as a standalone title in the English-speaking market, it is nonetheless a thematic sequel to CHAOS;HEAD. It is strongly recommended to read CHAOS;HEAD before CHAOS;CHILD as the latter is extremely dependent on the former both narratively and thematically. Furthermore, it is optimal to read CHEAOS;HEAD NOAH and CHAOS;HEAD Love Chu Chu!! before CHAOS;CHILD. CHAOS;HEAD NOAH received an official English localization on October 7, 2022. However, there is no information on a CHAOS;HEAD Love Chu Chu!! English localization.
It will be highly beneficial to have a good understanding of the original New Generation Madness, Gigalomaniacs, the Committee of 300, the Shibuya Earthquake (The Third Melt), Project Noah, and CHAOS;HEAD's main protagonist "Takumi Nishijou".
Gameplay[]
CHAOS;CHILD is a visual novel that requires the player to go through the common route and then all the character routes before reaching the true ending. Entering different character routes depends on the delusion trigger and mapping trigger. A player is locked into the common route on their first play-through of the game.
The delusion trigger system works similarly to how it does in Chaos;Head, where the player enter into the different kinds delusions of the main protagonist. And the new mapping trigger system require players to match information about the murder cases together on a corkboard.
Plot[]
Main article: Plot Summary
Six years ago, a massive earthquake annihilated the city of Shibuya. Now, in October 2015, the story follows Hekiho Newspaper Club president, Takuru Miyashiro, who investigates a recent string of murders. However, he soon realizes a horrible truth: these murders are the return of a series of killings that plunged Shibuya into terror six years ago. And at the same time, people called gigalomaniacs, with the powers to make their delusions real, begin to awaken. Takuru, a self-proclaimed “right-sider”, strives to solve Shibuya’s biggest mystery and unveil the truth behind these murders to the world.
Development[]
The game was developed by 5pb.,[2] based on an original plan by Chiyomaru Shikura, the head of the company.[5] It was produced by Tatsuya Matsubara and directed by Kanji Wakabayashi, and was written by Eiji Umehara, Masashi Takimoto and Tōru Yasumoto under supervision by Naotaka Hayashi. Several artists worked on the game: Mutsumi Sasaki designed the main characters, Yukihiro Matsuo designed minor characters and uniforms, and Choco designed the characters' Di-Swords. The game made use of "psycho-suspense" elements similar to those in CHAOS;HEAD, but with an increased amount of horror elements. For the game's look, the developers were aiming for an "unmoving aesthetic" as opposed to the "moving adventure" style of the previous Science Adventure game, ROBOTICS;NOTES.[2] To create subtle differences in the game's atmosphere, four different graphics shaders were implemented.[6] For the Xbox One version of the game, the developers made use of the console's controller to play the in-game phone calls; this and some other features had to be changed when the game was ported to other platforms.[7]
The music was composed by Takeshi Abo, who used the same technique as for his previous works in the Science Adventure series: he started by reading the game's story, to understand the setting and characters as fully as possible, and wrote down his first impressions of the events in the plot, as well as of the plot's emotional flow. He considered these first impressions to be very important, and used them to create a musical worldview. According to Abo, this method takes longer than just designating songs to various areas in the game, but allows him to create higher quality music with a better relationship to the game's worldview. The "image" used for the composition was different than for previous games in the series: while he described CHAOS;HEAD as rainy, STEINS;GATE as cloudy, and Robotics;Notes as clear weather, he called CHAOS;CHILD "stormy", and contrasted its "black-and-white" image with Robotics;Notes's "colorful and emotional hues". Because he found the game's story compelling, he enjoyed composing the music and wanted to create even more for it by the end of the project.[8] .
Localization[]
CHAOS;CHILD was localized by Adam Lensenmayer, who previously worked on the localizations of STEINS;GATE 0 and of the anime adaptation of STEINS;GATE. He was the only translator working on the localization; this was done as he and the developers wanted to ensure consistency in the way each character speaks and in the feeling of the game, as having multiple translators work on a single project can lead to differing interpretations of the story and of characters' personalities. He had not played the game prior to the start of localization, so after finishing his first translation pass of the script, he went through it in full a second time to correct things he had originally misunderstood due to not knowing how the story plays out.[9]
Release[]
Xbox One:[]
- Japan, Release Date: December 18, 2014
- Japan, Original Planned Release Date: November 27, 2014
Playstation 3:[]
- Japan, Release Date: June 25, 2015
PS4, PS Vita:[]
- Japan, Release Date: June 25, 2015
- Europe, Release Date, PQube : October 13, 2017
- North America, Release Date, PQube: October 17, 2017
Windows:[]
- Japan: April 28, 2016
- Worldwide, Spike Chunsoft: January 22, 2019
iOS:[]
- Japan: January 31, 2017
Android:[]
- Japan: May 28, 2017
Nintendo Switch:[]
- Japan: February 24, 2022
Theme Songs[]
Xbox Opening "Hijitsuzai Seishounen" (Nonexistant Youth)[]
- Lyrics/Composition:Chiyomaru Shikura
- Arrangement: Ryohei Arahara
- Sung by: Itou Kanako
PlayStation Opening "Singularity"[]
- Lyrics/Composition : Chiyomaru Shikura
- Arrangement: Shinichi Yuuki
- Sung by: Itou Kanako
Normal Ending "Vanitas of the Lunar Eclipse"[]
- Lyrics: Kanade
- Composition/Arrangement: Tatsushi Hayashi
- Sung by: Phantasm
True Ending "silent wind bell"[]
- Lyrics:Ito Kanako Composition: Yoh Ohyama
- Arrangement: Yoh Ohyama, Toshimichi Isoe
- Sung by: Itou Kanako
Main Theme "WORLD" (True End, Final Chapter Locked)[]
- Composition: Takeshi Abo
SILENT WORLD (True End, Final Chapter Unlocked)[]
- Composition: Takeshi Abo
Trivia[]
A couple can be seen wearing the Suimei Uniform from Chaos;Head.