Kumitantei: Old-School Slaughter

I want to talk about how a group of fourteen people, many of whom got their start writing Danganronpa fanfiction online, somehow built something that feels this considered. Kumitantei: Old-School Slaughter is the work of Mango Factory, an Indonesia-based studio whose director, Selina Kibara, started the project because she wanted more killing-game stories and found almost nothing worth playing. That origin shows in every frame. This is not a cynical cash-in on a beloved genre. It is a deeply felt, occasionally rough-edged tribute that earns its own identity by the time the first Clinical Trial wraps up. You play as Himari Sanada, the Absolute Barista, one of sixteen elite students who wake up inside a decaying underground bunker run by Nyanus, a two-faced cat with the energy of a sadistic game-show host. The premise is structurally identical to Danganronpa and the game does not pretend otherwise. What it does differently is fold in influences from Ace Attorney and retro arcade culture, and swap the courtroom rhythm-shooter for a card-battle debate system. During the exploration phases you wander the facility, inspect crime scenes, and build trust with classmates by listening to them and giving gifts. That trust is not decorative: it unlocks the cards you bring into the Clinical Trials, which means the bonding system and the combat system are actually the same system wearing different clothes. It is a neat mechanical knot, and when it works it makes every conversation feel like low-stakes preparation for a high-stakes fight. Players earn cards tied to specific characters, so letting someone die before you've bonded with them is a strategic loss as much as an emotional one. The Clinical Trials themselves are where opinion splits. The debate card battles require you to refute stubborn classmates mid-trial, and several reviewers noted that the system feels underdeveloped and occasionally opaque in this first episode, with limited tutorial guidance and some difficulty spikes that feel more like rough edges than intentional design. Scattered throughout the trials are retro arcade minigames, some clearly inspired by Donkey Kong and Space Invaders, which land with varying success depending on your input method. Controller is strongly recommended here. Keyboard and mouse handles most of the visual novel segments fine, but the minigames feel clearly designed with a controller in mind, and switching mid-session is more annoying than it should be. Visually, the game pulls from Rumiko Takahashi's Urusei Yatsura and the broader 1980s anime aesthetic. The character designs are genuinely strange, sometimes lopsided, occasionally overworked, but there is a cohesion to the chaos that grows on you. The cartoonish physicality of the art ends up softening the horror in ways that feel intentional rather than accidental. The soundtrack does quiet, effective work, shifting from unease to urgency without calling attention to itself. Voice acting is selective but well-targeted at the scenes that need the most emotional weight, and the cast includes Elsie Lovelock and Mia Paige as Himari. Episode One covers the prologue and first chapter, running roughly five hours, and it ends with enough momentum to make waiting for the remaining five planned episodes feel genuinely frustrating. Steam user reception sits at Very Positive, and the critical consensus across specialist outlets lands in the same place: strong story and cast, card system needs work, future episodes have real potential.

Kai · Scout Team

Indie & narrative

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