I’m not sure I can think of a better time for a game about complete disaster launching than now, when many people within the world are being advised to stay at home due to COVID-19. Honestly, I’m curious to see if it ends up helping or hindering its sales. While certainly not related to disease like The Division, games involving disasters have been delayed in the past due to real world events. In fact, this game holds that status, with production stopping due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. So is it a good thing the game finally launched nine years later, or should it have been left to fall in the Median Tectonic Line?

Disaster Report is a series that spans back to the PS2, and for some reason I thought it was on Dreamcast as well, but I may be thinking of something else. While this is my first time playing the series, I recall seeing a clip of the original on everyone’s favorite game channel G4. It’s strange, I only watched the channel a handful of times at my friend’s house, and I couldn’t tell you most of what I saw, but this particular series stood out. When I saw we were getting a new one, I figured it was time I finally gave it a shot.

For those unfamiliar with it, this is a game that puts you in the role of a person that must survive a disaster, typically caused by an earthquake. It’s almost annoying how little is pre-scripted in terms of your character and the events you’ll encounter, as the way they play out feels like it doesn’t really matter what you choose. Of course, there’s an option that works better than any other, and they’re basically good, neutral, and bad in terms of personality (the bad ones always being pretty funny), but I felt like a good majority of them were redundant or unnecessary. It’s like the character creation tool at the beginning of a game – the more in-depth it is, the more tiresome it is and I rush through it. Luckily, the creator in this gives you options, but not so many that I got frustrated.

As much as I hate saying the graphics are why a game is not enjoyable, when the spectacle is the main draw of the game, it’s hard to see past it. Being that production stopped on this just shy of a decade ago, this was being made for the PS3, and it shows. In some ways, I appreciate the time capsule of a decade old game coming out now. It has its charms, especially being Japanese. It reminds me of the older Yakuza games, and in some aspects Shenmue. But in terms of visuals, you’ll likely be disappointed. The destruction is oftentimes hidden by smoke/debris, and in some cases you won’t even be able to see what is happening because you’re in a building.

The game is essentially a third person walking simulator, navigating through a Japanese city and interacting with various people in bad situations thanks to the disaster. There’s a trophy for getting 10,000 steps which I got near the beginning of the game because a trigger for the next event was broken. I went everywhere I could and ended up turning off the game after getting frustrated from running in circles and talking to everyone multiple times hoping something would happen. When I booted it back up a day later, the event happened almost immediately. Later I thought I ran into a similar situation until I consulted my maps and realized there was a tiny offshoot room I didn’t notice in a building and needed to enter it. If you ever get stuck, look at your maps, and then reboot if you’re not getting anywhere.

Despite the problems I had with the game, which there were many, I had fun with this. Maybe it’s because I’m a sucker for Japan, or maybe it’s my nostalgia for earlier 3D games and their quirks, but Disaster Report 4 definitely has its charms that had me coming back continuously. This is not going to be a game for everyone, nor do I think it has the seemingly unique charms of its spiritual successor City Shrouded in Shadow (hopefully that comes stateside), but for those looking for some campy fun with destruction, you’ve come to the right place.

6 out of 10

Pros

• Funny Writing/Choices
• Older Japanese Charm

Cons

• Dated Visuals
• Bugs
• Choices Don’t Really Matter

Disaster Report 4 was developed by Granzella Inc. and published by NIS America. It is available on NS, PC, PS4, and supports VR. The game was provided to us for review on PS4. If you’d like to see more of Disaster Report 4, check out the game’s official site.

 

Here at GBG we use a rating method that you are more than likely familiar with – a scale of 1 to 10. For clarification, we intend on using the entire scale: 1-4 is something you should probably avoid paying for; 5-7 is something that is worth playing, but probably not at full price; 8-10 is a great title that you can feel confident about buying. If you have any questions or comments about how we rate a game, please let us know.

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