Return to Azure City following a terrible fire as paper clerk and part-time rookie sleuth Justina Smith gets caught up in a mystery that’s far more than it seems. Justina is aided by jovial yet jaded and experienced robbery detective Ernest Hunt, cheerful speed-addicted rookie homicide detective (as well as Justina’s current crush) Sophie Swift, and newcomer arson detective Johnny Fineman. Can this colorful group help Justina solve her latest case? You can discover the mystery’s answer for yourself in the Ace Attorney-inspired visual novel Paper Perjury‘s free DLC expansion, Case 6: Regrets & Perjury.
Paper Perjury‘s Case 6 begins with Justina following up on the paperwork regarding an investigation into a home fire that claimed the life of the exceedingly wealthy socialite Joules Wattson, noticing a discrepancy that indicates the tragedy might not have been an accident. Justina’s no-nonsense, by-the-book boss, Sue P. Earl, gives permission for Justina to go to the crime scene for a follow-up investigation, hoping to confirm her plausible theory.
This soon balloons into a full-fledged murder investigation as hard truths, incongruities, and newly uncovered evidence come to light. Justina and Sophie need to figure out what happened on the night Joules Wattson died by gathering clues and reviewing statements, but they’re going to have to do it while an experienced criminal defense attorney with a stellar win rate breathes down their necks.
Aside from the returning faces of Paper Perjury’s first five cases, Case 6 introduces several new-but-equally memorable and colorful characters. Fineman brings a Detective Gumshoe-esque character trope into the fold, as he sincerely means well but takes most things at face value. The three Wattson brothers, Kelvin, Raiden, and Donner, each have a distinct personality, and their individual storylines go in surprising directions by the time the case runs its course.
Real estate attorney Miriam Corbin and her raven partner Nyx bring a fun sense of the macabre, and I sincerely hope they get expanded roles in future Paper Perjury outings. Kelvin’s partner, Amber Bahn, is an aspiring baker, and her earnest demeanor makes her quite endearing, too. That being said, the most important of the new characters is no doubt defense attorney Wolfhard Huntsman, aka The Bloodhound, replacing on-and-off again rival Ferris Eubank at the interrogation table opposite Justina. He’s given surprising depth and insight later on in the narrative, and is made all the more memorable by his loyal dachshund companion, Krampus.
While the case’s mystery reveals and cast are equally compelling, it should be noted that the gameplay is largely unchanged from Paper Perjury’s first five cases. You, as Justina, go over paperwork during “Clerk Time” segments to figure out discrepancies, which opens up the investigation’s talk and travel segment, in which you get statements and acquire clues. You can also dispute claims made during character statements to amend evidence and intel as needed. Eventually, you’re brought to the interrogation room where you must directly question a witness’s statements either by disputing them or asking questions that lead to amended statements. You can then press on these statements using evidence to show the contrary.
The gameplay loop is solid, and while it’s still sometimes difficult to figure out which lines of dialogue exactly may need to be pressed on or disputed, the system is quite forgiving of mistakes. Anyone who’s played the base game will be able to easily navigate its VN and point-and-click elements. The game also offers a helpful rewind option should you need to go back to a previous text box, and you can manually save at almost any point.
Visually, Paper Perjury‘s pixel-sprite work is a joy to behold, featuring several unique and expressive character animations. Justina’s exasperated eye roll during interrogation sequences never fails to amuse me. While the UI is simple, it does the trick well enough with easy-to-read text. I played on a laptop and found the controls are perfectly suited to either keyboard or game controller layouts. The sound effects and soundtrack also continue to delight, reminding me that I love how the background music speeds up and really captures the sense of the high-speed back-and-forth of interrogation questioning. The script is also quite well-written, with nary a grammatical or typographical error.
Paper Perjury Case 6: Regrets & Perjury is a delightful DLC expansion to a fun, Ace Attorney-inspired mystery VN. I loved seeing Justina, Sophie, and the other returning characters again, as well as meeting new Azure City residents. The case is pretty much a standalone story add-on after the events of the first five cases, but it also throws in some interesting lore and character bits that could potentially hint at things to come in Paper Perjury‘s future.
To top it off, it’s a longer case in four parts total and takes about 3 to 4 hours to reach a conclusion. Plus, it’s entirely free to those who’ve already purchased the base game! Paper Perjury is a lovely indie title, and Case 6 is definitely a return sure to leave fans feeling satisfied and, dare I say it, perhaps even giddy.
