Casablanca ni Ai wo: Satsujinsha wa Jikuu o Koete

About

This retro adventure casts you as a reporter figuring out a vanished friend's secrets through a mix of typed commands and pixelated scenes. You navigate 1945 and 1916 by typing actions like "Look" or "Search" while using arrows to shift between screens. Function keys streamline common tasks but the core loop hinges on deciphering cryptic diary entries and piecing together a decades-old conspiracy involving a time machine. The interface feels clunky by modern standards but the dual-timeline mystery keeps things clicking. Despite its age, the game's time-travel detective angle holds up better than most 1980s attempts. Over 35 years since release, it still shows up in niche retro circles for its bold premise and minimalistic style. The fact it originally launched on seven different platforms speaks to its developer's ambition, though the PC-9800 graphics remain its most distinctive trait. Casual players might find the text parsing tedious but the core mystery rewards methodical play.

Storyline

The year is 1945. Jerry Randolph, a female reporter working for the Chicago newspaper "Daily Casablanca", finds a diary belonging to her high school friend May Elgar, who has disappeared several years ago under mysterious circumstances. Jerry discovers that May's father was working on a groundbreaking scientific project. Too late to save Dr. Elgar from untimely death, Jerry uses a time machine constructed by him to travel to 1916, following the traces left by the criminals.