Behind the mysteries of DS soul searcher Lux-Pain

There have been quite a few - how can we put it - interestingly Japanese DS titles released in Europe recently. Bakushow, Prey The Stars, Exit and Flower, Sun and Rain all come to mind, but Rising Star's Lux-Pain seems to be the most particularly Japanese since 2006's Trauma Center: Under the Knife.

Labelled a paranormal detective adventure, one of the main gameplay elements will see you extracting evil parasites by erasing shapes, scribbling over them with your stylus.

So let's find out some more by firing questions over to Mr Kazuhiro Yamao, the game's producer at Japanese developer Killaware (with occasional input from Rising Star's marketing assistant Yen Hau).

Kazuhiro Yamao: To answer this question I'll have to tell you a bit about the story. Lux-Pain is an accessory which was manufactured based on the manuscript of the Cathari [or the Cathars, a French sect who believed physical matter was evil] in the Middle Ages. It’s supposed they took the method from ancient literature, and it can't be solved even by modern maths.

The accessory has the property to adapt to the energy of the person who equips it. Stretching out a tentacle-like hand, it goes deeply inside the wearer's body to reach their brain stem and provide unique powers.

A side effect is that the wearer is also struck by holy pain, known as Lux-Pain, which will kill the wearer if he is a sinner. But there are certain people who can accommodate this accessory and so equipped, are granted the ability to access the target's mind. The person who is accepted by Lux-Pain is called '∑' (Sigma) and is one who hunts down evil. It is thought that 12 kinds of accessories were manufactured.

The game expresses the fear of looking into someone's mind, corrupted by an invisible enemy called Silent, which we liken to the devil. I think this game is completely different to those other games, because of the original style of wording and because it creates a feeling that you won't have experienced before using the DS stylus.

I expect players to enjoy the game in a similar way as they would enjoy spending time reading a book. Anyway, Lux-Pain is not just a text-based game - it is also a paranormal detective story. Players will get into the story and the investigations and not think the pace is slow.

I'd like to say that the main character of this game is the town rather than people. In this town, you can experience the different connections between the characters as well as their changes of feelings, desires, fears of life and death. I don't think you will have experienced this before. Also, I think western gamers will accept the Japanese settings and the characters because the Japanese subculture is very popular among Europeans.

You’ve already mentioned Phoenix Wright. I feel that if gamers liked those games they will definitely enjoy Lux-Pain. Also the two games from Cing - Another Code and Hotel Dusk, maybe even Trauma Center too.

Yen Hau: Rising Star's parent company is Marvelous Entertainment, so as Lux-Pain was published by Marvelous in Japan we always knew about the title. We draw the majority of our releases from Marvelous and this one has been on our radar ever since development started.

We were very impressed with the style and the way you play it - the whole game just seemed to fit perfectly with Rising Star's games portfolio. The only real decision was when we would release it in Europe and in which territories.

Kazuhiro Yamao: The episode is linear in order but the story in every episode will be changed by your decisions throughout the game.

There are about 50 people. You maybe able to save them from Silent or maybe you won't. They might be killed or go insane; it all depends on how you play. There are also eight specific reactions you can choose when talking to characters, and they will react differently depending on which one you choose.

It completely depends on how the player acts in the game. Basically you will have a choice of several emotional responses to every line of conversation. How each character reacts to you and how much information they reveal depends on which emotion you choose to exhibit, so you may not be able to find out the secrets some of non-player characters. Also the friendship parameter will affect your gameplay in terms of receiving emails or in the extra scenarios.

If you delete Silent, you can get enough experience and level up and this means it will get easier to beat the enemies. If you failed to delete Silent, it might affect the development of the events. Sometimes it might affect the life of non-player characters too.

The fear that the mind of somebody you trust is going to be eaten away.