A decade before gaining international recognition with killer7, Goichi Suda was writing for Human Entertainment and the games that to this day remain Japan-exclusive. After getting some fame (or infamy) with his bleak storyline for a wrestling game, he got a directorial role with the first two horror themed adventure titles in the Twilight Syndrome series. Following that, Suda51 decided to split with Human (a timely decision since the company went bankrupt a few years later) and founded Grasshopper Manufacture, the company he’s still associated with. The very first project they made? Japan-only Playstation 1 adventure/visual novel title called The Silver Case (prior to this official localisation also known as The Silver or Silver Jiken).
This was the game that fully established the recurring themes of Suda51 games, like “Kill the past”, introduced several of the recurring characters and concepts, the seemingly shared universe (it’s occasionally self-contradicting though) and other elements that can be traced even in the most recent Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes. And it remained Japan-only until 2016 where a PC port was suddenly released, followed next year by an updated version with further enhancements and story episodes released for PS4 (and as a free update on PC). Playing this game now, 20 years since its release and being more familiar with the games Suda51 would work after is a curious experience. But not a particularly pleasant one.