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[GAME] Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness Review


Developer: 5pb

Publisher: NISAmerica

Genre: Visual Novel

Format: PC, Playstation 4, Playstation Vita

Released: September 16th 2016

Let me start off by saying that if you aren’t fans of the Psycho Pass Anime I don’t think this game is for you. While the characters don’t go into the ventures of the Anime and this is more of a separate story, it’s riddled with Psycho Pass lore and references. The major character don’t exactly develop in this game as their personalities have already been fleshed out. The main character you pick though (male or female) does have some development.


Unfortunately they have a back story already and it’s pretty clear what is going to happen as the story progresses. The Psycho Pass universe is very intriguing but Mandatory Happiness doesn’t delve deep enough into it. I really wanted to see the nitty gritty of the cyberpunk world. And while there are 1 or 2 moments which are pretty harrowing, there should have been plenty more. While the game is very linear you do get choices in how you investigate and who you interact with. The problem is it’s few and far between.


This could be my biggest issue with visual novels in general but Mandatory Happiness plays too much like a movie than an interactive experience. Let the player make the choices instead of holding our hands. It just doesn’t feel fluid when you are thrust into 1 investigation after another without being given the option to link any similarities between investigations. You as a player know but apparently these trained investigators are clueless. Especially the main character who quite simply just need to speak up about their past 3 months and it’d be case closed. Aside from the gameplay issues the animation and art style is solid and the voice acting is really good. The problem is it just keeps making me want it to be a movie or series instead of a game.


Another interesting element to the game is the management of your hue. If your hue gets too dark you will be taken to prison as a latent criminal even without committing a crime. You have to manage this by taking pills, going to therapy or doing nothing at all. It adds a few different voice lines given the state of the main character. I know it feels like I am bashing the game but this is due to the wasted potential it has.


With all my complaints with Mandatory Happiness I am going to give it a 6.5/10. It’s not a bad experience just in the wrong format.

For this to be a good game I would have loved to have seen more interaction, more consequences and a deeper system to solve investigations. The main bulk of people buying the game will already be fans so why not take more risks with it. Oh and Tsurugi sucks at catching but can take a Molotov to the chest like a champ.


You might need more than a glass of water to swallow this pill. - Mamushi




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