The Caligula Effect Review

Disappointingly, The Caligula Effect has nowt to do with 80s cult-classic soft-core porn flick Caligula (that was three hours of “research” wasted, but I digress). Instead, it’s a traditional dungeon-crawler JRPG from the mind of Tadashi Satomi, the writer of the first three Persona titles. Though it shares a lot in common with Satomi’s previous work, it’s also reminiscent - both tonally and mechanically - of Lancarse’s criminally underrated strategy RPG Lost Dimension. I very much adored that game and I really enjoyed my time with this, too.

The Caligula Effect is set in a virtual-reality world referred to as Mobius, a safe-haven created for the lost, hurt and the lonely. Built and closely monitored by a handful of AI programs with the noble goal of making all who live within its virtual walls as content and as blissful as they can be, Mobius’ citizens are gifted the joy of reliving their high-school life in perfect perpetuity (personally, it’s hard to think of a worse kind of hell, but maybe that’s just me). One of the AI architects of Mobius is μ (pronounced “Mew”), a happy-go-lucky Hatsune Miku-esque vocaloid singer who can control the lost souls that live within Mobius with the power of her singing voice. Through her warbling, μ can manipulate and brainwash the lonely souls of those trapped in Mobius and transform them into Digiheads; bizarre, hostile machinations that are an ugly amalgamation of both human and AI.

Amidst the fake, plastic, virtual world of Mobius are a clutch of individuals who have become self-aware and cognisant of the strings being pulled behind this facile and sad theatrical play that is no longer real-life. Dubbed the The Go-Home Club, these guys and gals want to - you guessed it - go home to the real world. To do so, The Go-Home Club must face off against an army of Digiheads, an assortment of Ostinato Musicians (read: bosses) and take on the architects of Mobius to break free from the chains of their virtual prison.

The story leans heavily into some very weighty topics, but is mostly confidently executed and very well-told. It weaves a surprisingly subversive, nuanced narrative that unpicks a plethora of delicate themes that deal with suffering, anxiety and prejudice, with a sharp focus on the adverse effects of personal trauma. In other less charming titles, these themes could prove to be a burden, however, The Caligula Effect is dextrous in its often humorous delivery and lighthearted approach. The characters are mostly very well written, too: Izuru Minesawa’s autistic-like Hollywood Personality Disorder, Mifue Shinohara’s needless hatred towards the overweight, and Kotarou Tomoe’s hilarious Twitter handle debacle (referred to in-game as Gossiper) are memorable, provocative and sometimes downright endearing. The game even gives you an opportunity to build up a personal rapport with the characters via their own individual, self-contained story arcs, which are all worth delving into. There’s a lot of fun to be had with its playful narrative, though what is truly special about The Caligula Effect is that it really makes you think on a deeper level, too.

Onto the gameplay, and for the most part, it’s pretty addicting stuff. The core combat revolves around a turn-based system that reminds me of Lost Dimension’s strategic elements intermixed with Persona’s familiar, tried-and-true, team-synergising mechanics. Defeating enemies on your first turn grants a boost to your XP, and various new special abilities can be unlocked using skill points earned by levelling up and finding specific artefacts. Each member in your party of four can chain various attacks (up to three in total), which sometimes results in some dazzling, high damage-dealing combos. However, if an enemy interrupts you, chances are you’ll become stunned for a short window, rendering that character moot for a brief period. Each move drains your SP (Skill Points), if you run out, this will inevitably sideline that specific character, too. Performing a Soul Surge recharges SP, and this can be carried out during combat in exchange for a party member’s action.

Suffice to say, it becomes a bit of a juggling act, knowing when to recharge and when to let loose. Fortunately, the game gives you the chance to watch the outcomes of your actions through a short clip before you actually commit, which is ostensibly a really neat idea. Unfortunately, battles can get slightly laborious, particularly in the second half of the game where combat against highly-levelled adversaries are commonplace. Due to this, watching the playback of each possible battle manoeuvre becomes a bit of a turn off. It doesn’t get in the way of the experience too much as it can be skipped with a few button presses, but it simply made a cool idea pretty redundant in the long run. If battles were a little snappier and smoother performance-wise, the game’s moment-to-moment action would have benefited nicely.

In regards to presentation, The Caligula Effect is a good-looking 3D dungeon-crawler, considering it’s running on five-year-old tech. Environments are pretty varied (reflections even bounce off the surfaces of the glossy flooring), animations are fairly smooth, some of the combat’s visual effects are striking, and the music is diverse and uber-catchy. However, the prominent issue that sometimes lets the game down is its creaky, sluggish performance when the going gets tough. If there are a group of Digiheads hell-bent on seeing you pushing up the virtual daisies, then you’ll have to get used to some pretty stodgy performance issues. It’s by no means a total deal-breaker, but it’s noticeable and can possibly put off players with a low tolerance for these kinds of problems. Add to this some occasionally lengthy load times, too, and it starts to become clear that Aquaria’s latest JRPG is a bit of a diamond in the rough.

I’m pretty sure The Caligula Effect has the potential to become a bit of a sleeper hit for the hardcore Vita enthusiasts out there, especially if you’re into JRPGs and have the willingness to endure the game’s rougher technical aspects. It reaches a really nice rhythmic cadence with its rock-solid gameplay, complemented by a clever, well-written narrative. A few technical hiccups do try to rain on its parade, but overall it’s an endearing, touching and surprisingly deep RPG with a ton of character and a bucketload of heart. Though life’s journey can be a long and heavy burden, The Caligula Effect is a reminder to us all that we should try our utmost to respect and appreciate the hard times as well as the good; it’s not only a big part of what makes us human, but it’s also a big part of what makes us strong in the first place.