The visual novel game Breakout 13 will be released on January 9th. The game tells the story of a group of stray teenagers in a behavior correction institute and a special room called "Room 13". The game is heavily inspired by the real experiences of teenagers in the "internet addiction treatment center" in China. The game supports both Simplified Chinese and English.
In the game, players will play as Zhang Yang, an 18 years old High School student who was expelled from his own school due to his addiction to video games. His divorced mother believes he has a mental disorder and deceives him into visiting "Gratitude International", which claims to be a school-like institution for curing online addictions. As a result, Zhang Yang is committed to the institution by his mother, who then leaves.
In no time, Zhang Yang finds out that the treatment is actually illegal imprisonment, physical punishment, and the most terrifying one: a special electric brain torture in Room 13. Zhang Yang starts his breakout plan to escape Gratitude International immediately.
The story is strongly inspired by the internet addiction treatment center of Yang Yongxin, a controversial institution that used electroconvulsive therapy to "treat" online addiction starting in 2006. Over 6000 adolescents received "therapy" from the institution until 2009, when the Government banned the use of electroconvulsive therapy in treating Internet addiction. Multiple interviews and anonymous articles showed that the participants felt like life in the treatment center was terrifying and painful. Many believed the "treatment" was simply using pain and fear to make the adolescents conform.
Yang Yongxin had become an important part of the sub-culture of Chinese gamers, and the Spark of Madness chapter in Dead by Daylight is inspired by that.
Instead of using 3D models or 2D comics, all the cutscenes in Breakout 13 are filmed by live actors. Those actors put great effort into their acting skills, and the characters performed well and fit their roles. Playing the game is not unlike watching a live-action drama, and I could not wait to see what happened next. Not to mention the team must film every possible branch of the story, which will double or even triple the workload.
A screenshot of a QTE in the game, with different video clips following it depending on whether the player succeeds in the QTE.
As a visual novel game, Breakout 13 contains a large number of choices. The choices may change other characters’ attitudes, unlock key clues or progress the story along a different branch. Some story branches, including hidden ends, can only be unlocked when a certain condition is fulfilled. The game has great replayability for those who want to see every aspect of the story.
The Help screen in the game Storyline mode shows there are various kinds of branches and unlock requirements.
Breakout 13 uses a similar Storyline feature as The Invisible Guardian, a successful Chinese visual novel. This feature allows the players to switch back to any key moment of the playthrough and change their decisions. There is a "Skip" button for the clips already unlocked as well. This feature is super convenient, especially in the second playthrough, since the game has many choices. These features allow players to easily change their choices and check how it affects the story afterward without wasting time watching the same cutscenes multiple times.
A screenshot of the prologue’s partial storyline.
Unfortunately, the game suddenly ended when the story reached the midway point. An in-game purchase menu will then show up after a trailer with clips of the second half, and players need to pay for the upcoming DLC to unlock the rest of the game. It is understandable for visual novel game providers, especially the small ones, to get money to finish the rest of the game. But it will likely frustrate some players who have paid for the game but will have to pay again to get the full story, and the story is the key reason why people buy a visual novel game.
A screenshot of the unlocking page asking players to buy the rest of the story.
Breakout 13 did a great job as a visual novel game with decent live-action performances and a wide possibility of choices and branches in the first half. However, since it is still unknown if the game will maintain the same standard in the second half, it would be recommended to try the game once the full story has been released.