prEface
Pre-rendered games: there’s much to say about this genre in its entirety. Once heralded as the future of gaming, they now represent a past that feels outdated by today’s standards.Hand in hand with FMVs, games like Myst and Phantasmagoria defined this type of game during its heyday. Other “hits” and cult classics, like Virtual Hydlide, notwithstanding, pre-rendered game graphics were a clever solution. Consoles with limited performance could evoke landscapes and characters that in-game graphics couldn’t match at the time. For other genres, like the PS1 Final Fantasy games, you knew you were in for a treat whenever these visuals appeared. Beyond CGI cutscenes, many game openings used this technique to great success as well (Gran Turismo, my beloved).
Back then, one couldn’t help but wonder: “When will games render these graphics in real-time?” Fast-forward to today, and such CGI renders have largely taken a backseat, often appearing only in game teasers or trailers hyping products that never live up to their "polished" previews (Dark Alliance, my beloved).
Another game of this caliber, and the focus of today’s discussion, is a pre-rendered gem released exclusively in Japan (of course): deSpiria.
cyBerpunk - Made in Ōsaka
deSpiria launched for the Sega Dreamcast in 2000—a futuristic year indeed. With the Y2K panic fading and Phantasy Star Online on the horizon, the Ōsaka-based company behind deSpiria, Dennou Eizo Seisakusho Ltd., prepared a late-summer release for their second solo venture into gaming. Second game? Indeed, as this company had previously released Dark Messiah for the PS1. While Dark Messiah may not ring many bells, especially for U.S. audiences, European players might recognize it as Hellnight.A survival horror game at its core, Hellnight thrusts you into a then-futuristic Tokyo, already a sprawling capital, evolved into a megapolis of intricate subway and sewer networks. As a nameless protagonist, your daring escape from cult members via train is derailed by an unknown entity, forcing you into the “Mesh”—an underground civilization filled with people who never wish to resurface.
Given the themes and style of Hellnight, it’s unsurprising that its successor (though not directly related, depending on whom you ask), deSpiria, shares similar motifs: alien lifeforms, a less “dystopian” but more apocalyptic future, and unique human-like beings. While the game never explicitly states its setting, interviews reveal that deSpiria takes place in a futuristic Ōsaka. This isn’t immediately obvious from area names like SOUTH, CENTER, or more cohesive ones like Amagasaki (a neighboring city) or New Tokyo. Later locations pay clearer homage to “Japan’s best city,” but you wouldn’t instantly peg it as Ōsaka. Some characters’ heavier Kansai dialect offers a stronger clue, however.
Striking similarity... (top: Shinsekai square with the Tsutenkaku tower in the background; bottom: SOUTH CENTRAL from deSpiria)
diVe into the unknown
Like many great dystopian games, deSpiria’s world is in turmoil. After a third World War (a topical choice), the human race has been decimated by nearly 75%, and life as it was once known is no longer possible. With infant mortality rates at 90%, the outlook for humanity is dire. Only one institution attempts to bring order to the chaos and serve as a sanctuary for believers: The Church (insert dramatic chipmunk GIF here).The jumpsuit-clad, aloof protagonist, Allure Valentine, is a member of this not-so-shady organization, serving as a handmaiden (or assassin). Her first mission? Board a train from New Tokyo to SOUTH and identify which passenger is secretly an executive member of the “Heretics” group, which seemingly derails the train.
From the outset, the game throws surprises at the player: Allure sniffing strange substances, floating aliens known as MINDs, and, perhaps deSpiria’s defining feature, the ability to “dive” into others’ minds. Allure can read people’s thoughts and trace mental fragments from objects they’ve interacted with. If the premise alone feels grotesque, the characters Allure encounters amplify this. Androids, human-shaped bipeds grafting fleshy limbs onto their bodies, half-naked robots missing jaws—all rendered in pre-rendered CGI glory. Ironically, the Church seems the closest thing to sanity compared to the game’s landscape and populace. With themes like cannibalism, augmented atrocities, kidnapping, and other taboo topics, deSpiria revels in its obscure style, enhanced by its pre-rendered aesthetic.
Players navigate Allure in first-person through the game’s environments. Each sector features interactive elements—objects, items with strong residual memories, or NPCs. In what the developers called the “Sphere System” (unfortunately unrelated to the GameSphere), players point and click through highlighted objects to progress through sectors. A feature even more outdated than FMVs or CGI, random encounters keep players on edge, thrusting them into pre-rendered battle environments where enemies are integrated. The exception? MINDs (the alien-like creatures) residing within Allure or enemies, which appear as in-game 3D renders. In classic turn-based RPG fashion, you battle until the enemy’s mind is, by the game’s definition, “utterly broken.” If you’re thinking, “This sounds like an Atlus game,” you’d be right—they’re deSpiria’s publisher, after all.
Allure isn’t without allies, but they’re relegated to the background (not even in the CG background), providing dialogue or info-dumps on the task at hand. The game tells its initially disjointed story through Allure’s monologues (think Raziel from Legacy of Kain) or her interactions with objects.
Accompanying the voiceless walls of kanji and kana is the music, which is personally quite enjoyable, if overly simplistic. There’s a decent variety of battle themes to keep encounters fresh, but after a few chapters, you’ve heard them all—in their 30-second looped glory. The loops are pleasant, though, and some exploration BGMs perfectly capture the game’s mood and ambiance, even if they repeat.
unTranslated heresy
Like its bleak setting, here’s another heartbreaker: deSpiria has never been translated and likely never will be, at least not to the extent of translated gems like Baroque. As a text-heavy game, with mind dives relying on singular kana combining to form sentences (think Scrabble, but for entire phrases), translating it into Western languages is a near-impossible task.That said, non-Japanese players can still enjoy it to some degree. A YouTuber named Popomocco did a great service for fans, providing a full translation of his playthrough across 22 videos on YouTube. This allows viewers to understand the plot to a decent extent. According to the translator, this might be preferable, as the game is riddled with random encounters and requires significant grinding to progress.
In the final video, Popomocco announced a collaboration to work on an English translation of the game. However, no real progress has been reported since, and the challenge of translating the diving sequences (which comprise half the game’s plot cohesion and content) suggests this promise should be taken with a grain of salt.
beAutiful ugliness
Despite these hurdles, deSpiria is absolutely worth checking out. Few games evoke such curiosity through their world design, characters, plot elements, and sheer uniqueness. Even with the language barrier, a nearly fully translated version exists, albeit turning the turn-based RPG into more of a visual novel.deSpiria feels like an ode to a bygone era of games that created art with tools now considered obsolete. Thankfully, this genre isn’t entirely lost, as rediscovered media like Noah’s Ark and Garage: Bad Dream Adventure prove.
Here’s hoping untranslated gems like Kowloon’s Gate and deSpiria will one day see English releases, too.
