Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness

This mild sense of disappointment at Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness' production values can't obscure the fact that its most important component, its writing, succeeds, and largely captures what made the anime feel special. It may not exceed or even meet its source material's heights, but it does it justice, which is, considering Psycho-Pass' world, more than can be said for most cases.

Even if you haven't seen the Psycho-Pass television series before, Mandatory Happiness does a good enough job of making it clear what's going on to be enjoyable. It tells an engaging and thought-provoking story that deals with some heavyweight and uncomfortable subjects, and one that poses plenty of ethical dilemmas along the way. If you can get past the borderline non-existent gameplay then the narrative will probably keep you entertained for a dozen hours or so, although it may leave you wondering if this story would have been better told over a few episodes of the anime instead.

The visual novel installment to the Psycho-Pass universe fits perfectly into season one, rarely stumbling along the way.

A decent visual novel that could have been better with a little more polish and attention to detail.

Established fans of Psycho-Pass can revel in spending another few hours with their favorite characters and might even be considered a mandatory assignment for those interested in the CID.

Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness brings an established franchise into the visual novel world successfully.

To conclude, PSYCHO-PASS Mandatory Happiness offers a really great story and amazing representation of the PSYCHO-PASS universe, letting us dive once again into this crazy world. It shows new aspects of this world, asks new questions and expands the universe, story-wise it´s pretty much what I expected. On the other hand, it suffers from a weak 2nd protagonist, a lackluster and boring presentation and some little problems within the story. It just never feels like the presentation PSYCHO-PASS needed to convey its world and their problems, resulting in a worse experience than necessary.

Commonly speaking, Visual novels are not really adored by everyone and only a few people enjoy playing them but all these aside, Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness is a proper recommendation for those who want to enter the world of Visual novels and also for the fans. A mysterious mixture, trying to provide the player with an enjoyable time which makes it a “good” game and that’s all and it will also be a memorable experience for the fans of the series.

All in all I would recommend at least one playthrough whether or not you are a fan of the anime. It is filled many thought-provoking themes and moments and I cannot wait to dive back in!

Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness is a decent example of game from a niche genre. Just don't expect to be doing much more than advancing through dialogue screens and you'll enjoy yourself.