Dacryphiliacs rejoice!

In a similar vein as Kokoro Scan (which uses voice input to guess mood, and also has a very bizarre trailer with one helluva earworm for a theme song), 99 Tears takes a step away from traditional genres to explore the human condition - or something like that.

99 Tears proposes that crying is a form of stress relief, and its aim is to coax those sweet tears out of you with user-targeted stories, pastel colors, and delicate piano music.

You can look at the trailers on the Japanese page here. The first one doesn’t tell you much, but the second one sets up the structure of the game a little.

You can also try out a demo here (though it’s 99.9% text, and in Japanese). You sally up to the bar, where “Master,” the most charming greyscale bartender I’ve yet to meet, will welcome you and ask you a few questions. Children, pets, and your general mood seem to be the demo’s prime concerns, but the trailer suggests even more interactivity and feedback, with good use of the DS’ touchscreen and built-in microphone.

This might be a uniquely Japanese game that never sees the west, or it might usher in a new genre of ladies’ lit DS games that take the place of daytime soaps and romance novels. In either case, it’s always refreshing to see a unique game experience hit the shelves.