The best way to describe “Lifesigns” would probably be a Japanese take on “Scrubs” or “Green Wing”. Think Phoenix Wright practising in a hospital theatre rather than a courtroom.
Lifesigns has a bit of a history in Japan and this is the second game in the series.The first being Kenshuui Tendo Dokatu which was released in 2004. It really is great to see more of these localised quirky Japanese games filtering through courtesy of companies such as Jowood
In the same vein as Lux Pain, Lifesigns is very much an interactive story following the relationships and dramas of hospital staff and patients. You don’t just carry out a series of faceless operations, you are actively and emotionally involved in each surgery.
Lifesigns begins with our protagonist , Dr Tendo having a bizarre dream (this really sets the tone for the rest of the game!) which introduces several characters involved in Tendo’s soap opera of a life. We get our first look at Tendo’s immediate boss Suzu-Sensei (one of many women who flirts outrageously with Tendo), his biological father Professor Sawai and other medical staff before Tendo wakes. The real “normal” game storyline then begins and Tendo, now in his second year, is assigned a new intern to keep an eye on who is struggling to cope with the pressure. Dr Tendo does what Doctors do – walk round the hospital interacting with co-workers and checking up on patients until he’s called to theatre.
A hotspot map is available allowing you to visit the different areas of the hospital such as the nurses station, canteen, reception, heli pad (!) etc. Tap on the screen to take you to that location and if somebody is available to interact with, the character will appear. Along the top of the screen a selection of icons will appear when “medical records” is selected. If you want to discuss any of the issues on the icons drag onto character or just tap the character for additional information/ discussion. When the correct conversation topic is selected there will be a little jingle noise. Select “transfer” to get back to map and go to a new location.
Now for the fun bit – surgery .
Lifesigns is unique in that it also offers the player the power of diagnosis. This is performed by scrolling up and down the body, using either the stylus or d pad, picking out the area of complaint and examining with either hands, eyes or stethoscope. After the diagnosis we progress to surgery .Here we interact with the other theatre staff – the anaesthesiologist, and assistants. All your instruments are supplied as and when you need them and press the L/R buttons to see the line of the required incision etc. A health bar is located at the top of the screen but can diminish pretty quickly if you’re carrying out a new procedure that you haven’t quite got the hang of yet and then its resuscitation or game over. Thankfully it automatically asks you to save before each operation.
There are some mini-games interspersed to break things up. These include gathering fruit rolling down a road, fishing , and air hockey and give a brief, welcome change.
All-in-all the game has various endings depending on Tendo’s actions and dialogues. The replay ability of the game is excellent –make one minor change in play to see where the story takes you however (and this is my only grumble concerning Lifesigns), there is only one save slot. It would’ve been nice to pick up the game at certain points to put this into action but it is not possible and you have to start from the beginning again.
Graphically Lifesigns doesn’t disappoint. The cute anime character animation is good with plenty of emotion on display – feel the screen shudder when a character is angry and even the surgical masks move on the characters faces when in dialogue.The backgrounds are suitably drawn with only a few opportunities to interact with them such as Tendo picking something up. The sound effects are good too but, be warned, there are no voices so you will have to read through the conversations.
Marks out of 10
Sound: 7.5 – witty and good sound effects
Graphics: 8– Quirky anime style characters with strong emotional display
Gameplay: 8– Bold storyline(s), introducing diagnosis to hospital sim and solid surgical gameplay
Lifespan: 9 – worth revisiting time and again to change storyline
Top Star goes to Professor Sawai who’s dressed for the wrong game ! A Beethoven hairstyle and Austin Powers shirt and jacket. Courage.
Twitchy recommends Lifesigns highly
