Playing as Kira, you can disguise yourself to hide from members of the investigation team out to capture you. Every time you pass by surveillance cameras, they are alerted to your presence so you can choose to smash the cameras along the way. You also have of course, the Death Note at your disposal but unfortunately you don’t get to write in it. With a limited number of uses, you can deploy pieces of the Death Note as “traps” at locations where you think the investigation team will pass through next. The traps don’t stay effective for long however, and only lasts for two turns. If you just happened to have more than one member on your side, you can also transfer ownership just like in the story. Once any of the members fall into your traps they’re “retired”. Most of the Kira goals involve trapping a few of the members. If they manage to catch your Kira character without falling into these traps, it’s game over.


Ah, who will fall victim to my Death Note trap?

On the other hand, when you’re on the investigation team’s side you have the city cameras, hidden cameras, shortcuts and roadblocks as your tools. Just like the Death Note, they are limited in supply so you have to be careful where you put them on the map. As mentioned earlier, every time your Kira suspect or any other criminals pass by your network of cameras, you are notified about where they are. The catch is you can’t see them but they can see you.

What happens is areas of the map covered by your cameras are divided into one of three different colours; red, blue or green. There is usually two of each zone and the game will only let you know the colour of the zone your suspects were spotted in. Of course, you can also see any cameras being smashed and use turns to check camera footage to find out which direction the suspect was headed but they don’t always reveal something. Hidden cameras however, reveal their movements instantly when they’re caught on screen. Using these hints and your tools, you’ll have to corner Kira and run into him to apprehend him. If any of your key members fall into a Death Note trap (which are again invisible), it’s game over.


Setting up hidden cameras make catching Kira a tiny bit easier.

The strategy involved is fun but the sides feel somewhat unbalanced. As Kira, it’s all too easy to lure the investigation team members into your Death Note traps. All you have to do is smash a camera, wait for them to come close then place a trap where the camera is and the AI is guaranteed to fall for it. They always go around fixing broken cameras. With the investigation team, catching Kira or the suspect you’re after is harder because once the AI stays out of the surveillance zones, you’re pretty much out of luck. Since each map randomly deploys characters from each side, you’ll likely find yourself restarting maps several times to retry.

Besides the main story mode comprised of around 10 stages, you have a “Single Mode” which is basically a free map mode, a VS mode for wireless matches and a gallery to review all the Manga illustrations in the game. The jazz music’s really good and has that feeling of roaming the sprawling city maps.


Manga style artwork remains nicely done just like the last game.

“Death Note: L wo Tsugu Mono” is an entertaining original strategy game that is much more fun and complex than its predecessor. While it won’t have as much variety as an SRPG in terms of new items, equipment to use and environments to explore, the new goals and characters in each stage do give it some variety. Those who have watched the show or read the Manga already will probably not have much story to follow because it uses the very same scenarios but, fans of the artwork should have something to look at. This is another game for someone who’s looking for something a little more unique to play and most likely, Death Note fans too.


The only English you’ll find is in the opening really. Unlike the last “Kira Game” where there were few menus and friendly colour coded, symbolic text, the menus are a little more complex to navigate this time so it’ll take some effort to figure them out. Goals change but generally if there’s an “I” info icon on the maps, you have to go check them all out first with a certain character until a cut scene appears. Afterwards, you just fulfil your side of the role as Kira or the investigation team. However, without knowing Katakana at least, you’ll probably have a hard time catching Kira because the investigators side is pretty heavily hint dependant.

• Another interesting original, strategy type game for the DS.
  
• Graphics stay true to the Manga.
  
• Good jazz “city” music.
  
• Fairly easy to use control interface.
  
• Replayable maps with customisable goals.
  
• Skip button for lengthy story texts.
  
• A gallery for Death Note fans.

• Roles feel unbalanced. Kira role is too easy.
  
• Screen can be too small for the map.
  
• A restart option would be nice.
  
• Short, only takes a few hours to finish main mode.