New Sonic the Hedgehog visual novel lets you solve Sonic’s murder — and it’s free
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What you need to know
No, this isn’t a joke.
In celebration of April Fool’s Day, Segasharedthe news that there’s a new visual novel called The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog available onSteamfor free. This would be your usual run-of-the-mill April Fool’s Day joke, except for one small detail: It’s a real game. You can check out the launch trailer below:
This point-and-click adventure has you playing as Amy Rose, who is holding a murder mystery party for her birthday. When Sonic appears to die though, things take a serious turn.
Due to the low requirements — the game requires a nugatory 2 GB of RAM and 500 MB of free space — you’ll hardly need one of thebest gaming laptopsto check out The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, just any basic Windows PC.
The game’s Steam page is appropriately self-aware, noting that this isn’t a Team Sonic title, but that you can believe in the power of headcanon. If you’re looking for a big change of pace after playing Sonic Frontiers, The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog is available right now for free.
Windows Central’s take
A large number of April Fool’s jokes done by companies simply aren’t funny. Every now and again there’s a real gem though, and that’s the case here. Well done, Sega.
As a sidebar, because of how many companies dismissively use the genre of visual novels for their April Fool’s gags, it’s refreshing to see a companyactuallyrelease the game in question. Visual novels can be really great and I honestly wish more companies would release small spinoffs or experimental titles using that format.
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Samuel Tolbert is a freelance writer covering gaming news, previews, reviews, interviews and different aspects of the gaming industry, specifically focusing on Xbox and PC gaming on Windows Central. You can find him on Twitter@SamuelTolbert.
