Capsule Silence XXIV was supposed to be a collaborative game between the digital band, Anamanaguchi, and new developer studio, NHX. In an undisclosed disagreement between the studio and the band, Anamanaguchi leaked their game demo to the public as backlash to the developers. The demo, however, is actually a disguise for a full game that has a new, in-game exclusive Anamanaguchi album of over 30 songs. Although every detail is crafted to make one think that this studio and band had an actual game planned, it was a viral marketing move used to promote their new album, but the game is a true treat to the followers of Anamanaguchi, newcomers and die-hard fans alike.
Upon starting the demo, the player begins playing in a very rough level of Capsule Silence XXIV. Upon progressing, the player will eventually hit an error, and a developer console will appear to notify the player of a bug that prevents progression. Within this developer console, the player can get help with different console commands, quit the game, change the gravity of the world, or access levels directly. Only two levels are available: the level the player started on, and a developer sandbox level that is not supposed to be accessible by players. If the player decides to load into the sandbox level, they will be greeted by the A.I. cassette player-companion, F.R.U.G., and can embark on an adventure to discover hidden cassette tracks scattered across the map.
As the player ventures through the sandbox, they will enter the rooms of the four main band members, Peter, Ary, James, and Luke. Inside each member’s rooms are tracks created by their respective room owner. In addition, each member’s room is decked out to give the player a sense of their personal life and personality. Real life pictures of the bandmates, inside member jokes, private emails regarding Capsule Silence XXIV, easter eggs, and random puzzles can be found through exploration, and most lead to a new track for the player to listen to.
When a new track is found, the player can use F.R.U.G.’s cassette player to listen to each discovered song. After listening, the player can insert a track onto a wall located at the center of the map. The wall can hold 30 tracks, but it only requires 10 tracks to be on the wall to unlock the ability to convert a track to MP3 format to download for personal use. However, the player must have also found a way to physically unlocked the MP3 converter itself since it has a lock on it from the start of the sandbox level.
Each song can be downloaded, but it comes at a catch. The MP3 converter is intentionally broken in the game, and it requires multiple playthroughs to download all of the songs.
Although finding songs is the main goal of the game, the player can also interact with each group member’s laptop and find emails to uncover the reasoning behind “leaking” Capsule Silence XXIV. The emails detail how production fell apart, the creative differences of the band and developers, and how Anamanaguchi began composing songs for their own personal desires. The laptops also feature some other personal tidbits about the the band and their fans.
These are all of the songs that are available to find and download:
1.) 1000
2.) 5am
3.) Capsule Silence
4.) Glass
5.) Just Dive
6.) Lilo (ft. Lindsay Lowend)
7.) PM Dawn
8.) Phase2X
9.) Rush
10.) Swan
11.) Time Moves On
12.) e-mode
13.) 949812398OOOO
14.) Crash(Crashed)
15.) F.R.U.G.
16.) Gurli
17.) H4rdcore Secret
18.) Miami Potato
19.) My Heart My Body
20.) Pearl
21.) Poisonous Gas
22.) Strawberry Love (ft. Amy Cakes)
23.) Sweet & Sour – Lovelyz (Anamanaguchi BOOtleg)
24.) Thinking About U
25.) Toi et Moi
26.) UR CRAZY 4 DIS 1
27.) Unalive
28.) XS
29.) <3
30.) FEELGOOD LAST ONE SERIOUSLY
31.) jj-FOREST WALK1
32.) gentle anxious 12-17
33.) pcj master 1-24
34.) sweet sunset loop NEW JUNO 1-28
35.) jj-when yr around1