Urban Myth Dissolution Center
Rating: 9 of 10
Not only are we living in a golden age of horror gaming, it’s an era where so many different aesthetics are being used to their maximum output. Whether it’s the gorgeous photorealism of Still Wakes the Deep, the rust-colored polygons of Mouthwashing, or the stark, 8-bit fare like World of Horror, the one thing you cannot accuse the current gaming landscape of is a lack of diverse style.
As the picture above probably gave away, Urban Myth Dissolution Center falls firmly in the 8-bit category. This simple graphics don’t detract in the least from the sense of dread and terror it creates. The relatively minimalist presentation, combined with occasional trippy full animated sections, makes it unreal and nightmarish when it decides to drop the everything for the big monster appearances.
Urban Myth Dissolution Center is the latest game from Shueisha, previously known for spin-off narrative adventures set in the world of My Hero Academia and Death Note. This outing is also heavily narrative. The main gameplay loop is the main character, Azami, investigating various appearances of classic urban myths to try and solve mysteries. Doing this involves point and click sections on location, sleuthing through social media posts, interviewing subjects, and using a set of special glasses that allow Azami to see images from the past.
The latter is kind of a clunky tool to use in practice, but it solves one of the great old problems of modern gaming. Lots of titles with mystery elements like the Batman Arkham franchise and that dreadful Call of Cthulhu adaptation from 2018 basically give the protagonist the ability to see events from the past as a form of deductive sixth sense that bordered on unexplained superpower. Urban Myth Dissolution Center does away with the pretense and just tells you Azami can see through time, but not very well. It’s a simple, but elegant trick that lets Urban Myth Dissolution Center play with creepy ghost imagery and keep the story moving briskly.
The narrative is where Urban Myth Dissolution Center really shines. This is essentially The Magnus Archives: The Game, right down to the enigmatic all-seeing director of the titular institute. In less than an hour, the game establishes a pretty complicated, yet understandable cosmology that explains how urban myths are supernatural events and mundane mysteries at the same time. Just when you think a ghost is closing in, it turns out to just be some normal stalker, and when you let your guard down after a Scooby Doo moment of unmasking, the sinister power of myth to make monsters is revealed.
It’s not perfectly done. Azami has to make deductions by filling in blanks in sentences, and this can be very picky and janky. For instance, the player has to say two characters went somewhere, filling in the names. However, if you gies Character A went with Character B instead of Character B went with Character A, it will write the entry off as wrong. It’s possible that moments like this are part of a translation problem between Japanese and English, but it’s annoying.
The game is also not very challenging. Most mystery titles aren’t, but Urban Myth Dissolution Center doesn’t even do the obligatory weird puzzles you see in something like the Enigmatis series. You don’t really notice things like that help break up the gameplay until they’re gone. Making wrong deductions has no consequences, and the social media searching events can’t end until you find all the clues. There is a lot of handholding in Urban Myth Dissolution Center. It’s not bad if you’re looking for a low-challenge scary story, but there were moments I wondered why I didn’t just go read a novel instead.
Then again, Urban Myth Dissolution Center blindsides players with these deliciously sinister vibes. The 8-bit world feels very haunted. Despite the supernatural elements, it’s far more grounded than most horror titles. There’s is an undeniable edge to Urban Myth Dissolution Center that slices at the player out of nowhere. Playing this game scared the heck out of me.
Urban Myth Dissolution Center is available Wednesday, February 12 on PlayStation 5, Switch, and PC. $17.99
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.
