Urban Myth Dissolution Center

About Urban Myth Dissolution Center

Urban Myth Dissolution Center is a mystery adventure in pixel art by the Japanese team Hakababunko, known for Makoto Wakaido's Case Files, published by Shueisha Games in February 2025. The centre of the title is a small private agency that works as a sort of detective agency for anomalies: cursed relics, rental properties with a shady past, dimensional anomalies and the oddities behind rumours that spread online.

You play Azami Fukurai, pushed into a part-time job at the centre after breaking a supposedly cursed chair. Through her glasses she can see the intentions and residual thoughts people leave behind in a room. Her boss, Director Ayumu Meguriya, is a psychic who works from his wheelchair at the office and divines what each oddity really is, while the field investigator Jasmine does the driving, the surveillance and the rough work.

A case plays in two halves. First you investigate: you walk Azami across side-view scenes, question the client and witnesses, and search an in-game social network with keywords to find posts, photos and rumours. Then you answer the deduction questions, choosing from options or filling blanks with phrases you have found, and the case moves on once you get it right. You can try as often as you need, so the challenge is in following the trail rather than in hard puzzles.

The horror comes from the myths and the people they reach: a figure in a red hoodie that turns up in someone's photos, a room left covered in blood, clients with something to hide. The pixel art leans on a few strong colours, so the red of blood and the red hood stand out sharply against cold blue scenes. Reviewers compare its pace to a procedural TV show, with each case building toward a larger story. The main story takes about 13 hours.

It suits players who like Japanese horror mysteries such as Spirit Hunter, with the twist that your main tool is a search bar. Players who want to hide from a monster or fight one should look elsewhere.

How to play Urban Myth Dissolution Center

1. Take a new case at the centre and listen to the client's story.
2. Walk through the places involved, examine people and objects, and put on Azami's glasses to see what others left behind.
3. Search the in-game social network with keywords you have found to turn up posts and photos about the myth.
4. Answer the deduction questions, picking options or filling blanks with phrases from the case, to identify what is behind the myth.
5. Carry what you learned into the next case as the larger story builds.

Tips

• Note unusual words and names in posts; they are often the next search term.
• If you are stuck, go back over the clue list and look for one you have not searched yet.
• Wrong answers in a deduction cost nothing, so try again if a choice does not fit.
• Read the posts closely, including dates and photos, since small details decide the deductions.

Questions