PSYCHO-PASS: Mandatory Happiness has a confirmed release date and it's fast approaching. Recently confirmed to launch on the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita systems next month, your opportunity to delve into this successful anime-turned-game is nearing. Along with the release date announcement, a trailer was also revealed to celebrate the occasion.
Because we have yet to inform you about what this game is, and why you must be happy through mandate, I'll endeavor to quickly give you a recap of all that's been released about the game. If you just want the trailer or the extra screens, please scroll down to the bottom, although your happiness may drop.
Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness is based on the anime of the same title that came out in Japan two years ago. Popular enough to make it to the states, NIS America decided to take on the task of creating a game that is set in the universe, including bringing in new characters and ideas like the antagonist of our game, Alpha, who wants to make everyone in the world happy. He finds those who are either mentally unstable, by his standards, or close to the edge of the system's cut-off. Sometimes it doesn't always work out for him; however, those he saves normally view him as their savior.
Set in the year 2113, the government has turned into a Big Brother clone and profiles everyone for things called your Hue, someone's stress level, and their Crime Coefficient, or a value that is supposed to correspond to a person's capacity to commit a crime. You play as one of two main detectives, Nadeshiko Kugatachi (the calm, mysterious one) or Takuma Tsurugi (the hot-headed guy in search of a missing friend from his childhood). Both are members of the Criminal Investigation Department, or CID, and at the start of the game you look into the case of a girl who's been kidnapped by a boy. If you think that's a simple case to solve, here's a glimpse of the first section of our story.
The boy and girl used to be close friends before their relationship got hijacked by the girl’s mom, who pretended to be the girl and sent the boy a heartbreaking message via text. Confused and distraught, the boy’s emotions begin to spin out of control. Soon after, Alpha contacts the boy and offers to help him find the girl and achieve his happiness.
Thanks to Alpha’s genius hacking abilities, the boy successfully finds the girl, but blackmails her into staying with him for a night. She hesitates, but agrees. Ultimately, the girl’s mom calls the police and reports her daughter missing after she doesn’t come home that night.
Soon after, Division 1 receives information on the whereabouts of the boy and girl, and the chase begins. It is from this point, as either Kugatachi or Tsurugi, that you are entrusted to make important choices to find the suspect. From here the decisions you make could eventually lead to saving somebody’s life or pulling the trigger to end it.
From this point on, many of your decisions will have consequences further on into the game or will just end it outright. Be careful what you say or do for the government, and Alpha, is watching.
Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness will be available on September 16th for PlayStation 4 and Vita systems, both digitally and via retail.
We've got the full list of PSYCHO-PASS: Mandatory Happiness trophies - check the list for guides to unlocking them.