Reiji Fujita once worked at The Metropolitan Museum
of Art as an administrative director but because of
dastardly circumstances, he was fired. Since his
termination, Reiji has started his own gallery in a
pedestrian part of town. Known as Gallery Fake, the
squat building sits in an industrial district near a
pier in Tokyo and is named appropriately for the
reproductions of masterpieces that Reiji purveys.
The business would be entirely humdrum were it not
for the curator of Takada Museum's accusations
against Gallery Fake. Sayako Mitamura asserts that
Reiji deals in the resale of stolen paintings and
uses Gallery Fake as a clever cover-up to hide
illicit transactions.
Assisting Reiji at the gallery is Ms
Sara Halifa who learns about the art world under
Reiji's tutelage and auspicious umbrella.
The PSP Gallery Fake game starts off
in a gallery where two silhouetted figures are
discussing Van Gogh's Sunflowers painting that was
purchased by Yasuda Fire and Marine Insurance
Company, Ltd for $39 million in March 1987. One is a
policeman and the other is Sayoko Mitamura. The art
appreciation continues until Sayoko notices
something amiss in the painting...
Some background information: In
the second episode of the Gallery Fake animation,
there's a flashback where lead Fujita helps Sayoko
Mitamura determine that her newly acquired
"Sunflowers" by Van Gogh is a fake but eventually
gives her the real painting in exchange for the fake
which was owned by assistant Sara's family before
they were killed.
Some more background information:
The Yasuda Sunflowers painting has been described as
a fake by journalist Geraldine Norman and author
Martin Bailey, among others. Countering their
assertions are art professor Bogomila Welsh-Ovcharov
and Van-Gogh scholar Walter Feilchenfeldt, among
others.
The action begins and the scene
shifts to Sara walking into Gallery Fake. The game
is played in interactive flick-screen style where
text is read on the bottom of the screen and flick
screen artwork flashes on the main portion of the
screen. Fujita greets Sara and the two banter. Spot
animations are featured along with simple sound
effects. Fujita recollects a bit of his past when
co-worker Max Watson had him fired from the Met
because Fujita uncovered his attribution scheme
where authentic works were swapped for fakes and
sold to the a collector named Bill Travers.
Later on, the policeman from the
gallery shows up at Gallery Fake. The game proper
begins at this point where various statements may be
posed to the policeman to gather clues as to what he
knows and the current state of the Sunflowers
investigation.
The aim of the scenarios in Gallery
Gake is to "Break a Fake" or interrupt a normal
conversation when a questionable statement or
assertion is spouted by the counterparty. Japanese
language comprehension is a must in this game and
trial and error won't work in some particularly
intensive sequences.
When speaking to the policeman, the
point at which to intercept the action with the
"TRIANGLE" button is when he appears to be in a
state of consternation. Watch his facial expression
for the cue since he'll frown and his brows will
furrow deeply when it's time to break in.
1st Break a Fake
Select the 4th option
2nd Break a Fake
Select the 1st option
3rd Break a Fake
Select the 2nd option
Successful choices will be met with
a "Break" screen where hero smiles in a devilish
self-satisfied manner. When the interrogation is
over, a CLEAR screen appears which tallies up what
was learned. After each scene is cleared, the option
is given to save the data.
The next scene starts immediately
afterwards at the police station. The same policeman
asks Fujita about the Sunflowers painting and what
he knows about it. Information culled from the first
interaction will prove useful in clearing this scene
as Fujita works towards proving of disproving the
authenticity of the Sunflowers painting.
A total of eight chapters are
included in the game and the secrets in each
scenario must be uncovered before the conclusion.
Each bit of information gleaned by interacting with
characters will help in solving the puzzle so again,
Japanese reading comprehension is a must to enjoy
the game. NCS would not recommend purchasing this
product if your Japanese skills are rough but it is
a useful tool to practice Japanese if you're
learning the language.
