Get ready for a deep dive into the unknown, because the 1992 NEC PC-9801 visual novel, Dead of the Brain has received a fan translation.
So, backing up, the PC-98 is the last of a line of NEC computers released through the ‘80s and into the ‘90s in Japan. I could get more technical about it, but basically, these computers provided dedicated ecosystems to games, and they largely remained in Japan, where they were popular. This means that there’s an entire beloved subset of games that most Westerners were locked out of. Even among the more informed retro gamers, the games remained obscure, but awareness of them has been growing. Within the indie market, games like Stonks 9800 and World of Horror have even coopted their aesthetic (PC-98 and PC-88, respectively).
Anyway, Dead of the Brain was the first in the “Nightmare Collection” which wound up consisting of three games. It’s a point-and-click adventure game mixed with heavy visual novel elements. What makes it stand apart is its extremely gory presentation. In fact, I don’t even know what else to say about it, other than the fact that it’s very gory as well as some potential nudity – but not the fun kind.
Dead of the Brain was also released on the PC-Engine (TurboGrafx-16), MSX, FM Towns, and Sharp X68000.
Nonetheless, with the growing popularity of NEC’s PC lineup in the West, it’s the perfect time to get a fan translation. The crew behind it state that this translation was made from the ground up and is not related to the PC-Engine or Retronomicon PC-98 translations.
If you’re interested, you can obtain the Dead of the Brain fan translation patch over here.
