The Real Face of a VTuber - Unmask the truth behind the avatar: a hardboiled courtroom mystery where identity, performance, and fame collide. (Game Review)

The Real Face of a VTuber tightens its premise into a lean, character‑first courtroom thriller that blends hardboiled detective beats with the performative oddities of VTuber culture. You step into the shoes of prosecutor Justin Truth to untangle a grisly murder at Lilien Entertainment, where six employees each insist they are the “real face” behind Kuripa, an impossible alibi that turns every interview into a minefield.

The game turns identity, performance, and online spectacle into gameplay: sleuth through stream archives and social feeds, pry apart contradictory testimonies, and press witnesses until the truth cracks. It’s serious about its mystery but never dour; wry humor, eccentric suspects, and a taste for absurdity keep the tone lively while the stakes remain real, making each courtroom victory feel earned and every misstep sting.

Story and tone

The setup is deliciously strange: one brutal murder, six employees, and a tangle of impossible alibis built from livestreams, archived clips, and scattered online footprints. Every interview feels like peeling back a layer of performance, suspects trade barbs and pratfalls one moment and reveal brittle, believable motives the next, so you’re constantly recalibrating who’s playing a part and who’s hiding something. The game smartly blends earnest detective work with sharp comedic timing: the humor lightens the mood without ever letting you forget that someone’s life is on the line.

What elevates the mystery is how personality and evidence collide. You don’t just collect clues; you read people; pressing for contradictions, testing alibis against timestamps, and deciding whether a charming lie masks a darker truth. Your final accusation isn’t a formality but a judgment that reshapes the ending, rewarding careful deduction and punishing snap assumptions. The writing stays playful while respecting the stakes, and the game repeatedly reminds players that real‑world doxxing is off limits, keeping its satire pointed but responsible.

Investigation systems

The game splits detective work between classic legwork and modern digital forensics, and the blend feels deliberate and satisfying. You’ll conduct face‑to‑face interviews, pressure suspects for inconsistencies, then cross‑check their claims against Kuripa’s archived streams and an in‑game social feed. The interface treats online sleuthing like a proper tool rather than a gimmick: searching posts by keyword, scanning timestamps, and following comment threads all feel tactile and purposeful, and the fully browsable stream archive is a genuine reward for careful players and VTuber fans who enjoy digging through performance details.

Mechanically, the investigation loop is forgiving but meaningful. You can pursue leads at your own pace, and the game encourages replay and exploration rather than punishing mistakes; courtroom failures don’t force a restart, and hints only appear after repeated missteps, preserving challenge while preventing frustration. Small touches; like flagged inconsistencies, timestamp overlays, and discoverable Easter eggs in streams, make every discovery feel earned and often changes how you approach witness questioning.

• Searchable stream archives: Verify alibis, cross‑reference timestamps, and uncover hidden clues or Easter eggs.

• Social media investigation: Integrated into case flow; searching posts and comments yields actionable leads rather than filler.

• Hint system: Optional, unobtrusive help that appears only after repeated failures so puzzles stay solvable without being handed to you.

Courtroom gameplay

Court scenes cut straight to the heart of prosecution: questioning witnesses and presenting evidence. There’s no procedural padding, every moment in the courtroom is about finding contradictions, steering testimony, and forcing the truth into the open. You coach cooperative witnesses to deliver lines that strengthen your case, anticipate the defense’s tactics, and strike the instant a statement doesn’t line up with the facts.

The mechanics borrow the satisfying logic of classic visual‑novel trials but streamline the flow: quick, tense exchanges replace long detours, and the rhythm of argument and rebuttal keeps momentum high. When the defense slips, you get to call them out; present the right piece of evidence, shout the magic word, and watch a lie unravel. Those moments land hard; catching a contradiction feels decisive and earned.

• Focused pacing: courtroom segments are tight and dramatic; no filler, just the core duel of testimony versus proof.

• Interactive testimony: guide friendly witnesses to shape their statements and expose weak spots in opposing testimony.

• Cross‑examination payoff: presenting evidence at the right moment turns suspicion into revelation and delivers genuine satisfaction.

• Replay value: branching accusations and multiple endings reward replays, different choices reshape outcomes and reveal new angles.

Presentation and polish

For an indie release, The Real Face of a VTuber punches well above its weight. Sharp character writing and confident voice performances give each suspect distinct personality, and the soundtrack punctuates courtroom beats, many suspects even get their own interrogation theme, which makes questioning feel theatrical and memorable. The game’s technical design choices, like the searchable stream archive and social feed, are implemented with care and reward close reading, turning what could be a gimmick into a meaningful investigative tool.

That polish isn’t flawless. Localization and text formatting occasionally stumble; typos, mislabeled logs, and small UI glitches crop up, but they rarely derail the experience. A handful of players wanted a fuller sense of closure or a post‑trial reconstruction to tie loose threads together; the chapter system and tight pacing, however, make revisiting routes and uncovering alternate outcomes straightforward and satisfying. Overall, the package feels thoughtful and complete for its scope, with a few tidy fixes likely to elevate it further.

• Strengths: engaging cast; strong courtroom pacing; clever, well‑implemented stream archives that reward sleuthing.

• Weaknesses: minor localization and formatting issues; a few narrative threads left intentionally loose that some players may want resolved.

Final Verdict

The Real Face of a VTuber is a clever, tightly written murder mystery that marries courtroom drama with the weird, performative world of VTubers. It lacks the production sheen of big‑budget visual novels, but it more than makes up for that with a memorable, well‑acted cast, a genuinely useful social‑media investigation system, and courtroom mechanics that keep the tension taut and the pacing brisk.

The game rewards careful reading and replay, digging through stream archives and cross‑checking testimonies feels satisfying, and multiple accusation paths give the story real replay value. Expect a few localization hiccups and some intentionally loose narrative threads, but those are small tradeoffs for a compact, character‑driven mystery that consistently entertains.

Watch and Wishlist

• Why wishlist: Get notified about updates, DLC, and patch notes; be first to grab new routes, bonus content, and playtest invites, and note the game has streaming restrictions, so wishlist to catch any changes to those rules.

• Platforms to track: Steam (primary PC storefront); watch console stores (Nintendo, PlayStation, Xbox) for potential ports and platform announcements from the developer/publisher.

• How to stay informed: Wishlist and follow the Steam page; follow developer 莉莉恩工作室 and publisher WhisperGames on social media; join the official Discord and check the Community Hub for devlogs, patch notes, and streaming guidance.

• Price perspective: $11.99, modest price for a replayable, character‑driven courtroom mystery with multiple endings and post‑launch support potential.

Key Takeaways

• What it is: A compact, character‑driven courtroom mystery where you play prosecutor Justin Truth, investigating a murder at a VTuber agency and untangling impossible livestream alibis.

• Core loop: Investigate by interviewing suspects, combing stream archives and social feeds, then prosecute in focused courtroom duels where evidence and testimony collide.

• Investigation tools: A tactile social‑media search and fully browsable stream archive make digital sleuthing meaningful and reward careful players and VTuber fans.

• Courtroom gameplay: Tight, fast‑paced trials emphasize questioning and evidence presentation, cross‑examinations land hard and branching accusations change endings.

• Presentation: Strong character writing, solid voice work, and a punchy soundtrack elevate the drama; minor localization and formatting glitches appear but rarely derail the experience.

• Replay and value: Multiple accusation paths and optional routes encourage replays; priced at $11.99, it’s an affordable, replayable mystery with good bang for the buck.

• Caveats: Occasional text/formatting roughness and a few intentionally loose narrative threads; note streaming restrictions on some segments.

Game Information:

Developer: 莉莉恩工作室

Publisher: WhisperGames

Platforms: PC (reviewed)

Release Date: January 13, 2026

Score: 8.5 / 10

The Real Face of a VTuber is a near‑complete courtroom mystery: sharp writing, memorable suspects, and a genuinely useful social‑media investigation system make sleuthing feel fresh and rewarding. Courtroom mechanics are taut and satisfying, replay value is high thanks to branching accusations, and the game’s tone balances seriousness with playful satire. Minor localization hiccups and a few intentionally loose narrative threads keep it from perfection, but they’re small blemishes on an otherwise excellent, highly replayable experience.

“8.5 / 10 - A clever, character‑first mystery that turns livestream sleuthing into courtroom fireworks.”