The Best Detective Game You Never Knew Existed - Chulip 

Yoooo! Big news! The Funny Cola conundrum has been solved! In the japanese version of the game, it DOES actually say "サッカー デンポウ" when you check the screen. That line was just straight up gone in english. It translates to "Soccer Dempou", which in turn translates to "Canned Drink, to insert". So the solution was there all along, but the english dub messed it up!

Love how you turn the main complaint of the game into its strength. The attention to detail put into this video is wonderful, hopefully this video will grab the attention it deserves and spark the community (to possibly help getting a full wiki). Looking forward to future content.

The WayneradioTV playthrough of this game is required watching. In this house, we love and appreciate Leo

This is INSANE. I'm a hardcore fan of this game and I've never seen half of this stuff. I think the people who have discovered the game through watching others play have gotten so hung up on the idea that the game is obscure and must be played with a guide that we've forgotten to actually explore it.

My favourite let's Play on all of youtube is the Stephenplays let's play of it. Stephen and his wife 100% the game and with his wife having done that before and Stephen having barely played. His wife's passion was so evident and made the let's play so enjoyable.

Chulip is one of my favorite games, mainly because of its art direction and atmosphere; I always forgave the "bad design" because of how unique an experience it is. I had no idea the breadcrumb trails and investigative aspect were this encompassing and that such systems gave the answers to many of the game's "unsolvable" puzzles. I assumed it was obtuse because of developer oversight, seeing as how the US localization shipped with a strategy guide instead of a manual, as if to say "you will NEVER figure this out on your own!". Thank you for this extremely well-made video and for making me discover a whole new game behind one I already loved so much. Definitely giving this a re-play using the name cards and showing items to everybody as my only guide. P.S. Your Chulip 2 pitch rules. Send this video to Onion Games if you haven't yet!

This is amazingly detail oriented and respectful to the source material even in listing complaints and potential corrections. You've done quite a bit of detective work yourself in creating this video and I thank you for it. I really liked Chulip because of the free-roaming detective aspects you described. I considered the brutality of the setting (as extremely well executed alongside punishing gameplay) and the boy's search for love (not only romantic, but altruistic, at least in my neurotic interpretation) to represent that doing good isn't always rewarded with a +10 gig killa axe or even thanks. Doing good isn't easy, but it is rewarding and intimate, as represented with the kiss.

Is this ur first RU-vid channel there is no way u just started this good

Yaknow, I think your more goofy-premise videos like the Uncharted one and the Smash Math series are great, and even commented on another video saying that I think that's your strong suit, but after watching this video again I would really love more videos like this specifically focusing on completely obscure games that very few people are even aware of. You did a fantastic job of getting me invested in a game I had literally never heard of before.

I loved all the detail you put into this video, and can tell that you really do care about this game. I think your Chulip2 idea is wonderful and would love to see it one day....

Chulip was one of those things that had retreated back to the furthest corner of my mind.

Him: So I started this RU-vid Channel right His Friend: Oh yeah you showed me the nicely edited Channel Trailer. Him: Yeah I wanna start making high quality Videos right from the beginning Friend: So what will be your first actual video? Him: Oh just a video about this unknown game its whatever, will be 1 hour long yknow. Some days later, christmas:

23:43 "I am a cat. I have no name" is the opening line of Natsume Soseki's classic novel "I Am a Cat"

quite the interesting deep dive of one of my favorite games! I think these feel like a good natural progression of the game's base mechanics. (ps. could ya spare a boy that translation of the strategy guide you mentioned?)

Instead of just a little progress marker on the pause screen, I think it would be great if "Chulip 2" had an equivalent to Majora's Mask's 'Bomber's Notebook', showing the scheduled routines of the people you're at least acquaintances with. Maybe even with a unique tab where you can review the dialogue of what any character in the game said about any *_other_* character's name card, as long as you've shown it to them prior.

I beat Chulip for the first time about week ago. Seeing your video's title pop-up in my recommendations made me really commit to the detective angle, cause it made perfect sense. I resorted to using a guide only when I needed a nudge in the right direction to kick off a quest, just to keep in spirit of working through it on my own. I actually lucked into the Funny Cola solution without looking for the solution or even reading about the missing dialogue. My logic was it had to be used somewhere as a quest item since it doesn't restore any health and folks like Batayan say they drink it and it gives them energy. So energy = fuel source? I don't know, it was of those "oh I guess that's how that works" moments I can laugh about in retrospect. Great vid showing off the real strengths of this little gem.

I love seeing new analysis style channels pop up. This was a great first video. really strong concept for a series.

This was so well organized and achieved I’m surprised it was your first video! Absolutely excited for your next one

This is such a great analysis, and the concept for Chulip 2 sounds like it'd be fantastic, I wish I could just make it happen myself. I remember Game Grumps playing (the start of) this game way back in the first year of their channel. I was intrigued by it then and always found it a shame that they never returned to it... Now, though, I've half a mind to find a way to experience it for myself. Incidentally, while it's quite a bit simpler in execution than "Chulip 2", some similar elements appear in "Smile for Me", a little game inspired by Psychonauts (and most likely Chulip, too) that also has a fun quirky art style and a similar theme of helping out a community of oddball characters. Smile for me lets you take pictures of characters to present to others to hear about them. I personally enjoyed it quite a bit and would recommend you check it out if you haven't!

I've watched this video so many times and your ideas for a hypothetical sequel have scratched my brain so many times that it's inspired me to make my own detective game

thank you for taking the time, effort and patience to give this game a fully-fledged shot it deserves, it's a hidden (and maybe kinda rough) gem, imo

The best games are the ones where at first you're like "this is actual hell who would want to live on this world" but as longer as you play it you start getting attached to the characters and is now like "why cant i go to this place irl"

Definitely one of the best videos I've watched in a while. This channel is fantastic and I sincerely hope you get much more attention because your content is impeccable. I know everyone in the comments has already commented about how fantastic this video (and your entire channel) is, but it truly is entertaining content that you don't see very often. I hope to see more videos of yours in the future and I can't wait to be blown away by your next video!

I came from the smash video but absolutely loved what you've done here. Great in depth video about a game I didn't care about, you know it's good when you watch an hour of content about an obscure title you have no particular interest in. Kudos to you sir.

That was an amazing video. It felt like you took the viewer on a journey. I ended up watching the entire video in one session. Great Work!

I do enjoy this video and come back to it now and again to savour not only the weird majesty of game but the exhaustive deep dive as well!

I love this concept. I do think people coming back from Chulip 1 would miss Her/the girl, after Chu/the boy spent so much time working to fall in love with her (and there not being a reason for them to break up rather than go long-distance, since neither of them is pursuing someone new here), so I wonder if it could be a cute feature to have her taking a role similar to your now-missing dad, talking with Chulip over the phone or a messaging program at the end of a day and giving him updates on news. "I saw someone saying that a poor boy got in a fight with a bully. I bet that was you, wasn't it? You always get into stupid situations." That sort of comment with the fun ribbing way she talks to Chu. Maybe she could also give hints on finding characters to start their first quest when the player is stuck, that sort of thing, like if you aren't sure where to find the next person you need (maybe if you missed the dialogue or something) when you next talked to Her on the phone she'd mention an area you could investigate the next day.

I'm so glad more people are talking about this game. Definitely one of my favorites and this video is a great representation of it.

31:05 If you do want to play some other detective games that do this, Return of the Obra Dinn does it virtually perfectly, and Her Story does it to an extent as well. La-Mulana is really obtuse at times but it also does it really well in a few areas.

I love you're type of content you make now (although it's not even that different) I really like the analysis of games and how to improve them too!

Just watched your Smash video the other day, and even left a comment about you using Chulip as a predicted character goof. I love this game so much, can't wait to watch this when I have the time and hear what you have to say! UPDATE: Alright, finally got through it and I'm in shock! I never knew about being able to trade cards with people and showing others their name card to get info on them! That's such an awesome feature that the game... doesn't really tell you about, ever. A Chulip 2 would be amazing with your ideas! Good stuff man. I consistently go back and watch the StephenPlays walkthrough of the game, haha.

Great video man. damn that was thorough. I really like your new ideas too. So glad someone on this site did this game justice by bringing it up and exploring it! Felt like there were some details you could've mentioned that make the game's atmospheric madness so endearing (like the uncanny dialogue, music, art style and voices of the characters), but I ain't complainin' over a 45 minute video on this legendary piece of entertainment. I remember playing this with my friend and it was such a unique experience... every session we'd get mindblown over some crazy shit the game pulled off. Despite it having frustrated us a LOT, we hold it dearly in our hearts, so thanks for the worthy love you gave it

2 things A: How do you have only 2000 subs B: how did you get inside a mind to voice a review at 53:17 I would most certainly play that sequel

WOW! This video is so freaking amazing, thank you so much! Insta-sub, I’ve always wanted to know more about this game and I love the way you structured the video to be both informative and opinion based. Just really really well done and I’m tempted to just watch it all over again now but I’m gonna watch your other videos first. Really excellent work here, I’m excited to have found such a cool channel just from searching for Chulip videos. I also want to play this game more than ever now...

I played this game so much as a kid its sad to see how little attention it got

I made a quick research about "Heno Cola" problem and find a blog entry mentions the solution of the puzzle. shinichihashimoto.seesaa.net/article/463225550.html I've never play this game myself, so I really don't know for sure but I guess it's a translation problem. Probably somebody forgot to put a subtitle or something. FYI according to the article, after space man tells you he forgot a password, he presents you a prompt. If you pick "Ohagi (means yes in space man's language)" on prompt, he tells you "Sakka, Denpou (soccor, telegram in English)". This message is somehow translated to "put in a soda can". It's on third screen in the blog article I mentioned above. I don't even understand what I'm writing here...but it's the explanation in the blog article. It seems to be real crazy game. I'm kinda intrigued though.

Man, this video and the concept of designing sequels is great (or more generally "backseat designing"). I am a bit sad to see you haven't really returned to the idea.

I love these videos on obscure games like this, especially when it's as well done as this (though maybe tune down on the SFX for every bit of graphic moving though that's a pet peeve. Something I'd like to add is that I noticed a lot of satirical takes on the qualms of a Japanese lifestyle. I am not Japanese, nor am I saying these problems are uniquely Japanese, but I am a fan and I'm stating this since the it is presented through a Japanese lens with obvious nods to Yokai, the scribble face, and Japanese households. Japanese have a tendency to overwork. The average salaryman in Japan has an 80 hour work week as insane as that sounds. This has led to low birth rates and high suicide rates. The section of the main story and the side character's plot involving the factory work is extremely reminiscent of these situations. There are other smaller things I noticed but for the sake of me getting back to studying quicker (midterms!) the main point is that social commentary through cartoonist satire seems to be a rather big part of its identity you failed to mention. Maybe the sequel can have commentary on American social issues like outrageous medical bills, lack of paternity and maternity leave, or the large amount of school/mass shootings. Or it can be about more Japanese social issues, it's just an example. Once again, amazing video!

I've been thinking about Chulip ever since I first saw this video a few months back - I'm gonna have to find a way to play it! It's absolutely wild to me how much the framing can affect players' experience, and I'm glad someone gave this funky little game another look

I wanted to smack my head at 45:36. in the Alien Dictionary "Canned Juice" was indeed the answer, its mistranslated. In Japan, there isnt really a word for soda; 'canned juice' has been used to describe soda, even coke. Manga in particular confuse it ALL THE TIME when its being translated to english: they will take what it literally says and use 'juice' when characters are drinking a can of coke/soda. Ramune has also been called 'juice'

This was an amazing video. I literally just revisited Chulip last week because I never finished it but loved it. Before I got stuck on the alien quest unsurprisingly lol. Because I'm studying game design right now I've been thinking about a Chulip sequel ever since I completed the game last week. And I agree so much with this video, I came up with a very similar approach but way more vague still. One big difference is that I thought it would've been interesting if the player was playing as "the boy" and "the girls" child. With the game taking place 20 years later. This way the setting can feel fresh (even though I love the current setting) and we can further explore these two characters in the sequel with them having new "relatable" problems the player has to solve. One I came up with is that the girl feels unhappy with how the boy turned out, giving it an interesting parallel to her own mother struggling with his husband, with a similar redemption arc as well. But for all the gameplay you decided to keep, expand and remove I think you nailed it. Those are exactly why the few people who played it or seen it from game grumps absolutely love this game.

Okay, I just watched all three of your main videos and this is amazing content. I'm super surprised that the quality is this stellar and that the editing is top notch. I have never heard of this game before today and this is actually sounding so weird and intriguing that I have to see how it plays out. Also you actually got in contact with the director of the game? If so, that is extremely impressive.

This video is amazing! You did a very good job, especially considering it's your first! I don't normally comment, on videos but I'm trying to tell RU-vid that your videos get audience interaction.

absolutely cracking video -- thanks for sharing this really cool game with us x

Omg why am I so late at finding this, this is literally my favorite game I randomly find when I was 10. You manage to uncover so much about this game & even I watch a lot gameplay of chulip (because I can't finish it on my own when I was a kid). Hands down, the most interesting game there is. The character, the idea, the story and even the music is well thought of. I actually like the idea that you have to read a manual to finish this game because that the unique of it, it some sort of doing things out of the box. I might not be able to finish it when I was 10 but I had the most fun.

chulip owns and i'm glad we're finally heading into people doing deep dives into its design. defs gonna be looking forward to what other games you'll be analyzing in the future! (also, i was a commentator on one of the LPs showcased, hope ya enjoyed it, despite our confusion around some of the puzzle's solutions)

absolutely fantastic content man!! you totally deserve my sub

this is probably the most high quality unknown you tube channel ever.

Hearing about this game, and finding out it was made by the same people who made Moon, convinced me to go out of my way and follow them on Twitter! I would have LOVED to play these games as a kid!!!!

As someone who has been taking a lot of inspiration from this game to conceptualize their own game, this video really gave me a lot of ideas so i'd like to give thanks for that

Chulip is basically the culmination of [Moon Remix Rpg] + [ufo - a day in the life]. A legit good and cozy game if the player just chill and play it slowly, uncovering their dialogue and events naturally. I disagree greatly with whoever uses a walkthrough for this kind of game, as it kills the sense of exploration and discovery, taking what is a life simulation experience and turning it into a checklist. Just like similar games (radiata stories and Else heart break), existing in that world and meeting npcs that are "alive" is the reward, not getting to the ending.

Really amazing job and a great idea for a game! Did the pieces of game art you used for your examples come from the strategy guide?

it's actually really unfortunate the name card system wasn't emphasized as it is a carryover from Kimura's previous game, moon. there are also name cards in that game, and the system is clearly explained to you as a custom in the kingdom once you receive your first card, and you can show all sorts of cards and items to other NPCs in the game. it seems the designers must have really found a lot of value in this system, but the overall design + poor translation ended up not letting it shine. i was reading some of Kimura's dev journals on the onion games website and he acknowledges that Chulip was poorly designed and he still lacked a lot of experience then. i'm very excited for their new game, Stray Children. it'll be interesting to see what the team has learned over the years.

Amazing! Keep doing what you're doing!

You know I get pen and paper is a thing, more effort, but also putting the pen and paper mechanic in the game would be nice. I'm not saying you have to automatically note everything down, maybe put that as an easy mode, but like give the character like a hint, like they have a thinking animation when something of note was said or done, and maybe even allow the player to pull out a notebook to write notes down. I know it takes more effort to add things like this in, but it has layers of fun...in fact if you do have the player automatically write stuff down you could add mechanics to play with that, maybe someone edits notes on the player when they aren't looking, or something...so if you do keep a second set of notes you might notice a change easily...or you could have the last note get edited really poorly to let the player know something is wrong, because if a small change was made they could have just make a miscalculation, but if the entire sentence is something else entirely, maybe even super long, or really short...well it's just food for thought.

I love Chulip, play it all the time on my phone when i have downtime at work. Would recommend 10/10

I found this game at a discount store YEARS ago, and I loved how weird and different it was. I’m super stoked to hear a sequel is planned!

Hey ! I really liked the image you made of all of the art for the characters in a big block. Id be interested in buying a shirt or a poster of it! :]]

Great video! Other long form videos like this would be great, maybe even on Persona :D

So I just started Moon, which some of the developers of Chulip worked on, and I think the entire detective stuff you loved here is all over there. And same with the day cycle and human personality stuff. The obtuseness seems shared too but it’s still early and I just getting the hang of it. But yeah I wonder what you might think of their first go at this type rod system

How can he have such high quality videos with amazing premises, and not have more than 5000 subscribers? It's kinda baffling tbh

Just wanted to say I come back to this video all the time. I would love to see a similar deep dive for “Moon: RPG Remix Adventure” which is sort of the pre cursor to Chulip. Made by the same team but under a different development name; Kimura was designer on both. Edit: Ha, didn’t realize this video came out after the Moon re release, and that you mentioned it towards the end of the vid.

I think I must have been awake too long today I cannot get my head around what is unfolding before my eyes All of this is real?? I must try harder tomorrow, lest I uncover another PlayStation 2 detective game about kissing strangers

Just realised that noise in the background sometimes sounds like cupcakke moaning and I'm now thoroughly traumatised

While I agree that the Underground Residents add a level of unneeded complexity, I do feel like they add a lot to the atmosphere of Chulip. In Chulip 2, I'd expand on your idea of townsfolk replacing the underground residents and, perhaps, give each person a daytime mode, where your sleuthing uncovers town info, story critical info, and lore; and a ighttime mode, where your sleuthing, and perhaps less savory methods of investigation, uncovers more personal, dramatic, or even shameful aspects of the characters lives. But, that's because I like cute art and melancholy stories, haha.

Really love this. The background Danganronpa music makes it better.

How did you get the video so clear for the video? It’s the best I’ve seen it

I remember seeing chulip mentioned in a gaming article as a kid. I really wanted it but I couldn't find it anywhere in stores. It was only when I was an adult that I found someone selling boxes of unopened copies for $10. Even though I'm glad Chulip was localized, I feel like the company that helped license Chulip did not market or distribute it well at all.

Just remembered about this game today

Awesome channel🔥🔥🔥👌

I just beat the game on my own (only thing I couldn't figure out on my own was Dempou Soccer). For me, the star seed pattern stayed on screen until I pressed X, so that actually doesn't seem to be an issue like you make it out to be.

wish you did more backseat devs

This is so amazing!

Leo back strory so sad, I was stuck at the alien saga and makes me give up playing this game. It is a good game my childhood nostalgia

I figured the first thing people would think of when it came to Chulip would be Game Grumps, and their hilarious failed LP of the game. Seeing Jontron just absolutely lose it at the game's weirdness is pretty great.

Damn, great video.

My copy had a walkthrough in the back of the manual. I did try to do most of it without though.

This game fills a weird niche for me. I've never played it personally (though I would love to one day) but It's one of my go to games to watch a speedrun of while going to sleep. I know that sounds weird, but it really is a cozy af game to watch play out and doze off to, at least for me lol.

This game is the definition of hidden gem. I never finish it but I watch the let's play. I love the humor in this game. The story with above ground resident are relateable but still have some moral of the story and some of them actually quite heartwarming. It's unique game with their flaw. But I will be honest, imo this game is not fun to play and watch another person play this is more fun. But I can't hate this game. In fact I love it and want to see more game like this with better gameplay.

Any recommendations on how to approach this game? I tried a while ago with someone who's a big fan of it but this is the first time I've heard of the detetctive element. Of course I'd try to solve things I just didn't know that was what the game wanted me to do.

i found this thanks to sougo okita's highly effective mental attack.

Wonderful video. Have you actually played MOON? It's totally "Chulip 0" and very much worth playing.

Some people: Ugh, why do they give us so much tutorials?? Skip them all already and play! Chulip: Granted.

So glad i subscribed early

I just walked upon this and wow. Its sad to see a game with so much depth ignored due to poor marketing, I think im gonna make a game inspired by this (without the kissing) thanks for sharing this though!

Honestly, if I were to pin this game into a genre, it would be Life Simulation/ RPG like Persona is. 15:30 OH MY GOD I was watching wayberadiotv's streams and I thought they were joking when he said they were destroying the factory...

The instruction booklet from the disc case actually had a guide on how to kiss most people I think

About the Funny Cola conundrum: So you say you checked the japanese strategy guide, but have you actually checked the japanese version of the game? Maybe in the japanese version it actually says more after the line "Something is written on the screen..." Cuz my assumption was always that they simply missed a line of text that was there all along in the original. All that's missing is a simple line saying "Dempou Soccer" and the problem would be fixed.

What's the song at 51:52? I know I recognize it from somewhere.

5 months and no dislikes. Nice

How does this have less than a 1000 views

*WE WANT CHULIP 2 AND CHULIP FOR OTHER CONSOLES..* *RIGHT NOW!*

There may never be a real Chulip 2 but it wouldn't be outside of the realm of possibility to create a spiritual remake of Chulip. The only thing it needs to do is avoid being a visual novel and still gun for being an adventure game mechanically and to not get carried away with who to kiss and how.

This reminds me a lot of Majoras Mask

Hey i played this game when I was a little kid

Hey would you ever be willing to share your translated version of the guide I think a lot of people would be interested.

okay, you forgot to mention that the alien was the monkey that keeps appearing in the city after the UFO crash, maybe there's a connection here to the soda can mystery?

I’ve been wanting to make a sequel or a spiritual successor to chulip. Would you like to talk about it?

Oh yeah forgot this existed

Thhe game design looks a lot like harvest moon another wonderful life