ALL TOO HUMAN

Particularly pleasing in Chinatown Detective Agency is the way the depths of its dystopia aren’t introduced with great fanfare, but poured in gradually via conversations and snippets of background information you can access at each new location. Rather than big news, signs of socioeconomic woes, such as a global wine shortage, are an accepted part of everyday life – even a topic of humour for citizens doing their best with what they have. This also means that wider events play second fiddle to the minutiae of Amira’s work and relationships with clients and friends, with space in the script for some jokey banter between case points. Naturally for a cyberpunk plot, you will end up embroiled in techno-corporate conspiracy, but even then the personal stories remain in focus.