#visual novel
#visual novel
by Amr (@siegarettes)
Relentless in artistic and storytelling ambition, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim still comes off as lacking in confidence. It takes plenty of risks, and in presentation at least marches forward with a swagger that makes it clear Vanillaware knew how many people they could bring in purely on the promise of their incredible 2D artwork and its time-travel, mech centric premise, myself included. Yet by the time the credits roll on the game 13 Sentinels’ big ideas and ambitious remixes of the adventure game formula feel more like distractions than essential components of its storytelling.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
Starting with Mask of the Betrayer and then moving onto Utwarerumono ZAN, I’ve somehow ended up experiencing the story backwards through the process of reviewing it. So it’s a bit strange to be “finishing” the story by playing the first entry in the series. To be fair, this might also be a lot of people’s first experience with the original Utawarerumono, having only previously been available through a fan translation of the 2002 game, and an anime adaptation. Knowing that, Prelude to the Fallen sets out to remake the original PC game, bringing it in line with the aesthetics and presentation of the recent games. It mostly succeeds in that goal, but its close adherence to the source material sometimes draws attention to the underlying disparity between the two styles.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
It must have been hour two before I met my demise the first time. An unavoidable bad ending where my character, Haruaki, was mauled with no choices you could make to escape it. Turns out death is the only way to make progress. By dying and returning to the beginning, Haruaki gains new knowledge he can use to avoid his fate next time. Several more hours in and I’ve only unlocked a few other choices, and the true game has only just begun. The game’s first “good” ending is a melancholy one, and has Haruaki searching for a new path that will give him more agency in influence the story’s events.
by Omar (@siegarettes)
Sometimes you take on an assignment that’s probably more than you’re prepared for. In this case, I found myself absently looking for releases to check out, and accepting a code for Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth. I’d heard the name talked about in vague terms for while, enough to check out some of the opening episodes of the anime adaptation, but I’d never seen any of the games themselves despite the series being around since the PS2 era. Mostly because they weren’t in English. So with them finally getting a release I thought it would be a good time to check them out. Well, what I happened to miss was that Mask of Truth was the final part in a trilogy.
by Omar (@siegarettes)
This is an impressions piece based on a single playthrough of the game. The full game has multiple worlds and endings.
Amnesia has to be one of the most played out narrative devices in fiction. It’s an easy way to create a sense of mystery and give the protagonist the same denial of information that the audience has. That gets weird real fast when you drop that into the context of a romance, especially when you’re not trying to build up a relationship but figure out what it was to start with.
By: Omar (@neo_graphyte)
Do you ever fantasize about bishounen hunks? Are said hunks historical samurai from the turn of the century? Do you dream of living with them until they give up their most intimate secrets and confess their love to you? Are some of them vampire-like half demons?
Well, you have very specific fantasies. Fortunately, Hakuoki also has those fantasies covered.
by Omar (@neo_graphyte)
With the latest release of Hakuoki on mobile platforms, I thought I’d throw up a general primer for both Hakuoki and the otome (maiden) game genre. Consider this the start point if this is your first foray into either otome, visual novels, or Hakuoki. If those are already familiar to you, feel free to skip to the full review.
