A remaster of Cartagra ~Affliction of the Soul~
Cartagra: Tsuki Kurui no Yamai - Rebirth FHD Size Edition is a remastered version of Cartagra: Affliction of the Soul, with upscaled graphics, refining of CGs, a new scenario and scenes, and other quality-of-life changes.
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There's a lot to appreciate in Cartagra. It has a cast filled with likable characters that have striking and memorable character designs. The atmosphere is excellent, giving the story a somber feeling that's very unique to it. The art is beautiful, both the redrawn CGs and sprites for the original's content and the watercolor-style art that shows up in the remake-exclusive endings. When looking at all these in a vacuum, this should be an easy recommendation.
Unfortunately, though, Cartagra is a huge mess. This is a detective/mystery game where the detective doesn't do much detective work. The flow of the plot essentially revolves around Shuugo, our protagonist, asking his much more capable friends to investigate for him as he dawdles around and kills time, occasionally even ignoring the plot altogether depending on which ending you pursue. For the first two-thirds, the only one who ever seeks to forward the plot is his little sister, who, while occasionally entertaining with her ace detective shtick, is a rather flat character who is just a force of nature.
This leaves Cartagra's plot as pretty boring, and the reading experience way more dull than it has any right to be. It feels less like a story with events that explore its characters and moreso a string of uninteresting scenes to prepare you for the next big event. With the exception of Shuugo, Kazuna, and the game's main antagonist, the cast is also unfortunately not very fleshed out, even with the remake giving some of them their own endings. While I'd be lying if I said there's nothing worthwhile in there at all, it's really just an excuse for more screen time (and H-Scenes) with said characters without really showing us interesting new sides to them, or writing any inspiring events with them. You can especially feel this with Takako's new ending.
That said, there is a hidden beauty to this story if you pry into what it's trying to explore. While it doesn't spend the majority of its runtime exploring it well, the high points are quite remarkable for what they portray. The "Sacrament" scenario, alongside the remake's exclusive "true" ending it offers, helps reframe the plot through a more interesting lens and gives way to some of its most emotional moments.
While I can complain about the core game for days, it undoubtedly did something right for me to straight up cry at the ending. At the very least, Cartagra doesn't ask for much of you. Some tolerance for gore and eroge bullshit, maybe, but the whole package is only around 20 hours long, and shouldn't take you more than a few days to a week to finish.
Unfortunately, though, Cartagra is a huge mess. This is a detective/mystery game where the detective doesn't do much detective work. The flow of the plot essentially revolves around Shuugo, our protagonist, asking his much more capable friends to investigate for him as he dawdles around and kills time, occasionally even ignoring the plot altogether depending on which ending you pursue. For the first two-thirds, the only one who ever seeks to forward the plot is his little sister, who, while occasionally entertaining with her ace detective shtick, is a rather flat character who is just a force of nature.
This leaves Cartagra's plot as pretty boring, and the reading experience way more dull than it has any right to be. It feels less like a story with events that explore its characters and moreso a string of uninteresting scenes to prepare you for the next big event. With the exception of Shuugo, Kazuna, and the game's main antagonist, the cast is also unfortunately not very fleshed out, even with the remake giving some of them their own endings. While I'd be lying if I said there's nothing worthwhile in there at all, it's really just an excuse for more screen time (and H-Scenes) with said characters without really showing us interesting new sides to them, or writing any inspiring events with them. You can especially feel this with Takako's new ending.
That said, there is a hidden beauty to this story if you pry into what it's trying to explore. While it doesn't spend the majority of its runtime exploring it well, the high points are quite remarkable for what they portray. The "Sacrament" scenario, alongside the remake's exclusive "true" ending it offers, helps reframe the plot through a more interesting lens and gives way to some of its most emotional moments.
While I can complain about the core game for days, it undoubtedly did something right for me to straight up cry at the ending. At the very least, Cartagra doesn't ask for much of you. Some tolerance for gore and eroge bullshit, maybe, but the whole package is only around 20 hours long, and shouldn't take you more than a few days to a week to finish.