Juego infumable. Lo he empezado como 30 veces ya, y nunca consigo pasar de los dos primeros días. Me sorprende ver tan buenas reseñas, cuando hubo mucha gente que se quejó en su época de la terrible localización al inglés y de que se arrepentían de haber malgastado su dinero en un juego mal traducido.
No lo recomiendo para nada, básicamente porque el gameplay del juego es casi inexistente y se basa completamente en leer y leer la mala traducción. La historia no parece nada del otro mundo, sobre todo si no eres un adolescente.
Rui es mi novia, eso sí. Mientras buscaba fanarts de Rui descubrí que el juego tampoco vendió mucho en Japón, y se nota porque casi no hay dibujos en pixiv o danbooru.

Written January 13, 2010

Lux-Pain is a visual novel style game from the relatively unknown developer Killaware. Although it was released in early 2009, therefore considered “old”. You cannot expect much gameplay-wise. Lux-Pain isn't much of a game but more of a traditional Japanese “visual novel”. There are some gameplay elements here and there, but overall it's still more of a book to read.

Of course, my main problem with the “game” is the translation quality. At times it's actually quite good, but at times the engrish is a bit unbearable. I guess that's what happens when you do translations in-house and aren't as fluent in English as an American is. There are some parts, especially in the beginning that are voiced over, and for the most part, the voice over is pretty good, even providing a better substitute when you come across poorly translated parts.

Another issue is the unclear setting. At times it's Japan, when at other times it's referred to as America, although once you get some background information, it seems the developer wanted to make the game feel more close to home with Americans, but if that's that case, why not Americanize the entire game and all the characters? Still a mystery to me.

Once I got over the game's problems, I was still able to connect with the feelings of the characters and found the overall story compelling, although I was disappointed at the sudden ending, which left much more to be desired.

It's not an amazing game, not even a great game, but somehow holds a special place in my heart. It's a strange feeling and I, nor others can really define it. It's definitely not a bad game, and I recommend it to anyone who likes story-based games.

I played this game in... well 2009, when it came out. At the time in high school I would literally go to my local gamestop and look through the physical preorder booklet for upcoming ds games, and I ended up paying full price.

This game is a mess, especially localized. The written script and the spoken script are completely different - the former seems machine translated, almost, though I'm not sure that tech was usable at the time, while the latter has actual proper localization to it - and the plot is. Well, not that I've grown into a fantastic appreciation for the Persona series, but this definitely wanted to be the same kind of thing!

I should 100% the extra scenes someday, but this is a very very personal 5 stars for being instrumental in figuring out that I wanted to be involved in making video games. It's charming very specifically if you're looking for the exact sort of thing it is.

I literally just finished this one, so I'm reviewing it now while my thoughts are still hot out the oven, as it were.
This game is a weird one. It's a visual novel with a few unusual gameplay elements to mix things up. Like many visual novels, it has the different endings, the affection meter, and it has different pathways. Overall, Lux Pain is an intriguing, yet very repetitive visual novel/adventure game that won't be everyone's cup of tea, but is worth giving a shot despite negative reviews if you want an intriguing psychological mystery with plenty of friendship building.

(SYNOPSIS: SLIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD)
The main gameplay element of this game is the ability to read minds that the main character, Saijo, has. Instead of gathering physical clues from the places you visit, you are directly diving into peoples minds to try to piece things together. This ability is called "Sigma" and he uses it to extract (almost exorcise) peoples "Shinen", basically little thought worms of negative emotions, that are spread via these monsters called "Silent". Did I lose you yet? Well, be prepared to be equally confused playing this, because it does have a confusing as hell plot, that kind of teases you with its resolution until the end. Well that's the main setup, the game is about this town called Kisaragi, it's strange history, and it's problems. This game gets DARK sometimes, be prepared to lose a few characters, but despite it's darkness, it retains an optimistic and cheerful tone throughout, because of the friendships you build with your classmates and the people of the town.
(SPOILER END)

If I had to compare it to a game, it would be the title "Time Hollow", also for the DS, where the main character also has a supernatural ability and uses it to solve the mystery of a small town, in a visual novel kind of format. Indeed, it shares a hell of a lot of similarities with that game, so if you enjoyed this, play Time Hollow, or vice versa, if you enjoyed Time Hollow you might enjoy this.

The main problem is, the gameplay part of this game got repetitive about halfway into the game. Without saying too much, I will say it doesn't mix things up as often as I would like (in the enemy design, especially). Days play out the same at times, heck some chapters practically play the same, with you going through your daily routine. It's very routine-ized in gameplay, at some point it might feel like you are playing on autopilot. I will say this: if you don't like the story, don't bother. It's carried mostly by its story and the intrigue it has, and it's not the kind of game that has exactly "fun" or riveting gameplay, it's fun in the way that a mystery novel is fun, the unexpected plot points and seeing the mystery unfold. I also felt a sort of sentimental attachment to the characters, which kept me playing. I hate to make comparisons to a game that doesn't share much gameplay wise, but tonally it reminds me of Persona 4, dark, but with ahem the power of friendship to lighten things up in the end (not to mention you are diving into the dark recesses of your friends mind like Persona 4)

TLDR: Lux-Pain is simultaneously riveting and repetitive. I would recommend it to visual novel fans who like that aspect of different pathways and affection meters. I would also urge fans of "Time Hollow" to try this one out. You might be surprised by it.

This adventure game from 2008 is still special to me in 2023. The art holds up even today, delicately detailed both in character portraits and in the numerous CGs. The designs are fairly simple considering the amount of school uniform time, but each character’s personality comes across in their expressions and poses. CGs in particular aren’t afraid to show more dramatic emotion, and the brief instances of voice acting can be expertly performed enough to give me chills every playthrough. The English VAs had their work cut out for them, and in my opinion, some of them really nailed it.

The soundtrack suits the moods the game cycles through, amplifying higher energy moments and adding somber notes or tense beats to heavier ones. It could have been better on stronger hardware than the DS I think, but for a DS OST, it’s pleasant to listen to.

A very high point of the game is that the city it takes place in feels lived in. LIves go on outside the main character Atsuki Saijo’s presence, and various characters interact with each other in unexpected parts of the city. People have hobbies and interests and pre-established relationships, even between generations. Atsuki is an observer, and sometimes participant, rather than a king the game revolves around. Sometimes that’s refreshing.

One thing to be aware of before getting into this game is the heavy subject matter. Suicide is a common topic, and animal harm even more so, sometimes even spoken of from the POV of the animal. While they’re treated with the gravity they deserve, it could be rough to someone particularly sensitive to either subject.

And of course, the game is not perfect. Battling SIlent isn’t the most fluid or visually impressive experience, some characters make homophobic comments, and the English written localization is abysmal, sometimes coherent and sometimes most definitely not. The voiced segments make the most sense in the game, which puts them at odds with the words typed on the screen. If typos and poor translation really get under your skin, it will be a challenging time. At least the mind-reading segments are always on the coherent side.

All in all, I adore this game and probably will still be playing it a 17th time in 2030. Can’t wait.