Reviews from

in the past


Se você ignorar os aspectos sci-fi de espadas de luz e etc, é legalzinho

This game is definitely not for everyone.

But it certainly was for me.

I really don't know... I just loved this VN.
I played through every route, got every ending and all the achievements for it.

I just loved it. I am so happy with my introduction to the science adventure series and I'm super excited to continue on with the rest of the series.

I've literally just finished the game so I'm still reeling a bit from the true ending and just wow.... I wish I could express jus how much I've enjoyed this game but I need some more time to formulate my thoughts.

Hard to think of a protagonist with a wider range between hateable at the start and loveable at the end than Takumi. Now That's What I Call Character Development 69! Didn't ever hit me quite as deeply as the Steins;Gate anime did but it was good fun [used the Committee of Zero patch]

Honestly while I love this game a lot I do feel like several of the routes feel like wasted potential (Nanami and Yua's specifically)

I'm glad they most likely noticed this and had less but more fleshed out routes in Chaos;Child however

Rimi, Kozue and Sena's routes as well as the common route and true ending were amazing though so a couple of mid routes don't really drag it down at least

Route Ratings:
Silent sky: 7.5/10
Cry Sky: 6/10
Nanami: 5/10
Yua: 2/10
Ayase: 7/10
Kouzupii: 7.5/10
Sena: 8.5/10
Rimi: 8.5/10
True: 7/10


✔️Verified Steam Deck compatibility.

The premise and the mystery surrounding the story looked very cool at first, but it ended up being pretty disappointing. You don't really know what's happening half of the time, and the other half is just the MC being a stupid, edgy, mysoginistic and horny otaku.

It's a pretty weak vn, I would only recommend reading it if you're really invested in reading all the Sci-Adv series, otherwise it's safe to skip directly to Steins;Gate.

Been meaning to get to this as I did play Chaos;Child a while ago and liked it quite a bit, though can’t actually remember if there were specifics about Chaos;Head’s story to spoil much about it at least. I also played this with the Committee of Zero PC patch, as the official version is apparently so poor it was highly recommended to have it installed as a fix before playing. But was easy enough to get working and didn’t notice any issues with it

This VN was uhhh… good I guess. I think this was definitely more horror esque than I recall from Chaos;Child, mainly due its focus on fear and paranoia. I can understand why this one is more divisive than others in the SciAdv series, as whether you like it or not probably depends on how much you can tolerate the main character Takumi, an immensely pathetic and delusional shut-in, and the game very much tries to make him as unlikable as possible. While I don’t mind the idea of a protag like this, I feel it goes too far with this to the point where it just got exhausting to follow him, and his frequently perverted delusions/dialogue was really not it for me. But will say it was compelling to watch how badly he falls apart as the story progresses

Speaking of, delusions are basically the main mechanic of the game and you choose between a positive or negative one. Though for the most part didn’t really care for this, as for the first playthrough it has no bearing on the story aside for seeing some minor scene changes (Chaos;Child was like this also I think). This changes after you finish the first time and I think leads to the different endings depending on what you choose (though I don’t see how you can get those without a guide tbh), but note to get the true ending of the game you have to get every other ending first, which basically means you’ll be restarting the game and fast forwarding through over and over. The skipped text will also keep getting interrupted by the delusion prompts each time which got tedious

As of now I think I prefer Chaos;Child, but I might get around to replaying it to better compare and use the PC patch it has also. Chaos;Head’s an interesting horror VN, but do feel as the first in the series you can tell where its successors refine on it a bit more

Chaos;Head Noah is a visual novel with quite the history, from it kickstarting one of the best-selling visual novel franchises of all time whilst still being an underdog and not being released overseas for over a decade, and then when it released it was in a broken unreadable mess state that if it hadn't been for the team over at Committee of Zero it would've probably gotten us years for it to actually be able to read it without their professional grade translation. And all of that for a denpa science fiction heavy visual novel that in my opinion is just alright.

But, don't get me wrong. I do like Chaos;Head and I appreciate some things it does, I can't lie when I say there were some times when my jaw completely dropped at some of the most horror or gorier part of the story, some negative delusions, its surreal and philosophical nature too just really sets in the distinct tone of this visual novel that got really watered down in Steins;Gate for better or for worse, and the characters are pretty unique and cool (even though I wish there were more interactions amongst themselves instead of only with Takumi), sadly though sometimes it gets too pretentious with its themes of religion and stuff that really shows that this is pretty much just Neon Genesis Evangelion in the form of a visual novel with its tendency to be about a calamity, be psychological and somewhat erotic at some points as well as showcasing the inner turmoil and problems that confine our main protagonist from just "acting like a normal person".
Some people might hate Takumi Nishijō but you cannot deny that his showcase as a socially inept NEET chunibyo riddled with an anxiety disorder thats a byproduct of both constant self-isolation and growing up in internet culture, his unability to actually talk to other people firmly and just being paranoic as hell wherever he goes is pretty much real, he's an delusional idiot who speaks with anime girl figurines and in his head thinks he's better than anybody else, and it works so well when the story takes the turn of being chuni as hell, kind of like the delusions he imagines and then inserts himself into.

As for the rest of the cast, although I wish some of them had more interactions with themselves or we saw more people in general instead of the world revolving around the same 6 people or so, their routes sometimes really make you care more for them than what you'd usually be if you only read the common route, and that's good although it feels like the bunch of them are just a lot of added backstories, and they can heavily depend on if you truly care about any of the characters in the work.

I'm both not capable and not knowingly enough to talk about the psychological aspect of the work in-depth, as I am not really in the know for any of those topics and the sci-fi concepts really are just evil corpo wants to take over the world deceiving everyone's brains via 5G electromagnetic waves (or some bullshit like that) and then it all just goes back to Takumi having to do everything he does for X or Y motive and then it ends and happy ending. But it's a bit of a brain fuck, they don't hold back for most of these scenes and it's crucial that you pay attention to the distinct themes and concepts that are will be later referenced in next works, and honestly if you don't mind any of this it will not strike as bad, sometimes it can get a little bit boring as they talk in verbose, though.

Now, there's nothing exceedingly wrong with the visual novel. More like a bunch of little things piled up, but I feel like Chaos;Head's worst failure is its exposure. It's very clearly supposed to be a thrilling slow burn of a story, and maybe I am just really bad at reading (After all, I poured 95 hours reading this) but damn is the story padded out with a lot of nothingness very earlier on, and you can tell this when they're still introducing core concepts in later chapters instead of throwing them at you as the story progresses, or keeping them in the heroine routes so they're somewhat of a resource you learn later on to continue on with the true ending of it. But, a lot of it is introduced midway through a very long and oftentimes boring common route, this is most likely the case because the original Chaos;Head just consisted of its common route and endings, but I feel like for its revision they should've stopped the kinetic novel route and actually change up the beats of the story somewhat to actually make those heroine routes be sustainable enough to not feel bored as hell when reading through them (such was my case, but this can definitely be attributed to the fact that you need to skip through the entire game a good 6 times before locking into the routes themselves). Also the PC port was completely shafted out of all the cool effects the console versions had, so every dynamic part that would make you more immersed, such as the Delusion Trigger's static or the immersive sound of parts like Phantasm's concert was pretty much broken, some of it got salvaged by the Overhaul Patch but it's very clear that the bar was in hell.

Gotta admit, in some parts this kinda hit home hard and I'm not proud of that. We gotta do better Takumibros...

O Takumi é tão bom que eu sinceramente queria que ele estivesse em uma obra mais consistente (não que eu tenha desgostado de Chaos ou coisa do genero, mas é que o Takumi pra mim ao menos ta em um patamar de qualidade um pouco acima do resto da obra)

melhor que subahibi

"Don't expect a masterpiece like Steins;Gate"
No, this is better

So I beat the normal endings back when the CoZ patch came out but I just went back and finished all the bonus routes and got the true end so I feel better equipped to do a real review.

This game is an absolute mess, a weird and wild patchwork of edgelord horror tropes, evangelion-level psychobabble, bishoujo stereotypes, and straight up magical girl anime nonsense. It's excessive, and it's kind of embarrassing, like peeking into someone's journal of half finished fanfics. And yeah, I love it to pieces.

What I love about the VN space is that I just can't think of any other genre that could get away with something like this. It is, straight up, a psychological horror game, but it's also a game where a bunch of anime girls are inexplicably drawn to just some fuckin' dude and wield psychic swords borne of their own traumas. For all intents and purposes, this shouldn't work.

But it really, really does, and I think that speaks to level of craft on display here. This game has an impeccable sense of mood and atmosphere, masterfully wielding sound design, tricks of prose, and sudden edits to make the fairly rudimentary silicon graphics presentation utterly envelop the reader. When the game had me, it really fuckin' had me, in a way that few other horror VNs manage as well.

I also think that focusing the story on Takumi allows the story to both comment on its own excesses while giving us the insight to empathize with a genuinely awful dude who, if we're being honest, we at one point had more in common with than we'd like to admit. The fact that most of the early delusions come from a wastoid otaku has the neat effect of making the later story developments actually feel grounded by comparison, and the delusion concept itself allows the story to play with fire without (usually) burning itself.

And the way the game has empathy, but not sympathy, for Takumi is genuinely compelling. He's an awful, selfish, shallow guy, who is also deeply traumatized and dealing with a severe and debilitating anxiety disorder, and the game allows both to exist simultaneously without one overwhelming the other. People are complicated, and you really never know what they're going through, for good and for ill.

That's not to say this game always succeeds. This is the first of the SciADV games and it gives the impression that the writers were afraid they'd never get to do another, because it throws everything at the wall. And, especially with 6 routes added by Noah, not all of it sticks. Sena's route is dull and of interest only for the lore-heads; Nanami's is a complete waste of time; and there are several chapters that, upon revisiting, have that Kojima monologue feeling of "hey, wanna hear something cool I read on wikipedia?"

But that all said, I'm glad I came back and fully finished the game—the extra character development really does add some depth and edge to the game's bishoujo critiques, and Rimi's route is genuinely some of the best written material in the game. The impression I've gotten from the community is that this is thought of as the worst of the series—if so, i'm stoked to see what's next.

Very mediocre sci-fi concept and execution. The protagonist and its daily life (which constitutes half of the game) are extremely boring. The sci-fi elements are lazy and the general plot didn't stick to me. I was hoping the game would get better once all the plotwists were revealed, but it wasn't the case. Go play Steins;Gate instead.

This review contains spoilers

ChäoS;HEĀd NoAH, Science Adventure Series #1, is a complete version of Chaos;Head PC (which I read years before this, meaning that the common route of NoAH was like a reread for me).

It is a very ambitious work, and a bit risky in some aspects. It's ambitious due to how many various concepts it juggles and the different directions the routes go into. It's risky due to Takumi not being a surface-level likable protagonist, character or person.

It goes into varIous sci-fi concepts such as various scientific and philosophical ideas of reality being what you you perceive it to be, gigalomania, interdimensional concepts, and more. Thematically, though, all of it connects back to the main theme of "you love yourself NOW", which, while not being the most original (I'm sure anime-related media consumers can think of several stories that go over this), is executed very well and provides many, many different examples and way this can be applied.

Takumi is beyond awkward. He is socially inept with other people, barely getting a word in, while in his thoughts or when he's alone in his construction container of a room, he mocks others. He jumps to conclusions, and is insanely paranoid. It even turns out that he's not an ordinary human being either. Driven into despair and at a loss for what to do, it's this kind of protagonist, the opposite of the gallant and likable heroic figure that you might often see, that is perfectly suitable for the messages this story tries to communicate.

The vibe in this is great. The feel of the city is palpable, and Takumi's paranoia and the reader's becomes one.

The NoAH routes are a great addition for the most part, barring Yua's and Nanami's routes. For the former, it's very unambitious unlike other content in the VN, and Nanami's just felt very mediocre. The other three are amazing, though the issue that I have with SciAdv as a whole starts to seep through the cracks in Sena's route. It's still good, though. In addition, I didn't really like how you had to repeat ending A/AA's finale for the true ending, but it still hit hard.

So what are some issues I have? Well, it is quite often boring, and sometimes it goes over the top with Takumi being disgusting, especially in negative delusions. Kozupii's route also went over the line in one aspect. And the aforementioned Yua and Nanami routes aren't impressive.

Overall though, very cool.

This is the first SciAdv VN I've read and the only one so far. The storytelling is gripping; you do find yourself pulled into the mystery. Of course, your conclusions and expectations are unlikely to be met, but the climax of C;H is satisfying nevertheless.

those last three endings really made this worth it.

Just amazing it's everything I love in one visual novel but I bet there's tons of people who would hate it, simply put it's a great visual novel that's not for everyone, but if you like murder mystery, otaku culture and unhinged psychological thriller then go for it

Amazing game, hits hard. Takumi grows so much as a character throughout.

This VN looks absolutely awesome on the presentation at the point it makes me wanna play this than Higurashi/Umineko (which, I know, are peak, but let's face it: the presentation in the original/Steam versions has barely any budget unlike Mages Inc.'s games).

when had the rain begun to fall?

Chaos;Head Noah was just a miserable time for me from start to finish. It is ambitious in a way, and there are some enjoyable moments, but ultimately the game fails at just about everything. First of all, the main character is probably the worst protagonist I have ever seen in any media whatsoever. Not simply because he is an incel, but because the game never comments on anything he does or just in general, has anything meaningful to say about this type of personality disorder. Side characters are as bland as possible and most of the time they just serve to drive the plot forward. The story in itself is basically just pseudoscience that never establishes any rules on how this pseudoscience functions, meaning that the game can basically pull anything out of its ass if it wants to. Also, sexualizing minors is a fucking no-go, regardless of the country in which this game was developed.

A rota da Nanami e da Yua é uma bosta, a resolução do murder mystery é ruim e os vilões são terríveis.

De resto impecável o Takumi é um dos melhor personagem ja feito

I think a lot of people might be disappointed by this from the reputation it has in the English VN community prior to a translation, but I liked it a lot. I've been waiting for Noah since 2017 or 2018, and was happy with this. Most of the character routes are good, but none of them are long enough to overstay their welcome, which helps a lot. It is a much more complete experience than the original Chaos;Head release, and I'd recommend it to anyone interested in Horror/Denpa VNs, even if it might not click with some. Plus, the Committee of Zero fan patch (with its own translation) helps a lot. The amount of passion, effort, and quality but into that patch is extremely admirable.

waited 5 years to read C;H Noah which is similar to the OG but only adds additional character routes that sorta flesh out the characters. was a bit let down but makes me more excited to start A;C!

My first contact with SciADV series and I enjoyed it a lot. It has a great art, a great cast, a great production, and handles the psicological horror very well.

A very charming and enjoyable game. Get the CoZ patch and have fun!

There's something very steady about this game which makes it fine but the more I sit away from it...after doing all the endings...the more I feel like it was a game that went through the motions with some interesting concepts but just felt rather emotionally flat. Which isn't great when you are playing a visual novel since you don't really have other things you are doing to engage you. In a sense I'm torn between rating this higher and lower and ultimately settled in the middle because

Things I liked
-Presentation in terms of visuals, animation and sound effects. they definitely spent budget here. voice acting also excellent.
-Chapter pacing. No chapter felt overly long.
-Not "redeeming" a character just because they are supposed to be on the "good guys" side for the most part.

Things I disliked
-Without saying too much, half the cast, even in their own routes, don't feel really developed. I only ended up caring about one of the 6 girls. 2 were developed okay but I didn't care for them. 3 did have their stories but it also felt like they were there for the count.
-The true ending. I did not like it. It doesn't help that I didn't like the girls' routes that much, except for one.
-Just in general. Like I didn't hate the creepiness of the otaku main character but it also really didn't feel like it had a point emotionally.

Funnily enough I liked the "worst" of the endings the best. Maybe because that's just how I saw the protagonist.


I'm about to go out and get some McDonald's, today is such a joyous day :)

I really enjoyed delusional and paranoid part of this game, it's really unsettling and you along with the protagonist really don't know what is coming next. It's true psychological terror. When it gets to more action scenes later it gets more cheesy. I also wish true end was more in depth.

they were feeling extra spicy on the nanami route

Chaos;Head é bem pior que sua sequel, Chaos;Child. Entretanto, não deixa de ser uma história bem interessante de se acompanhar, seu principal defeito é de longe alguns maneirismos da série (que te fazem ter noção de alguns dos Plot Twists MUITO antes) e as garotas serem, no geral, bem desinteressantes. No entanto, Takumi, o protagonista, é provavelmente um dos personagens mais bem escritos desse arquétipo de "fracassado perturbado" que tanto é representado em obras japonesas, ele é desgostável? Sim, mas não dá pra dizer que é por ele ser forçado ou caricato. No geral, é bom, mas ainda bem que li depois do Chaos;Child, pois se fosse puramente por este aqui, nunca teria me empolgado de experimentar a sequel, que eu amo pra caralho.