Muv-Luv Extra
its super plain, its pretty easy to see why people don't like it seeing as it does pretty much nothing interestingly at all. like it feels like the most by-the-books dating sim ever made. the general advice people get is 'Do the main 2 roots (Sumika & Meiya) and ignore the rest' but Chizuru's route is easily the best, the novel's writing stops feeling like a cartoon and starts to genuinely get alright.

Muv-Luv Unlimited
i've seen people say 'Unlimited is actually good', 'Unlimited saves the whole thing' or even 'Unlimited > Alternative'. imma be real, Unlimited is also completely plain. the problem is that Extra and Unlimited are written by the same people at the same time. they aren't learning from any writing mistakes because they haven't been made yet. the general idea of Unlimited is that the main character wakes up from his Dating Sim life to find himself in an apocalyptic alien invasion where locations and characters have been retained. you end up with a character that knows nothing, and yet knows things about characters that they wouldn't dare tell anyone. as you can guess, the weird character nuance isn't explored convincingly and it feels more akin to a high-school drama performance.

As a Whole
this is the cool part about Muv-Luv, the whole thing i reckon is basically analogous to late 1930s-40s japan, just random kids enjoying high school and then being forced to participate is a world-altering war as a kamikaze pilot and clearly being on the losing side. like thats interesting! and then its written with the grace and candour of a horny japanese man because the other kamikaze pilots have big tits and big tempers. except for Tamase.

MEMORIES BROKEN
THE TRUTH GOES UNSPOKEN
I'VE EVEN FORGOTTEN MY NAME

I DON'T KNOW THE SEASON
OR WHAT IS THE REASON
I'M STANDING HERE HOLDING MY BLADE

A DESOLATE PLACE
WITHOUT ANY TRACE
IT'S ONLY THE COLD WIND I FEEL

IT'S ME THAT I SPITE
AS I STAND UP AND FIGHT
THE ONLY THING I KNOW FOR REAL

THERE WILL BE BLOOD-SHED
THE MAN IN THE MIRROR NODS HIS HEAD

THE ONLY ONE LEFT
WILL RIDE UPON THE DRAGON'S BACK

BECAUSE THE MOUNTAINS DON'T GIVE BACK WHAT THEY TAKE
OH NO
THERE WILL BE BLOOD-SHED
IT'S THE ONLY THING I'VE EVER KNOWN

MEMORIES BROKEN
THE TRUTH GOES UNSPOKEN
I'VE EVEN FORGOTTEN MY NAME

I DON'T KNOW THE SEASON
OR WHAT IS THE REASON
I'M STANDING HERE HOLDING MY BLADE

A DESOLATE PLACE
WITHOUT ANY TRACE
IT'S ONLY THE COLD WIND I FEEL

IT'S ME THAT I SPITE
AS I STAND UP AND FIGHT
THE ONLY THING I KNOW FOR REAL

THERE WILL BE BLOOD-SHED
THE MAN IN THE MIRROR NODS HIS HEAD

THE ONLY ONE LEFT
WILL RIDE UPON THE DRAGON'S BACK

BECAUSE THE MOUNTAINS DON'T GIVE BACK WHAT THEY TAKE
OH NO
THERE WILL BE BLOOD-SHED
IT'S THE ONLY THING I'VE EVER KNOWN

MEMORIES BROKEN
THE TRUTH GOES UNSPOKEN
I'VE EVEN FORGOTTEN MY NAME

I DON'T KNOW THE SEASON
OR WHAT IS THE REASON
I'M STANDING HERE HOLDING MY BLADE

A DESOLATE PLACE
WITHOUT ANY TRACE
IT'S ONLY THE COLD WIND I FEEL

IT'S ME THAT I SPITE
AS I STAND UP AND FIGHT
THE ONLY THING I KNOW FOR REAL

THERE WILL BE BLOOD-SHED
THE MAN IN THE MIRROR NODS HIS HEAD

THE ONLY ONE LEFT
WILL RIDE UPON THE DRAGON'S BACK

BECAUSE THE MOUNTAINS DON'T GIVE BACK WHAT THEY TAKE
OH NO
THERE WILL BE BLOOD-SHED
IT'S THE ONLY THING I'VE EVER KNOWN

LOSING MY IDENTITY
WONDERING HAVE I GONE INSANE
TO FIND THE TRUTH IN FRONT OF ME
I MUST CLIMB THIS MOUNTAIN RANGE
LOOKING DOWNWARD FROM THIS DEADLY HEIGHT
AND NEVER REALIZING WHY I FIGHT

Hope it's worth it for alternative
Extra:
Normal: 7/10
Sumika: 6.5/10
Extra Meiya: 7.5/10
Extra Kei: 7/10
Unlimited:
Normal: 4/10
Meiya: 6/10
Kei: 6/10

cómo con tanto presupuesto age hizo esta basura? he leído moeges que tienen más calidad de guion que esta cosa.

y no, unlimited no hace que valga la pena, al menos la premisa es interesante pero la ejecución sigue siendo igual de pésima que extra. pero como dije, la premisa admito que es interesante y si se llega a hacer las cosas bien contratando a gente competente para escribir la historia estoy seguro de que crearían una excelente obra y... sé que existe alternative y le tengo bastantes esperanzas puestas en el para que si sea una buena obra y no algo sobrevalorada que termine siendo decepcionante.

Muv-Luv Extra is servicable as a stand-alone experience, but like most other people, I merely played this to get the most out of Muv-Luv Alternative. If it were a stand-alone game, I would probably have quit after the first ending i received.

I'm personally not big on romance VNs, but some of the characters made the read an enjoyable experience overall.
The banter between the MC and his childhood friend, Sumika was my favorite part.
However, I had a hard time caring about most of the major events during the course of the game. The lacrosse game being the lowest point for me, and that seemed to drag on forever.

Since I haven't played Unlimited or Alternative yet, I cannot say how important this game is for the rest of the series, but nevertheless, my personal recommendation would be to only play this if you have plans on seeing the story to the end. Unless you really enjoy romance VNs that is.

Well then, it's time for Unlimited.

Muv-Luv Extra: A shockingly good stand alone romance story when you accept it on its terms. Yes its a dating sim and yes there is lots of borderline cartoon tier stuff, but there is a real sincerity that shows through the longer you play with some genuinely emotional moments. Like despite having actual sex scenes its somehow still less horny then the average anime. It also helps that the alternative routes actually greatly change the story and run the gambit of more wacky to more dark and down to earth. There also enough mystery in the form of the Mitsurugi group and the foreshadowing with Yuuko's alternate reality theories provide the edge needed to link this game to its follow up. Really I think this game is overhated and stands alone as a fun and sincere romance story with some solid plot beats in particular the Chizuru route is a very good drama. I think part of the issue is people come into it expecting it to be a satire and deconstruction when it isn't, but you accept it for it is it is a good time. 7/10

Muv-Luv Unlimited: This is the part of the package which makes Muv-Luv well known. Its the same set of characters but in a far darker set of circumstances. I think its an interesting idea to have most of the characters be developed so you know their personalities and the story can instead focus on building the new world and how these personalities are altered by this new lore. As a world it combines a lot of influences with the most obvious being the Evangelion visual influence and the isekai like plot, but don't let that fool you as this is way different and more of a military sci fi story then anything. If you come into this thinking it'll be a Gundam or Eva like mech action story you will be disapointed as the story is more about the training, mentally, tactics, and morality of war then actually fighting battles. really though despite the more dire circumstances the story is still pretty light hearted with the characters being mostly separated from the war and its tragedies. I do like how subversive this story ends up being as it doesn't just subvert you expectations by making things more grim and gritty but also by taking things in a direction you don't expect. This leads to the big issue with this story being that it is very insubstantial. The whole thing feels very deliberately unsatisfying as a way to set up Alternate. It doesn't help that the routes this time around are all nearly identical with only really 2 minor sections changing, which all have the same outcome but different flavor text and each one gives you a little more insight into the girl's personality. Its all very tedious to go through with unskippable cutscenes and even the secret ending which I was told would be super important ended up as just another vague cliffhanger. While Extra imo perfectly works on its own Unlimited feels like its just setting up the pieces for Alterative with much of the world building and mysteries being deliberatly unsolved. 6/10

Então o que falar de muv luv.
Common route/rota da sumika foi uma experiência que eu amei muito, sério mesmo. Tanto no lado dramático quanto no lado da comédia (principalmente da comédia). Entretanto o restante das rotas broxa muito por serem MUITO inferiores a essa primeira experiência que eu tive, entretanto, a rota da Meiya foi realmente algo muito foda apesar de eu ainda preferir da Sumika.

Agora o unlimited foi algo que gostei mais que o extra, gosto da linearidade dele, ele consegue até ser mais engajante mesmo sendo um setting diferente. Subverte tudo que o extra construiu e explora o personagem do Takeru de maneira bem interessante, tem um capitulo muito ruim no meio, mas da pra passar. Agora preciso destacar que os caps 9 e 10 foram bem além da qualidade comum que muv luv tava tendo ate agr, realmente algo que me surpreendeu muito e esses finais do unlimited me deixaram ansioso pro alternative.
Mas tenho q destacar que n é exatamente um problema mas além do Takeru e da Meiya não tem personagens que cheguem perto deles no unlimited pelo menos, obviamente n são ruins (tirando a Chizuru) mas tbm n são nd demais (no caso o squad 207 q me refiro). Mas eles fizeram mto bem na Marimo, Yuuko e na Yashiro.
Eu realmente n achei tão acima da média até os caps que eu mencionei mas certamente foi uma boa experiência, uma bem boa.

There's a TLDR at bottom.

I'm saying ahead of time, even if Unlimited and Alternative are unforgettable experiences. I cannot ever recommend this series in good faith due to Extra's middle part being an absolute slog to get through.

I'm someone who can get through long stories, be it boring or slow first parts at this part i'm used to it. And even not minding anime tropes being overused. I understand it's from 2003 but it's aged not that well, and i wish i just skipped the entire middle part of the game. It's not the worst thing i've ever played but half of it really did feel like a drag.

As for the characters, most of them are fine however being that it originally released it 2003 your going to notice tropes heavily at play here. Not that all of those are necessarily bad though. The maids are definitely the worst characters by far.

I didn't go into this game for any of the eroge content, and whilst it isn't classified as a H game. There are some "sex" scenes which are extremely akward. Combined with the humor which felt like it was made for people who just got into middle school. I have no clue what the target audience for this game is.

Of the 2 endings which were important i went for, i will say that one of them is miles better than the other and honestly arguably saves this game for me.



TLDR; Pretty average, middle part is a slog, one of the endings is great and the other is terrible imo. Characters are mostly ok.

EDIT: I edited my review pretty heavily, i don't feel like a lot of my wording reflected my actual thoughts about the game.

CONTEXT This review is only for Muv-Luv Extra, as it is all I have played at this time. I may come back to the series and complete the remaining portions of the story, but I somewhat doubt it.

Muv-Luv Extra, the opening act of the acclaimed visual novel Muv-Luv, carries the weight of immense expectations. Released in 2003 and developed by the Japanese Studio âge for nearly every available platform at the time, Extra has been touted as a gateway to a genre-defining experience, promising a charming slice-of-life narrative interwoven with themes of love and loss. However, in my opinion, Extra falls short of these lofty expectations and instead presents a generic and lackluster high school romance story. Even understanding this installment serves as a prelude to a much larger narrative, Extra lacks the depth and originality needed to keep players thoughtfully engaged over its runtime. Whether experienced on PC or other platforms, the game's attempt at humor, character development, and overall storytelling left me searching for more than the lackluster amount of high school tropes and paper-thin plots it constantly presented.

The story of Extra unfolds in a typical high school setting and introduces us to our protagonist, the lazy mech-loving Takeru Shirogane, and essentially his harem of love interests: the tsundere childhood best friend Sumika Kagami, the shy bookworm class president Chizuru Sakaki, the tiny cat-girl Miki Tamase, the kuudere Kei Ayamine, and the strange new transfer student Meiya Mitsurugi. To go into every plotline with these characters would take far too long, but suffice to say that the narrative overall relies heavily on clichés, offering little in terms of innovation or unique storytelling to push the genre forward.

Once the character introductions and opening act of Muv-Luv Extra is complete, the story essentially stalls for most of the game's run-time. While there are interesting tidbits of information scattered throughout, there are far more moments of tediousness than anything else. The story essentially meanders without purpose for far too long, bogged down by endless school festivals, sports matches, and generic slice-of-life filler that brings everything to a complete standstill. This left me just skipping through text boxes rather than engaging with the uninteresting narrative. Where's the hook? The intrigue? There is genuine interest in the actions and odd personality quirks of the exchange student Meiya Mitsurugi and why she acts the way she does, but this is forgotten for essentially all of Extra’s runtime. The game seems far more content to wallow in its predictability, than offering players an incentive to push through the endless monotony.

I assume the main point of Extra is the romance element. With so many ladies to try and woo, one would assume the game is at least engaging in this respect, but I disagree. While the female characters are visually appealing, their personalities lack depth and nuance as they all fit very well-established anime tropes. Furthermore, interactions with Takeru, absent some with Sumika, feel forced and shallow, failing to spark a genuine emotional connection at all. This, in turn, means the various potential romances fall flat, unable to evoke any emotions from players.

Fortunately, Extra isn’t a complete write-off as a visual novel. As previously stated, Extra is not a standalone game; it's a prologue, a foundation upon which the true story is built. Muv-Luv Alternative, the critically acclaimed sequel to Muv-Luv Extra, takes the familiar characters and throws them into entirely new scenarios devoid of the high school drama of Extra. While the tonal shift present in Alternative may be enough to bring me back to the series, I can’t say I’m looking forward to it. I obviously understand that judging Extra solely on its own merits is a disservice to the complete Muv-Luv experience, but Extra is so bland in its presentation, storytelling, and characters that I just can’t find the will to care at this point. I know the payoff awaits in Alternative, but going through the slog of Extra has left me devoid of care for the series as a whole.

In conclusion, Muv-Luv Extra is a paradox. It is a hollow prelude to an apparent genre-defining experience in Muv-Luv Alternative, a tedious, yet necessary, trek through a narrative trope-filled wasteland before a promised story-rich oasis. Whether the emotional payoff of Alternative outweighs the slog of Extra is a question each player must answer for themselves. I am still grappling with my own decision.

To put it bluntly, Muv-Luv Extra is a generic romcom, with obviously stereotypical characters. Takeru, for example, is the stereotype of a romcom idiot, dull and blind to everything around him, it gets frustrating that he can't even decide things for himself even without someone pointing the way. The emphasis of the work is clearly on the Slice of Life moments of the work and on the comedy, which at least worked for me in most cases. Regarding the two main routes (Meiya and Sumika), but as a whole the drama of the work is quite off, and seeing how things happen after Extra, I don't know if the author wanted something mediocre/terrible on purpose or not. Mainly regarding the final stretch, things are very rushed and full of clichés (not that the work wasn't full already). The characters being quite two-dimensional is very frustrating, as I mentioned previously, but in a work where comedy is prioritized this almost goes unnoticed.

What I like about Muv-Luv Extra is its main theme about change and how it ends up resonating with the series from that, even if the theme branches out into the subplots of each route, what encapsulates this entry is the lesson of not being afraid of change and that change makes us grow as people, even if changes can be negative or ruinous, you must face them and go through them, because you never know tomorrow, even if our time is scarce, the future can hold for us wonderful things and you are the one who decides that, with your own hands. I'm not made for romance, much less generic romcom, but Muv-Luv gave me a new perspective on romance in an extremely positive way, people who risked an entire relationship for the partner they want. As if they enter a battlefield ready and determined to give their lives for what I believe in, it's surprising that I've never looked at things that way, it's very chuuni and I like that perspective lol.

As for Unlimited, we see on Extra how Muv-luv wants to talk about life, how things are fleeting and everything ends. This is the great core of the entire Extra, after all, as long as they are the small relationships, the happy and ephemeral moments, but even with the adversities of the extra, many details were problems that hidden behind the facade an era of peace and sociability, combined with a lot of comedy.

But in Unlimited, because of this peace, because this scenario around us ceases to exist, we know the true face of humanity, how humans are when stripped of all the values and weights that surround us, all the categories in which we place ourselves. And with that he asks the question why live? Essentially, this world is no different from our world full of war and suffering, but why do we continue to live? If we are just existing listlessly until the day we die, because we keep striving endlessly and suffering in the process. The world of Unlimited is nothing more than a naked reflection of the world of Extra that serves as a reflection of our own world. Questions of why we live, why we want to survive, what we are willing to sacrifice and what we really want to protect. I will never forget chapter 9 whose lesson is: "Do you want to protect human life or the human heart? Exist or Live." Unlimited leaves several questions in mind, considering the open ending, but mainly the feeling of emptiness and the sadness of defeat at the end of the work.