HoloArkride
53 reviews liked by HoloArkride
Starfield
2023
This game is just....bland. It's not offensively bad, but it's not good either. I'll probably forget everything about it within the next couple weeks except for the big plot twist and one particularly good quest.
Best way to sum it up is that Starfield is the world that Outer Worlds was parodying and warning against. And that is not a good thing.
Best way to sum it up is that Starfield is the world that Outer Worlds was parodying and warning against. And that is not a good thing.
Name is Van, drives a truck
"You're the gentle color of the night, just before the dawn breaks through the darkness"
Kuro no Kiseki is not only the 11th game in Nihon Falcom's Legend of Heroes: Kiseki (Localized as Trails) franchise, but also for the first time in nearly a decade, the start of a brand new arc in the series featuring a new protagonist and supporting cast of characters alongside a whole new nation to explore and learn about as well, this time being set in the Calvard Republic, the 2nd biggest nation in Zemuria nonetheless. Kuro is also the start of the official 2nd half of the Trails series beginning the Eastern Zemurian Arc after Trails Into Reverie finally brought a close to the 10 game long Western Zemurian Arc. Needless to say, Kuro had some massive shoes to fill and I'm here to tell you that it not only fills said shoes, but also casually runs a 100 yard dash in them as well becoming not only my favorite starting game in a new arc (even surpassing my previous favorite Trails from Zero), but also becoming arguably one of the absolute strongest Trails games in general across the entire series and that was just after experiencing it with a fan translated English patch and I know I'll love it even more once the official localization comes out.
Kuro no Kiseki follows the misadventures of Van Arkride, a 24 year-old young man who runs his own private "solutions office" and is known as a "Spriggan" which is essentially a cross between a bounty hunter and a private investigator. Compared to previous Trails protagonists who worked for the Bracer Guild or the police, Van and his solutions office are in a more grey area of the law, being the balance between the criminal underworld and regular society. Van and his personality help reflect this sense of moral greyness as well seeing as how he is not your typical goody-two-shoes who feels like he has to help everyone out and puts their needs above his own. No, Van is only in this for the money (And sweets and his car) and Van is generally willing to do jobs for anyone from the Bracer Guild to Heiyue and even Ouroboros themselves, as long as the price is right and he doesn't have to accept every single job that comes his way like the Bracer Guild or police either, but instead he only accepts the ones he wants to as long as he doesn't deem the job as something that goes against his own personal "code" of honor.
Our story begins when Van is contracted by a student named Agnes Claudel from the prestigious Calvardian high school Aramis Academy to find an antique Obrment known as the "Genesis". Agnes herself wants to find this orbment because it somehow pertains to her own family history. It's from here on that Van and Agnes' search for the Genesis takes them all over the nation of Calvard while slowly recruiting allies and new members of the Arkride Solutions Office and has the gang unintentionally get entangled in the schemes of a mafia-like terrorist group known as Almata who also want the Genesis for their own nefarious purposes.
Kuro, much like Reverie before it has a great sense of mystery and suspense and some really mind-bending plot twists as well. The game will always keep you guessing and just when you think you've figured it all out, there comes another twist to make you question everything you thought you knew! Mystery aside, the writing in Kuro surprised me in more ways than one considering this is also easily the darkest and most mature Trails game to date not being afraid to show blood and death on screen and have some very tragic and unforgettable events occur. Which was pretty refreshing after 10 games of mostly safe shounen tropes and Falcom being afraid to commit to deaths (Reminder that this is coming from someone who loves Cold Steel and considers Trails their fave series in general btw). Kuro also has better pacing than most Trails games as well with one of the shorter prologues and the game wasting little time getting the player into the thick of the action while constantly amping up the stakes every new chapter until the climatic conclusion in the finale chapter.
The cast of characters in Kuro is one of the most diverse since the Sky series. Considering how in Zero almost all the characters were in their late teens and in Cold Steel they were all teens at a military school (minus the occasional teacher or two), the ages in Kuro range from 13 to almost 70 and this mixed with all the character's eccentric and unique personalities really keeps all the interactions between the cast fresh and entertaining. Whether it be Van and his overprotective dad-like personality to all his younger part-timers or Aaron and his blunt, crude, delinquent attitude or Agnes and her polite and naive girl next door outlook and how she slowly changes as she learns more about the world around her and of course Judith and her comically aggressive passion for all things film and justice, I could honestly talk about all these characters, their chemistry between each other and their development for hours. Without a doubt the strongest cast chemistry in a Trails game to date for me (Besides maybe the Imperial Picknicking Front in Reverie)
Another important factor to talk about whenever Trails is involved is the world-building because being such a deeply interconnected series, that's the best thing about Trails and Kuro is no different either. In the beginning chapters of the game I was initially worried that Kuro was going to be a soft reset like the first Cold Steel was because there was very little connection to the rest of the games (Aside from a few cameos) and the over-arching plot and going from Reverie which is the game that relies on the series interconnected lore the most to Kuro was slightly jarring at first, but by the end of the game that is definitely NOT the case and I strongly do NOT recommend playing this game if you've never played older Trails games especially if you haven't played the Crossbell games. All that aside though, Kuro also adds its own new concepts into the world of Zemuria, like private military companies, a thriving film scene, new parts of the criminal underground, a new tech institute, new factions of the Septian Church and even Van's solution office itself are just some of the ways Kuro helps expand upon the world and lore of Zemuria and that's not even mentioning all the countless side-quests that truly help flesh out the Calvard Republic and all the people who live in it as well.
So if you're familiar with my reviews or review format a lot of games I play are RPGs so I tend to focus on the narrative, characters, world and whatnot first since I believe those to be the strongest reasons to play a game like this, but now we've reached the point in the review when it's time to talk about gameplay and boy is there a lot to say with Kuro no Kiseki since it introduces a LOT of new mechanics to the series.
Since Kuro no Kiseki is the first game to be entirely on Falcom's latest in-house engine they basically did a complete overhaul on the combat system of the Trails series after the gameplay was mostly the same since the first Cold Steel, but just with small additions for each new game. Kuro introduces what's called "field battle" and "shard battle", now you can play both real-time action combat similar to Falcom's Ys series or in the old-school Trails style of tactical turn-base. Field battles definitely need some polish because currently they are very barebones including one simplistic combo, a power attack to stun enemies and a dodge roll button, but it's still a lot of fun and the biggest change in "Shard battle" is now you can have your character freely move around (Given they have enough MOV stat) and not use a turn to do so. Kuro encourages the player to use both modes, which can be freely switched outside of boss fights, which are exclusively fought in Shard battle turn-based combat.
On top of the combat system itself being overhauled, the Obrment system has had major changes as well. Gone are the ARCUS Obrments of Erebonia, no now we have the latest tech with the XIPHA 6th gen battle Obrment of Calvard. No more equipping Quartz to cast specific spells, now besides increasing stats Quartz are solely meant for special Shard bonuses like dealing extra types of element damage, recovering HP out of fights, dealing extra damage with preemptive strikes etc and you get these bonuses by combining the right amount of properly colored Sepith value from each Quartz on the right lines in a similar way to how the combat Obrments were back in Liberl and Crossbell, but you might be wondering how do we change our artes if Sepith isn't tied to it? Well there's an all new mechanic called "Artes Drivers" which are something you install into your Orbment and they come with a set of pre-installed artes and some empty slots to unlock and equip new artes alongside the ones built into the driver. You mostly buy these, find them in the wild and get them for doing side quests. I'd say Kuro was the most challenging and balanced Trails game since the Crossbell games because in the early chapters there were fights where I made it by the skin of my teeth. However as you get stronger and find better gear for your builds, the 2nd half of the game becomes just as unbalanced and breakable as the Cold Steel games and I was mostly one-shotting groups enemies with Van's S-craft alone. Honestly though, that's part of the fun of this series to me. Oh and slightly unrelated, but FINALLY after 10 games we can FINALLY sell unneeded Quartz. It's the little QoL improvements that really matter.
So as I mentioned earlier Kuro is the first game on Falcom's brand new in-house engine and boy does it show! If you played Reverie you'll remember a particular scene which tested said engine, but that's the quality you can expect from this whole game and it truly improves everything from the background lighting and shading, to the character models having more defined details and especially the in-engine cut-scenes and animations looking more polished. The new engine is fantastic and makes Kuro the best looking and feeling Falcom game to date and it's not even close, the more polished animations gives the impeccable action scenes and fight choreography more room to shine even brighter as well.
And finally as always what would a Trails game or any Falcom game in general be without an incredible OST from the master composers on the Falcom Sound Team JDK and performances by the JDK band? Well considering Falcom were one of the first game studios to have a dedicated sound team way back in the day, it's one aspect the company has always prided themselves on and you can always count on a consistently quality soundtrack alongside their games. Kuro is no different whether it be the classy and sophisticated jazzy atmosphere of a track like "What is Ahead of You" which perfectly captures the entire vibe of Kuro as a whole or the bombastic Tokusatsu sounding theme of the Phantom Thief Grimcatz, the J-Rock vibes of the opening theme for the game "Namonaki Akumu no Hate", the Middle Eastern exotic sitar style of "Girl Dancing in an Oasis" and of course no Falcom game would be complete without blazing neoclassical and progressive electric guitar metal battle and boss themes like "Unmitigated Evil" or "Diabolic Howl", nearly every track is just as masterfully composed as you've come to expect from Sound Team JDK and this is by far one of their most diverse and experimental OSTs yet.
I honestly don't have many complains about Kuro really all I can say is I wish there was more in the way of side content because this is probably the most barebones Trails game since Sky FC, not even featuring fishing and going from Reverie which had the most side content of any game in the series to Kuro was certainly a change in pace, but since the main narrative and side quests are some of the best the series has to offer the lack of side content isn't that big a deal and I still got over 100 hours out of a single playthrough of Kuro.
Featuring one of the best narratives the Trails series has to offer with a darker and more mature tone to the writing alongside an incredible cast of characters with equally incredible chemistry between them and a fascinating setting that expands upon the already insanely detailed world of Zemuria, a masterfully composed, diverse musical soundtrack, a beautiful new engine breathing the most life into a Falcom game to date and a fully revamped combat system for the Trails series which might lack the depth of Reverie or the later Cold Steel games, but still remained thoroughly fun and entertaining for my whole 100+ hours of gameplay, all of these reasons and more make Kuro no Kiseki a true triumph and masterwork for not only the Trails series, but Falcom as developers as a whole showing just how far they've come in the past 40 years in the business and that they still show no signs of declining in both quality and quantity, but also aren't afraid to evolve with the times and experiment and Kuro no Kiseki is one such experiment that was a massive success in my book and certainly one hell of a way to open up the Calvard arc with a bang!
Kuro no Kiseki is not only the 11th game in Nihon Falcom's Legend of Heroes: Kiseki (Localized as Trails) franchise, but also for the first time in nearly a decade, the start of a brand new arc in the series featuring a new protagonist and supporting cast of characters alongside a whole new nation to explore and learn about as well, this time being set in the Calvard Republic, the 2nd biggest nation in Zemuria nonetheless. Kuro is also the start of the official 2nd half of the Trails series beginning the Eastern Zemurian Arc after Trails Into Reverie finally brought a close to the 10 game long Western Zemurian Arc. Needless to say, Kuro had some massive shoes to fill and I'm here to tell you that it not only fills said shoes, but also casually runs a 100 yard dash in them as well becoming not only my favorite starting game in a new arc (even surpassing my previous favorite Trails from Zero), but also becoming arguably one of the absolute strongest Trails games in general across the entire series and that was just after experiencing it with a fan translated English patch and I know I'll love it even more once the official localization comes out.
Kuro no Kiseki follows the misadventures of Van Arkride, a 24 year-old young man who runs his own private "solutions office" and is known as a "Spriggan" which is essentially a cross between a bounty hunter and a private investigator. Compared to previous Trails protagonists who worked for the Bracer Guild or the police, Van and his solutions office are in a more grey area of the law, being the balance between the criminal underworld and regular society. Van and his personality help reflect this sense of moral greyness as well seeing as how he is not your typical goody-two-shoes who feels like he has to help everyone out and puts their needs above his own. No, Van is only in this for the money (And sweets and his car) and Van is generally willing to do jobs for anyone from the Bracer Guild to Heiyue and even Ouroboros themselves, as long as the price is right and he doesn't have to accept every single job that comes his way like the Bracer Guild or police either, but instead he only accepts the ones he wants to as long as he doesn't deem the job as something that goes against his own personal "code" of honor.
Our story begins when Van is contracted by a student named Agnes Claudel from the prestigious Calvardian high school Aramis Academy to find an antique Obrment known as the "Genesis". Agnes herself wants to find this orbment because it somehow pertains to her own family history. It's from here on that Van and Agnes' search for the Genesis takes them all over the nation of Calvard while slowly recruiting allies and new members of the Arkride Solutions Office and has the gang unintentionally get entangled in the schemes of a mafia-like terrorist group known as Almata who also want the Genesis for their own nefarious purposes.
Kuro, much like Reverie before it has a great sense of mystery and suspense and some really mind-bending plot twists as well. The game will always keep you guessing and just when you think you've figured it all out, there comes another twist to make you question everything you thought you knew! Mystery aside, the writing in Kuro surprised me in more ways than one considering this is also easily the darkest and most mature Trails game to date not being afraid to show blood and death on screen and have some very tragic and unforgettable events occur. Which was pretty refreshing after 10 games of mostly safe shounen tropes and Falcom being afraid to commit to deaths (Reminder that this is coming from someone who loves Cold Steel and considers Trails their fave series in general btw). Kuro also has better pacing than most Trails games as well with one of the shorter prologues and the game wasting little time getting the player into the thick of the action while constantly amping up the stakes every new chapter until the climatic conclusion in the finale chapter.
The cast of characters in Kuro is one of the most diverse since the Sky series. Considering how in Zero almost all the characters were in their late teens and in Cold Steel they were all teens at a military school (minus the occasional teacher or two), the ages in Kuro range from 13 to almost 70 and this mixed with all the character's eccentric and unique personalities really keeps all the interactions between the cast fresh and entertaining. Whether it be Van and his overprotective dad-like personality to all his younger part-timers or Aaron and his blunt, crude, delinquent attitude or Agnes and her polite and naive girl next door outlook and how she slowly changes as she learns more about the world around her and of course Judith and her comically aggressive passion for all things film and justice, I could honestly talk about all these characters, their chemistry between each other and their development for hours. Without a doubt the strongest cast chemistry in a Trails game to date for me (Besides maybe the Imperial Picknicking Front in Reverie)
Another important factor to talk about whenever Trails is involved is the world-building because being such a deeply interconnected series, that's the best thing about Trails and Kuro is no different either. In the beginning chapters of the game I was initially worried that Kuro was going to be a soft reset like the first Cold Steel was because there was very little connection to the rest of the games (Aside from a few cameos) and the over-arching plot and going from Reverie which is the game that relies on the series interconnected lore the most to Kuro was slightly jarring at first, but by the end of the game that is definitely NOT the case and I strongly do NOT recommend playing this game if you've never played older Trails games especially if you haven't played the Crossbell games. All that aside though, Kuro also adds its own new concepts into the world of Zemuria, like private military companies, a thriving film scene, new parts of the criminal underground, a new tech institute, new factions of the Septian Church and even Van's solution office itself are just some of the ways Kuro helps expand upon the world and lore of Zemuria and that's not even mentioning all the countless side-quests that truly help flesh out the Calvard Republic and all the people who live in it as well.
So if you're familiar with my reviews or review format a lot of games I play are RPGs so I tend to focus on the narrative, characters, world and whatnot first since I believe those to be the strongest reasons to play a game like this, but now we've reached the point in the review when it's time to talk about gameplay and boy is there a lot to say with Kuro no Kiseki since it introduces a LOT of new mechanics to the series.
Since Kuro no Kiseki is the first game to be entirely on Falcom's latest in-house engine they basically did a complete overhaul on the combat system of the Trails series after the gameplay was mostly the same since the first Cold Steel, but just with small additions for each new game. Kuro introduces what's called "field battle" and "shard battle", now you can play both real-time action combat similar to Falcom's Ys series or in the old-school Trails style of tactical turn-base. Field battles definitely need some polish because currently they are very barebones including one simplistic combo, a power attack to stun enemies and a dodge roll button, but it's still a lot of fun and the biggest change in "Shard battle" is now you can have your character freely move around (Given they have enough MOV stat) and not use a turn to do so. Kuro encourages the player to use both modes, which can be freely switched outside of boss fights, which are exclusively fought in Shard battle turn-based combat.
On top of the combat system itself being overhauled, the Obrment system has had major changes as well. Gone are the ARCUS Obrments of Erebonia, no now we have the latest tech with the XIPHA 6th gen battle Obrment of Calvard. No more equipping Quartz to cast specific spells, now besides increasing stats Quartz are solely meant for special Shard bonuses like dealing extra types of element damage, recovering HP out of fights, dealing extra damage with preemptive strikes etc and you get these bonuses by combining the right amount of properly colored Sepith value from each Quartz on the right lines in a similar way to how the combat Obrments were back in Liberl and Crossbell, but you might be wondering how do we change our artes if Sepith isn't tied to it? Well there's an all new mechanic called "Artes Drivers" which are something you install into your Orbment and they come with a set of pre-installed artes and some empty slots to unlock and equip new artes alongside the ones built into the driver. You mostly buy these, find them in the wild and get them for doing side quests. I'd say Kuro was the most challenging and balanced Trails game since the Crossbell games because in the early chapters there were fights where I made it by the skin of my teeth. However as you get stronger and find better gear for your builds, the 2nd half of the game becomes just as unbalanced and breakable as the Cold Steel games and I was mostly one-shotting groups enemies with Van's S-craft alone. Honestly though, that's part of the fun of this series to me. Oh and slightly unrelated, but FINALLY after 10 games we can FINALLY sell unneeded Quartz. It's the little QoL improvements that really matter.
So as I mentioned earlier Kuro is the first game on Falcom's brand new in-house engine and boy does it show! If you played Reverie you'll remember a particular scene which tested said engine, but that's the quality you can expect from this whole game and it truly improves everything from the background lighting and shading, to the character models having more defined details and especially the in-engine cut-scenes and animations looking more polished. The new engine is fantastic and makes Kuro the best looking and feeling Falcom game to date and it's not even close, the more polished animations gives the impeccable action scenes and fight choreography more room to shine even brighter as well.
And finally as always what would a Trails game or any Falcom game in general be without an incredible OST from the master composers on the Falcom Sound Team JDK and performances by the JDK band? Well considering Falcom were one of the first game studios to have a dedicated sound team way back in the day, it's one aspect the company has always prided themselves on and you can always count on a consistently quality soundtrack alongside their games. Kuro is no different whether it be the classy and sophisticated jazzy atmosphere of a track like "What is Ahead of You" which perfectly captures the entire vibe of Kuro as a whole or the bombastic Tokusatsu sounding theme of the Phantom Thief Grimcatz, the J-Rock vibes of the opening theme for the game "Namonaki Akumu no Hate", the Middle Eastern exotic sitar style of "Girl Dancing in an Oasis" and of course no Falcom game would be complete without blazing neoclassical and progressive electric guitar metal battle and boss themes like "Unmitigated Evil" or "Diabolic Howl", nearly every track is just as masterfully composed as you've come to expect from Sound Team JDK and this is by far one of their most diverse and experimental OSTs yet.
I honestly don't have many complains about Kuro really all I can say is I wish there was more in the way of side content because this is probably the most barebones Trails game since Sky FC, not even featuring fishing and going from Reverie which had the most side content of any game in the series to Kuro was certainly a change in pace, but since the main narrative and side quests are some of the best the series has to offer the lack of side content isn't that big a deal and I still got over 100 hours out of a single playthrough of Kuro.
Featuring one of the best narratives the Trails series has to offer with a darker and more mature tone to the writing alongside an incredible cast of characters with equally incredible chemistry between them and a fascinating setting that expands upon the already insanely detailed world of Zemuria, a masterfully composed, diverse musical soundtrack, a beautiful new engine breathing the most life into a Falcom game to date and a fully revamped combat system for the Trails series which might lack the depth of Reverie or the later Cold Steel games, but still remained thoroughly fun and entertaining for my whole 100+ hours of gameplay, all of these reasons and more make Kuro no Kiseki a true triumph and masterwork for not only the Trails series, but Falcom as developers as a whole showing just how far they've come in the past 40 years in the business and that they still show no signs of declining in both quality and quantity, but also aren't afraid to evolve with the times and experiment and Kuro no Kiseki is one such experiment that was a massive success in my book and certainly one hell of a way to open up the Calvard arc with a bang!
Kuro no Kiseki 1 is absolutely stunning and plays like butter. I am by no means an expert on turn-based JRPGs, but I've played a few, and oh my God, this has the best gameplay of them all for me. Trails gameplay has always amazed me and been my favourite, but this sets a whole new bar. They revamped the combat system and now allow you to move across the map with just your joystick rather than it being a separate move like before, making the gameplay and strategising even more interesting, especially in regards to AoE arts. But also, before you even get into your encounter with an enemy, you can engage in action combat to either have an advantage when you get into combat, or to go through groups of enemies and level faster if you feel the need to. Trails games aren't grindy in general, but if you choose to grind, it'll not feel like one at all in this game.
The technical impressiveness goes beyond combat gameplay. Persona 3 Reload, a JRPG by a successful company released 3 years after this game, still does the thing where if you enter a building on the street, you get teleported into like a separate level, and also the encounter system where you get teleported from the dungeon into a separate stage and then get back out once you're done. Not in Kuro. You enter buildings like it's nothing, and go in and out of encounters in the exact same room you were in, like it's no big deal. Which means that if you get into one in a narrow hallway, you will have less space to evade AoE attacks. It's amazing.
The music is very inconsistent in this one. Some of the stuff is downright amazing (as expected of a Trails game), like the boss themes or the jazzy city music, but otherwise you get letdowns like one of the normal battle themes that I found uninspired by Trails standards. And the OP is really fire and gorgeous.
Van is an amazing protagonist. Likable, a grown 24-year-old and in a unique line of work that sets him apart from other Trails and many JRPG protagonists, his "solutions" agency that deals not in black or white, but in gray, makes for some interesting stories and quests. His journey is really cool too, but that's impossible to discuss without spoilers, so I won't.
Unfortunately, despite initially seeming like the automatic best Trails, it has some issues I can't look past. The biggest problem is the pacing in the middle of the game, mostly in the penultimate chapter and the first half of the final chapter. There is so much repetition and padding, even by Trails standards. I was shocked after this wasn't a problem in Reverie and early Kuro 1. I think I finally started to feel Trails burnout because of this. Additionally, the cast is compelling, but sometimes the chemistry feels forced. Lastly, I won't hold it against the game for this, but it feels a little... too complete for its own good, unlike other first parts of Trails duologies. I played a bit of the beginning of Kuro 2 and it honestly feels like an unnecessary follow-up. Outside of those issues I can see why this is "a return to form" as a new arc for many, though I did like Cold Steel myself.
Ultimately, a seriously good game, this series continues to amaze.
The technical impressiveness goes beyond combat gameplay. Persona 3 Reload, a JRPG by a successful company released 3 years after this game, still does the thing where if you enter a building on the street, you get teleported into like a separate level, and also the encounter system where you get teleported from the dungeon into a separate stage and then get back out once you're done. Not in Kuro. You enter buildings like it's nothing, and go in and out of encounters in the exact same room you were in, like it's no big deal. Which means that if you get into one in a narrow hallway, you will have less space to evade AoE attacks. It's amazing.
The music is very inconsistent in this one. Some of the stuff is downright amazing (as expected of a Trails game), like the boss themes or the jazzy city music, but otherwise you get letdowns like one of the normal battle themes that I found uninspired by Trails standards. And the OP is really fire and gorgeous.
Van is an amazing protagonist. Likable, a grown 24-year-old and in a unique line of work that sets him apart from other Trails and many JRPG protagonists, his "solutions" agency that deals not in black or white, but in gray, makes for some interesting stories and quests. His journey is really cool too, but that's impossible to discuss without spoilers, so I won't.
Unfortunately, despite initially seeming like the automatic best Trails, it has some issues I can't look past. The biggest problem is the pacing in the middle of the game, mostly in the penultimate chapter and the first half of the final chapter. There is so much repetition and padding, even by Trails standards. I was shocked after this wasn't a problem in Reverie and early Kuro 1. I think I finally started to feel Trails burnout because of this. Additionally, the cast is compelling, but sometimes the chemistry feels forced. Lastly, I won't hold it against the game for this, but it feels a little... too complete for its own good, unlike other first parts of Trails duologies. I played a bit of the beginning of Kuro 2 and it honestly feels like an unnecessary follow-up. Outside of those issues I can see why this is "a return to form" as a new arc for many, though I did like Cold Steel myself.
Ultimately, a seriously good game, this series continues to amaze.
Persona 5 Royal
2019
An overrated fanfiction disaster that quickly falls apart after the tutorial palace.
Characters are undercooked have little to no chemistry with each other, annoying to poorly written.
The story writing is just pathetically hamfisted and lazy.
Has no idea to handle sensitive themes in the slightest.
The Thrid Semester feels like really bad fanfiction that felt it was written by a 12 year old.
The definition of style over substance and I don't like that.
Just play Persona 3 and 4 instead of this hamfisted flashy fanfiction.
Characters are undercooked have little to no chemistry with each other, annoying to poorly written.
The story writing is just pathetically hamfisted and lazy.
Has no idea to handle sensitive themes in the slightest.
The Thrid Semester feels like really bad fanfiction that felt it was written by a 12 year old.
The definition of style over substance and I don't like that.
Just play Persona 3 and 4 instead of this hamfisted flashy fanfiction.
Muv-Luv Alternative
2006
This review contains spoilers
There are spoilers for Muv-Luv Extra, Unlimited and Alternative here. I took care not to mention anything for the side content outside of setting. If you haven't read ML and MLA, I highly recommend you stop reading and go read them. MLA in particular goes hand in hand with Umineko as some of the most spoilable stories in the visual novel medium, it's not worth missing out on a crazy story that might potentially change your life.
I don’t even know how to start this. Muv-Luv Alternative is my favorite story of all time. This time, I’m making a spoiler review, written soon after my reread. This might not be the most polished essay I’ve written, but even though I do appreciate people seeing this, it is primarily for myself. I’ll try to put every single thought I’ve had about MLA and Muv-Luv as a whole into it, but of course, words aren’t enough, so there will always be more I will want to say. This will be a long one.
For the longest time, I used to not get attached to stories, especially emotionally. It’s why I played multiplayer games primarily. For basically the entirety of the 2000s and 2010s I was mostly into familiar media or adaptations of that media — Marvel, DC and Star Wars. Nothing wrong with enjoying them, of course. When looking forward to new content, I was mostly looking forward to more of the same. It was nice in a way, but lacked novelty after a while. I didn't really get emotional from media either, let alone to the extent of crying. With the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdowns, I started exploring more due to sheer boredom, and eventually got into anime for real after trying a few shows in 2011-2015 previously. One thing led to another, and after playing Doki Doki Literature Club and watching Steins;Gate I decided to explore more of the SciAdv series, and read Chaos;Child (at the time, Chaos;Head wasn’t on Steam and I was not aware of its existence). I never had the apprehension about the visual novel medium since I was used to reading a lot of books as a child. Experiencing C;C blew away all other narrative media I was into previously, even my beloved Spider-Man adaptations and comics, as well as the dozens/hundreds of anime I’d watched in 2020. After that I moved onto the most popular VN and VN adaptations series — Type-Moon. I read Fate/stay night and Tsukihime, and I was obsessed with it for months. I was convinced that there was barely any point in exploring the medium at that point, with nothing else really catching my eye. However, I decided that I would at least try Muv-Luv, since Alternative was the highest rated VN on VNDB at the time (not that rankings on a website matter that much to me, I could be the only fan or the millionth fan of a thing, all that matters is if I like it), and in the top three on EGS (Japanese eroge and ADV game website), in addition to the anime adaptation of MLA being announced (which I've also written reviews (1, 2) on, and getting told to not rob myself of the experience, hence deciding to read the source trilogy. If I didn’t end up liking it, I would quit the medium, since I was convinced nothing would surpass C;C anyway, probably.
I was honestly surprised to see the amount of hatred towards Extra online after finishing the trilogy. It might not be a masterpiece, but the humor is something I’ve always found entertaining. It is even more apparent on my reread after experiencing dozens upon dozens of other VNs where the humor is the MC being a pervert or classroom pranks. In Muv-Luv, you have the rich girl heroine trope exaggerated into being able to level the protagonist’s neighborhood and bring in 5-star chefs from around the glove on helicopters to school, as well as turning into chibis and shooting each other into the stratosphere. For some, it may have gotten repetitive, but given how I enjoyed this reread, and prior to that Altered Fable and some other side stories, I still enjoy it. The main two routes of Extra (Sumika and Meiya), the ones that were required to unlock Unlimited in 2003 (and for good reason, as I'll mention later), also have a well-executed romance drama, though I do take some issue with the side routes, which I’ve discussed in my Extra/Unlimited reread review prior to this one.
Unlimited was really crazy from beginning to end. I spent all of Extra anticipating the genre shift which never happened then, only for Takeru to suddenly walk out into a wasteland three minutes into this one. It was the last thing I expected after spending a large portion of Extra theorising that Yuuko would do some kind of experiment and they would get invaded at the end of Extra. And then Takeru gets shoved into what is another genre, as well as literally another world. The “new normal” of Muv-Luv shifts, and Extra already starts to seem like a distant dream. Takeru goes through a training arc and episodic arcs that focus on the girls, building up confidence, but by the end of it things start to feel wrong, and they announce Alternative V, making Takeru fight with the rest of humanity for survival as a fleet that only hosts a small portion of humanity on board, possibly with the heroine, who is also the mother of his child. It is an emotional gut punch due to how abruptly the ending comes — Takeru couldn’t do anything due to lack of information and maturity at the time, yet he’s giving it his all regardless. Isn’t this insane, though? Wasn’t it so long ago that we were choosing between Sumika and Meiya’s lunches? How is this even the same story? At this point we really start to miss the Extraverse and Sumika just like he does. It gets even crazier. It makes me feel bad for people who waited between 2003 and 2006 when Alternative wasn’t even certain to come out.
So, we finally get to Alternative — the true story, so to speak. After an awesome Hive invasion scene that made me shout “ENGLISH?!?!?!?!?”, and the iconic, intriguing “human brains” moment, the story adds yet another layer besides dimensional travel this time with time travel. Takeru loops back to the beginning of Unlimited with his knowledge and training and starts to retrace his steps to use the future knowledge to its fullest. One thing that really stood out about chapters 1-5 of Alternative is how it genuinely feels like a timeloop due to small changes snowballing. Yuuko takes longer to trust Takeru’s story despite Kasumi’s mind-reading due to his trained body and suspicious amount of classified knowledge, Takeru doesn’t hold back the cadet squad, but leads it this time, and Yuuko and Takeru debate which events to intervene in without losing the advantage of future knowledge, while also trying to save as many days and hours before Alternative V is implemented on Christmas Day as possible. It’s really cool seeing this after several stories, especially visual novels, having one small choice leading to another character becoming a psychopathic killer and killing the entire cast, or something. The story being a slow burn really makes it feel immersive.
The first true change is the coup d’etat that did not happen in the Unlimited timeline, due to interfering with the events of episode 9 of Unlimited. I’ll get back to this later, but this arc is one of the most controversial aspects of MLA, and for good reason. For now it will suffice to say that both the reader and Takeru are asking themselves why his first mission is fighting humans instead of the BETA, and why anyone would bother doing this when humanity is facing extinction. It is an attempt to say that nobody is strictly right or wrong (even if it is biased towards the Japanese nationalistic perspective), and humanising American and UN soldiers and not blaming them for their leaders’ choices is cool.
After that ends and the XM3 trials happen, the true turning point of Muv-Luv occurs — the chomp of Jinguuji Marimo. Takeru and we both believe we've seen the worst with Alternative V and the coup, and that the "therapy not included" part of Muv-Luv is hearing soldiers die one by one on the battlefield, but then it turns out that's just the beginning, it affects someone close to Takeru as well, someone he cares for deeply dies, and he loses it. It is a completely unexpected moment, delivered only after the reader and Takeru feel completely secure about thinking that they have already finally reached the "serious part" of the story with Takeru getting into more serious situations than most of Unlimited, yet prevailing regardless like the hero he believes himself to be due to his future knowledge at the start of Alternative, as well as the advantage of retaining his training and body from Unlimited, making him no longer the dead weight that he was for a large portion of Unlimited, only to have something like this happen during a typical “Muv-Luv talk”, and all the allegedly heroic resolve Takeru had goes to waste once this starts to affect the people near him. He has a truly deplorable display in front of Meiya, Kasumi and Yuuko and runs away to his world, until it starts to affect him there. After that we finally get to see the fight against the BETA.
I know it is a bad habit to start summarising the story in a review, but I feel like this way I will assemble the pieces to truly discuss it, as well as provide a refresher. In any case…
The coup arc is controversial due to Sagiri’s resemblance to Yukio Mishima from Japanese history. By essentially saying “your methods were extreme, but your motivation wasn’t, you just went about it the wrong way”, MLA understandably rubs many people the wrong way about this. However, I wouldn’t really call it “nationalism simulator 3000” because of this. Even besides the fact that Total Eclipse and other side material dials down the nationalism aspect (though is it really fair to mention that as a retroactive point when talking about MLA specifically, especially when TE sort of partially exists to ‘fix’ it?), it’s certainly nice to not have an ‘evil foreigner’ angle, which is more than I can say for a few popular VNs, anime and JRPGs, especially with downplaying Japan’s role in World War II, but I digress. Having Takeru have an outsider’s perspective is cool, since he is just a normal Japanese high schooler from a world similar to ours. The line of thinking that ordinary BETAverse citizens have is completely alien to him for a large portion of the story. They still have him be more understanding of the nationalistic view by the end of the arc, which plays into the nationalistic undertones of the arc, as well as despite being a UN operation, having the entire squad be of Japanese descent (even though it plays into the whole “UN soldier duties vs Japanese roots” aspect). I still enjoy the arc despite its issues, especially with the tension and Takeru’s dynamic with Yuuhi, but I can definitely see where people who dislike it are coming from.
To call the XM3 trials’ chomp a turning point is an understatement. The story effectively undergoes a second genre shift through the multiple tragedies of chapter 7. All of what we thought we knew about Muv-Luv undergoes a change, and we realise that nowhere is safe, not even the Extraverse. The distant memory of Extra now comes under attack. There is truly nowhere left to run. I’ve mentioned that I cried to MLA previously, and on my original playthrough, this got the most tears out of me. From seeing Extraverse Marimo to the various tragedies, to Sumika’s memories and "Now, get out there and show them who's boss, Shirogane Takeru!" as JAM Project blasts into my ear, it was probably to date the most emotional I’ve gotten over media. After more than a decade of not crying over fiction, I finally started bawling. And the reason for that is due to the slow burn that MLE, MLU and early MLA were, due to how attached I’ve gotten to these characters, like I truly knew them. The end gave Takeru and me both a determination to see this tale through to the end. The reveal that Sumika is the brain from the brain room and has been under Takeru’s nose all along was shocking, despite being a bit predictable at this point. After experiencing her heavy injuries in Extra, seeing her like this and unlike her usual cheery self is painful for readers, too. By the way, Sumika being in the menu screen and marketing material this isn’t a spoiler on the Steam version’s part, she was marketed to be in this game even with the 00 Unit pink fortified suit even in its original release (source), such as with the game cover. Just like Muv-Luv being a mecha, this isn’t really a spoiler you should be worrying about, since âge certainly doesn’t consider it one. Pretty much nobody who buys and plays Muv-Luv, any version of it, is unaware that it's a mecha without extremely careful outside control by a friend who's already read it and wants to run this as an experiment of pretending that Muv-Luv is just a cutesy romcom until the player reaches Unlimited.
And so, Takeru finally gets involved in a squad as a commissioned officer, with cast additions such as Isumi Michiru from Kimi ga Ita Kisetsu, Hayase, Akane and Haruka from Kimi Nozomu ga Eien, Kashiwagi from Extra, as well as Kazama and Munakata (who later got added to the KimiIta remake). This must’ve been a real gift for long-time âge fans, seeing alternate versions of the characters they knew in the BETAverse. Like the BETAverse versions of the Extra heroines, the BETAverse versions of these characters are similar, yet adjusted to the setting. Isumi dies without confessing, and Mitsuki and Haruka have lost Takayuki. Seeing even further connections like this is why I’m planning to finish pre-ML âge VNs before my second trilogy reread, this time in Japanese. Back to Muv-Luv itself though, we finally get to truly fight the BETA for the first time. The reason the XM3 surprise attack was so effective was because the BETA’s appearance was hidden behind ambiguity for the story until that point. They were a threat that was always looming over the characters and in-universe populace. They are a truly terrifying force with no morals or hesitation that people might have. They aren’t even villains of the week — they are more akin to insects such as ants or bees that come in thousands or even millions. Seeing the scale increase so drastically from Extra, and even Unlimited, is a sight to behold. Now we have another new normal that is 1000+ vs 1000+ large scale battles that have multiple parties constantly moving with their own objectives, and seeing how the BETA’s response affects the entire battlefield. Following Takeru’s incredible show of determination in his Storm Vanguard moment and the plan going off the rails, Isumi’s sacrifice is an emotional scene despite for how short of a time Takeru has known her, and seeing Kashiwagi be the first person besides Marimo to get killed off from the Extra cast leaves a void in the reader’s heart.
At this point it becomes abundantly clear to never expect peace from Muv-Luv anymore, but the attack on Yokohama Base comes as a surprise regardless. This time around, the base takes major damage, and with Mitsuki’s and Haruka’s deaths, as well as the injuries of the rest of the Valkyries, the only crew that remains in fighting condition is our original gang, armed with Tsukuyomi and company’s Takemikazuchis. They too undergo a suicidal attack against the BETA, and the story wraps up.
It really is insane that this is the same story as lacrosse and various shenanigans from Extra. I constantly had to remind myself of the fact that yes, this is indeed the same story, many times throughout the experience. But the main reason this even works is due to it taking so long to “get good”. The reason the BETA attack during the XM3 trials is such a shock is due to how long it took for the first ‘real fight’, and the reason chapters 7 through 10 are so impactful is due to how long we spent with these characters. The contrast between the worlds and genres plays a part, too. There are some cool connections that are even more apparent while rereading, such as Alternative Takeru throwing the shoe to his Extra self, or Sumika meeting him while going home with groceries, or Sadogashima mentions and Yuuko’s quantum causality theory, but by far the most impressive part of the trilogy is how almost all the parts work as pieces of a greater picture.
The world building plays a part in that. Muv-Luv’s hard sci-fi lore explains almost everything and connects it to plot points through strategy, tactics, technology and history, while the soft sci-fi such as multiversal and time travel, as well as causality conducting ties to the themes and characters. It is so nice to see things be properly explained in the main work (where it’s often vague or sometimes just straight up unexplained) and not just side content (where it’s usually actually explained). It is so refreshing to see a story with such a grounded take on mechs that don’t have beam swords and cannot fly into space not be filled with unexplained technobabble like omega particles that never get explained outside of interviews or obscure side material, with the main story mentioning rules but immediately breaking them two minutes later. You actually know what an Arrowhead-2 formation, data link or feedback protector is. It's not just there, they actually use this stuff in the story! The XM3 is invented due to just being a logical thing to do when you have a guy who knows a way to improve TSF software. You get told several versions of a plan so that you know exactly what is happening if something doesn’t go ideally and they have to use a backup, which they told you about ahead of time. The TSFs themselves get a lot of detail in their design philosophies between countries, generations and models. In fact, TSFs being based on real life planes like the F-22 Raptor makes it even more cool. It actually makes sense why they were invented — it’s not just to look cool, you want a machine that can move three-dimensionally without crashing into a wall like a plane, but also something with more agility than a tank. Muv-Luv in general has so many things I wish other mecha had, even small things like neck braces when pilots aren't in something like Evangelion LCL or space, so that maneuvers in those mechs don't case whiplash. It is also nice to see a story where you actually have to undergo training (and we see the cast undergo training) both in Basic and with simulators before you can actually pilot a mech. It just makes sense! It makes sense why the cast don’t get into real action for so long, aside from just political reasons which are revealed later. The political and technological landscape is so developed that it is so immersive, and I can’t get enough of it. I was initially curious if I’d end up liking this, since I wasn’t into mecha for the mecha previously, but it seems I just hadn’t found my own niche at that point. Having such comparatively weak mechs with a focus on agility over durability, since additional armor wouldn’t be much help anyway in such a grounded setting definitely made me find that niche. Exposition and a lot of details to remember is a common complaint about Alternative, but that’s what makes it so compelling to me. You can’t have so much detail in strategy, tech, politics with various parties having their own complex motivations and history make consistent sense without explaining them.
The structure certainly makes this story the greatest “trust me bro, it gets good” of all time, even if you liked Extra and Unlimited due to the fact that every reader is excited to see what Alternative is about, but that’s what makes it worth it. It’s already common for VNs to have a slow, slice of life beginning as the high schooler main character gets thrown into supernatural shenanigans, but having that main character live through what is basically a detailed pre-isekai life (making it stand out among a sea of low-effort isekai novels and anime nowadays, 20+ years later), get thrown into a dystopian mecha alien invasion with humanity at the brink of extinction, witness the end of the world, and get timelooped back and experience trauma after creating another branch (route) in his original, more traditional visual novel world makes it stand out even among other acclaimed visual novels. Like I said, it’s crazy that it’s the same story as lacrosse and picking school lunches, and you think that at many points in the story. But most importantly, it gives you attachment to that old life, you genuinely start to miss Extra. Even people who didn’t like Extra can become major Muv-Luv fans and start to miss it and appreciate it more in Unlimited and Alternative, I’ve seen it happen time and time again.
The visuals are amazing even two decades later. This stuff is still more animated than the overwhelming majority of VNs there, and from the popular ones, rivalled only by the recent 2010s and 2020s Type-Moon visual novels. From moving mouths and eyes, to the crazy amount of CGs and movement, to creative uses of the limitations of the VN medium to be as dynamic as possible, Muv-Luv, especially Alternative and future entries, is extremely dynamic, and while not quite like an anime, makes you forget that it isn’t one sometimes. I even remember watching a friend livestream this and be impressed by having back sprites and seeing warm air when characters spoke and breathed outdoors during autumn and winter. But even that doesn’t compare to how dynamically TSFs and tactical maps adjust and change during fights. Very few visual novels have reached this level of constant animation, I can say that for sure after having around 90 at the time of writing this now. I also don’t really get some of the complaints about the soundtrack. Not only are Asu e no Houkou (and the other OPs, such as Name and 0-GRAVITY), Wings and Carry On incredible tracks by JAM Project that (take this with a grain of salt, I don’t have a specific source for this) the author, Kouki, allegedly went into debt to afford, as well as funding a huge part of Alternative out of his own pocket, but you also have banger OSTs like Storm Vanguard, Briefing, War Preparation, Valkyries, For You Who Departs, Ambush Attack, Crash and many more that have become classics to me. The aforementioned War Preparation was inspired by a track from Gunbuster (not the only case of this happening either!), and you will find many of these kinds of references to mecha, such as Takemikazuchi’s design resembling an Evangelion, Kei Ayamine/Rei Ayanami; Sumika’s, Meiya’s and some other girls’ hair designs resembling Gundam helmets, etc in its distinct hair vents-having art style in Muv-Luv. It is inspired by so many previous works, yet puts its own spin on the genre regardless. Some talented individuals that have other acclaimed works in the videogame or anime industries include Yoshinari Kou (animator) and Iwasaki Taku, who also worked on the Gurren Lagann's, Katanagatari's, Soul Eater's and some other soundtracks.
But a love letter to mecha though it may be, Muv-Luv is primarily a love letter to romance visual novels. That is why, despite how exaggerated the tropes are, you have the classic childhood friend, rich girl, class president tsundere, kuudere, as well as others. That is why the fact that the original has routes, and that Takeru creates a new one by interacting with the Extraverse in Alternative, and why you get progressively fewer and fewer impactful choices with each entry in the trilogy. That is why the grand revelation at the end is that Takeru, not simply alternate versions of him, loved them all. That is why the main thing about Muv-Luv is “save in the name of true love”, and why the name comes from the slang mabu-dachi ("true friend") turned into mabu-ravu (Muv-Luv, or "true love"). That is why the closest person to being a human antagonist in the story is the childhood friend who is essentially forcing her own route on the protagonist, making hers the “true route” and not letting the story end until the protagonist chooses her, then finishing the story by undoing her interference on the other routes and giving the other girls an equal playing field. In the 2020s where we have many visual novel "subversions" that actively mock the usual tropes, this treats them with love and care. Extra matters. And after all, who better to showcase the transition between privilege to having real problems than a privileged harem romcom protagonist in a visual novel, and then use his love to persevere regardless even as he is forced to grow up and witness many tragedies? I am in general a fan of “normal guy” main characters who are just ordinary people going through extraordinary circumstances, but the way that connects to the commentary on VNs and the themes is noteworthy.
As a series, Muv-Luv is just relaxing to get into in general. You can basically do anything you want in any order (other than prequels for stuff you’re reading anyway) after Alternative, though you do get some mild references to older works in newer ones. It’s nice to have a series without a strongly enforced reading order, where you can pick and choose what you’re interested in, with little to no amount of what I call “media homework”. You don’t get a cheap copout of having a second Takeru, since none of the other main characters are isekai protagonists. Instead, you get variety with a story that happens in Alaska, which is controlled in part by the UN, in part by the USA, and in part by the USSR, with a Japanese-American protagonist; a gritty struggle for survival in 1980s communist Germany; a post-Alternative V, G-Bombed world with very little of land and population remaining. And those are just the major side-stories, there’s a bunch of shorter ones that you might be into, both with Extra-style humor and Alternative-style serious plot. However, the original story is still my favorite.
To repeat what I said in my MLE/MLU review, and to follow up on talking about S00mika and whether she's a spoiler from earlier, I would like to dedicate this section to comment on one misconception that people often have about the trilogy. So, actually, despite what some say, I don't think it is a spoiler to call ML a mecha, because it was advertised heavily in 2001 and 2002 (since before its release: example 1, example 2), on the original 2003 game box — more sources: 1, 2 (including a quote about Takeru wanting "out of this f'ed up world" (paraphrased), as well as this, though I still think people should spoiler tag the isekai thing to make it more surprising for new people, as it isn't as well known of a plot point), and in the menu screen of the 2003 release (with the Extra menu screen having this in the background, and then changing to this when you unlocked Unlimited. So really you aren't spoiling anyone by calling it a mecha, and it never was a "spoiler that got well-known" — âge were never hiding it in the first place!).
It’s not like I think it’s perfect. The cadet suits were a good idea to phase out as the franchise went on, and I still think that not all the Extra routes are made equal — Tama’s dad’s (who Takeru meets "for the first time" in Unlimited) and Sagiri’s appearances in Unlimited and Alternative, as well as Chizuru’s parental issues (this dad is barely even explored in her Extra route) aren’t really enhanced that much by reading their routes, and I think the doctor willing to throw away everything he has for a high school girl in Kei’s route and the bullying storyline in Chizuru’s don’t really contribute much. Tama’s route is fun but her confidence issues are made apparent without missing content in Unlimited and Alternative even if you don’t do her route. In Extra she has to hit a target with her bow, in Unlimited she has to hit a target with a TSF and a massive sniper rifle. Her dad (who, again, Takeru meets "for the first time" in Unlimited despite Tama's Extra route) is also there. And Mikoto doesn’t even get a proper route in the first place. Unlimited is even worse with this — I cannot expect first time readers to do every almost entirely identical route where the heroine is copy and pasted (besides Yuuko's, but that one is also literally under 10 minutes long and requires barely any auto skipping wait time), with a bunch of unskippable autoread sequences. In my original 100% run after finishing Alt and on this reread, I enjoyed seeing variations of marbles, shogi, cat's cradle, etc. and various Game Guy addiction arcs (with my favorite being what I assume is a Fire Emblem ripoff), however. I will say though that experienced VN readers should definitely try reading all the Extra routes, it’s just natural to want to read all the routes of a VN. But for new people or those who have had enough Extra, reading Sumika (since it has more essential content than Meiya's route, if you're doing one) and maybe also Meiya’s route (which you shouldn't read on its own without Sumika's route in your Extra playthrough before Unlimited) works as the bare minimum before Unlimited. Other than Sagiri’s one-minute appearance and Takeru going “huh? Anyways, moving on”, you won’t really be confused. In fact, Unlimited and Alternative generally only show flashbacks for stuff you've personally done, for example during the sleepover scene in Unlimited, where if you did the side routes, Takeru will have a flashback, and if you didn't, he won't. And I'll take doing the bare minimum without getting spoiled because you might not have a VN friend who's read Muv-Luv over looking stuff up and getting spoiled, which has a high chance of happening considering how easy it is to get spoiled on this story. Now, don’t get me wrong, I won’t lie and say that it doesn’t add even further to the fact that despite the differing circumstances between universes, the core human nature of the characters is the same, as well as perhaps the main point of Muv-Luv — that being Takeru’s love(s) for the girls — and the payoffs in chapter 10, such as the heroines laying down their lives for the protagonist, but you actually don’t get any new plot-related substance added to chapters 6, for example, by knowing about Extraverse Sagiri’s love for Kei (barely talked about in Alternative) and his story with Kei’s mother in the medical field, when it comes to the coup arc and his relationship with BETAverse Kei, because what matters here is his relationship to her dad’s philosophy, and its effect on Sagiri, Kei and Yuuhi. You don’t really need to know about Tama’s archery in Extra beyond that she does archery for Unlimited and Alternative, and you meet Tama’s dad in Unlimited as if it’s for the first time anyway. We never see Chizuru’s dad on-screen, and he barely gets mentioned in Extra. While it makes the payoffs even greater, it’s not knowledge that will make or break the story for you, even though you could interpret Chizuru’s struggles in her route as foreshadowing for her future leader role, and Tama’s contrast as an archer versus her BETAverse self as a sniper and her dad caring for her, or Kei’s and Chizuru's closed-off nature. Everything plot-related (besides Extraverse Sagiri’s one-minute appearance) that you actually need to know will be told or retold in Unlimited and Alternative. The main point of doing Extra, other than the primary two routes having the necessary information for the central plot and background, is the contrast between Takeru’s original world and what comes later, as well as a demonstration of Kouki's view on human nature, where despite the vastly different circumstances, our cast are similar to their Extraverse counterparts in spirit. That being said, like I said in my MLE/MLU review, if you can do them all, by all means, do them — it’ll make you care even more in Alternative, that part is undeniable — you won't just enjoy one of the greatest things you've ever experienced at a 100%, you will do so at 110%, so to speak. The most problematic aspect is probably the “twizzlers” tentacle scene in chapter 9, though, which is arguably disrespectful towards Sumika as a character, even in the all-ages version of the story which I prefer. That scene certainly blindsides you since there is very little sexual content even in the original version of MLA.
One thing I won’t change my mind on is the structure not being to its detriment. Muv-Luv is a work of passion that is so unapologetic about its vision, so dedicated to its niche, so ambitious that I now use "this is the Alternative of X" as a way to explain how big a step up from something is in a sequel, and that to fully enjoy it, you would want to be a fan of both slice-of-life romcoms and hard sci-fi real robot mecha, and have enough patience for the “true story” and action to begin dozens of hours in. Extra gives you no taste of the future TSF vs BETA action to come. For once we have an invasion/war story that doesn’t have the calm before the storm only last the equivalent of the first half of episode 1 (at most), we actually see that peace that is later contrasted to war through the protagonist’s eyes. It is both a slice-of-life romcom and a grounded war story, as well as a love story about that love crossing all boundaries, and prevailing nonetheless. It is a story of a young adult transitioning from adolescence to true adulthood with responsibilities through character development, but does not lose his innate kindness regardless. It wasn’t even a decisive victory against the BETA either, Takeru bought the BETAverse an extra 20 years. But for just a single person, that is an incredible feat. And I don’t think the ending, which is the final most commonly criticised aspect of Muv-Luv, goes against this — the epilogue of Final Extra is the first time we are truly out of sync with Takeru in terms of knowledge and experiences. Regardless of if you think his memories and experiences are still there (at least we know from Altered Fable that the characters act more like their post-Alternative, more developed selves rather than just being their Extra selves from square one), we are shown a second, retroactive, slightly altered look at the beginning of Muv-Luv Extra. Now that we have known what war looks like, now that we have seen Takeru and the Valkyries help peace continue through their own efforts as opposed to being only on the receiving end at the start of the story, will we be able to take that peace we have come to take for granted in Extra the same way? Now that we know the blood and tears, the suffering to create this small miracle that Takeru, Sumika and all the rest went through to create this reality and give Kasumi a peaceful life, will we be able to trivialise the importance of Extra, regardless of how we felt about it at the beginning of the tale? Absolutely not, it wasn’t all for nothing, and that’s why this ending works.
I have never cried over any media before this in general (I got teary-eyed at most, but I didn't go hysterical), and I have never cried over stories this much since. I have cried even more on my reread, noticing foreshadowing and getting emotional over more character and plot moments due to better understanding. It is safe to say that Muv-Luv Alternative will not be surpassed for me as a work of fiction for a while, if ever. There are few works as ambitious and full of passion as this. I feel the same way after having experienced 89 visual novels and much more mecha and other media than my 2021 self that initially read this with around four visual novels’ worth of experience, and far less with other media that makes you appreciate this story more. At the risk of repetition and being cliched, it is also safe to say that my life is divided into pre-MLA and post-MLA. I don’t see myself getting tired of this story and world. I even started learning Japanese and exploring a variety of fiction, not judging things by their cover because of it. It just means that much to me.
I could talk about this for hours, even days. But I do have to put this review to an end somehow. So, to repeat from my spoiler-free review: Thank you, Shirogane Takeru, for your inspiring journey. Thank you, Kagami Sumika, Mitsurugi Meiya, Ayamine Kei, Tamase Miki, Sakaki Chizuru and Yashiro Kasumi, for your stories that showed both the protagonist and reader the many perspectives and lives that exist in the world. Thank you, Kouzuki Yuuko, Jinguuji Marimo and other cast members, for being reliable mentors and saying things that both Takeru and I, a university student at the time who had been lost with as to what to do with life, needed to hear. Thank you for making this story such a joy to read.
Lastly, and most importantly, thank you, âge and Yoshimune Kouki, for creating this beautiful tale of love and courage that I hold dear in my heart to this day.
I don’t even know how to start this. Muv-Luv Alternative is my favorite story of all time. This time, I’m making a spoiler review, written soon after my reread. This might not be the most polished essay I’ve written, but even though I do appreciate people seeing this, it is primarily for myself. I’ll try to put every single thought I’ve had about MLA and Muv-Luv as a whole into it, but of course, words aren’t enough, so there will always be more I will want to say. This will be a long one.
For the longest time, I used to not get attached to stories, especially emotionally. It’s why I played multiplayer games primarily. For basically the entirety of the 2000s and 2010s I was mostly into familiar media or adaptations of that media — Marvel, DC and Star Wars. Nothing wrong with enjoying them, of course. When looking forward to new content, I was mostly looking forward to more of the same. It was nice in a way, but lacked novelty after a while. I didn't really get emotional from media either, let alone to the extent of crying. With the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdowns, I started exploring more due to sheer boredom, and eventually got into anime for real after trying a few shows in 2011-2015 previously. One thing led to another, and after playing Doki Doki Literature Club and watching Steins;Gate I decided to explore more of the SciAdv series, and read Chaos;Child (at the time, Chaos;Head wasn’t on Steam and I was not aware of its existence). I never had the apprehension about the visual novel medium since I was used to reading a lot of books as a child. Experiencing C;C blew away all other narrative media I was into previously, even my beloved Spider-Man adaptations and comics, as well as the dozens/hundreds of anime I’d watched in 2020. After that I moved onto the most popular VN and VN adaptations series — Type-Moon. I read Fate/stay night and Tsukihime, and I was obsessed with it for months. I was convinced that there was barely any point in exploring the medium at that point, with nothing else really catching my eye. However, I decided that I would at least try Muv-Luv, since Alternative was the highest rated VN on VNDB at the time (not that rankings on a website matter that much to me, I could be the only fan or the millionth fan of a thing, all that matters is if I like it), and in the top three on EGS (Japanese eroge and ADV game website), in addition to the anime adaptation of MLA being announced (which I've also written reviews (1, 2) on, and getting told to not rob myself of the experience, hence deciding to read the source trilogy. If I didn’t end up liking it, I would quit the medium, since I was convinced nothing would surpass C;C anyway, probably.
I was honestly surprised to see the amount of hatred towards Extra online after finishing the trilogy. It might not be a masterpiece, but the humor is something I’ve always found entertaining. It is even more apparent on my reread after experiencing dozens upon dozens of other VNs where the humor is the MC being a pervert or classroom pranks. In Muv-Luv, you have the rich girl heroine trope exaggerated into being able to level the protagonist’s neighborhood and bring in 5-star chefs from around the glove on helicopters to school, as well as turning into chibis and shooting each other into the stratosphere. For some, it may have gotten repetitive, but given how I enjoyed this reread, and prior to that Altered Fable and some other side stories, I still enjoy it. The main two routes of Extra (Sumika and Meiya), the ones that were required to unlock Unlimited in 2003 (and for good reason, as I'll mention later), also have a well-executed romance drama, though I do take some issue with the side routes, which I’ve discussed in my Extra/Unlimited reread review prior to this one.
Unlimited was really crazy from beginning to end. I spent all of Extra anticipating the genre shift which never happened then, only for Takeru to suddenly walk out into a wasteland three minutes into this one. It was the last thing I expected after spending a large portion of Extra theorising that Yuuko would do some kind of experiment and they would get invaded at the end of Extra. And then Takeru gets shoved into what is another genre, as well as literally another world. The “new normal” of Muv-Luv shifts, and Extra already starts to seem like a distant dream. Takeru goes through a training arc and episodic arcs that focus on the girls, building up confidence, but by the end of it things start to feel wrong, and they announce Alternative V, making Takeru fight with the rest of humanity for survival as a fleet that only hosts a small portion of humanity on board, possibly with the heroine, who is also the mother of his child. It is an emotional gut punch due to how abruptly the ending comes — Takeru couldn’t do anything due to lack of information and maturity at the time, yet he’s giving it his all regardless. Isn’t this insane, though? Wasn’t it so long ago that we were choosing between Sumika and Meiya’s lunches? How is this even the same story? At this point we really start to miss the Extraverse and Sumika just like he does. It gets even crazier. It makes me feel bad for people who waited between 2003 and 2006 when Alternative wasn’t even certain to come out.
So, we finally get to Alternative — the true story, so to speak. After an awesome Hive invasion scene that made me shout “ENGLISH?!?!?!?!?”, and the iconic, intriguing “human brains” moment, the story adds yet another layer besides dimensional travel this time with time travel. Takeru loops back to the beginning of Unlimited with his knowledge and training and starts to retrace his steps to use the future knowledge to its fullest. One thing that really stood out about chapters 1-5 of Alternative is how it genuinely feels like a timeloop due to small changes snowballing. Yuuko takes longer to trust Takeru’s story despite Kasumi’s mind-reading due to his trained body and suspicious amount of classified knowledge, Takeru doesn’t hold back the cadet squad, but leads it this time, and Yuuko and Takeru debate which events to intervene in without losing the advantage of future knowledge, while also trying to save as many days and hours before Alternative V is implemented on Christmas Day as possible. It’s really cool seeing this after several stories, especially visual novels, having one small choice leading to another character becoming a psychopathic killer and killing the entire cast, or something. The story being a slow burn really makes it feel immersive.
The first true change is the coup d’etat that did not happen in the Unlimited timeline, due to interfering with the events of episode 9 of Unlimited. I’ll get back to this later, but this arc is one of the most controversial aspects of MLA, and for good reason. For now it will suffice to say that both the reader and Takeru are asking themselves why his first mission is fighting humans instead of the BETA, and why anyone would bother doing this when humanity is facing extinction. It is an attempt to say that nobody is strictly right or wrong (even if it is biased towards the Japanese nationalistic perspective), and humanising American and UN soldiers and not blaming them for their leaders’ choices is cool.
After that ends and the XM3 trials happen, the true turning point of Muv-Luv occurs — the chomp of Jinguuji Marimo. Takeru and we both believe we've seen the worst with Alternative V and the coup, and that the "therapy not included" part of Muv-Luv is hearing soldiers die one by one on the battlefield, but then it turns out that's just the beginning, it affects someone close to Takeru as well, someone he cares for deeply dies, and he loses it. It is a completely unexpected moment, delivered only after the reader and Takeru feel completely secure about thinking that they have already finally reached the "serious part" of the story with Takeru getting into more serious situations than most of Unlimited, yet prevailing regardless like the hero he believes himself to be due to his future knowledge at the start of Alternative, as well as the advantage of retaining his training and body from Unlimited, making him no longer the dead weight that he was for a large portion of Unlimited, only to have something like this happen during a typical “Muv-Luv talk”, and all the allegedly heroic resolve Takeru had goes to waste once this starts to affect the people near him. He has a truly deplorable display in front of Meiya, Kasumi and Yuuko and runs away to his world, until it starts to affect him there. After that we finally get to see the fight against the BETA.
I know it is a bad habit to start summarising the story in a review, but I feel like this way I will assemble the pieces to truly discuss it, as well as provide a refresher. In any case…
The coup arc is controversial due to Sagiri’s resemblance to Yukio Mishima from Japanese history. By essentially saying “your methods were extreme, but your motivation wasn’t, you just went about it the wrong way”, MLA understandably rubs many people the wrong way about this. However, I wouldn’t really call it “nationalism simulator 3000” because of this. Even besides the fact that Total Eclipse and other side material dials down the nationalism aspect (though is it really fair to mention that as a retroactive point when talking about MLA specifically, especially when TE sort of partially exists to ‘fix’ it?), it’s certainly nice to not have an ‘evil foreigner’ angle, which is more than I can say for a few popular VNs, anime and JRPGs, especially with downplaying Japan’s role in World War II, but I digress. Having Takeru have an outsider’s perspective is cool, since he is just a normal Japanese high schooler from a world similar to ours. The line of thinking that ordinary BETAverse citizens have is completely alien to him for a large portion of the story. They still have him be more understanding of the nationalistic view by the end of the arc, which plays into the nationalistic undertones of the arc, as well as despite being a UN operation, having the entire squad be of Japanese descent (even though it plays into the whole “UN soldier duties vs Japanese roots” aspect). I still enjoy the arc despite its issues, especially with the tension and Takeru’s dynamic with Yuuhi, but I can definitely see where people who dislike it are coming from.
To call the XM3 trials’ chomp a turning point is an understatement. The story effectively undergoes a second genre shift through the multiple tragedies of chapter 7. All of what we thought we knew about Muv-Luv undergoes a change, and we realise that nowhere is safe, not even the Extraverse. The distant memory of Extra now comes under attack. There is truly nowhere left to run. I’ve mentioned that I cried to MLA previously, and on my original playthrough, this got the most tears out of me. From seeing Extraverse Marimo to the various tragedies, to Sumika’s memories and "Now, get out there and show them who's boss, Shirogane Takeru!" as JAM Project blasts into my ear, it was probably to date the most emotional I’ve gotten over media. After more than a decade of not crying over fiction, I finally started bawling. And the reason for that is due to the slow burn that MLE, MLU and early MLA were, due to how attached I’ve gotten to these characters, like I truly knew them. The end gave Takeru and me both a determination to see this tale through to the end. The reveal that Sumika is the brain from the brain room and has been under Takeru’s nose all along was shocking, despite being a bit predictable at this point. After experiencing her heavy injuries in Extra, seeing her like this and unlike her usual cheery self is painful for readers, too. By the way, Sumika being in the menu screen and marketing material this isn’t a spoiler on the Steam version’s part, she was marketed to be in this game even with the 00 Unit pink fortified suit even in its original release (source), such as with the game cover. Just like Muv-Luv being a mecha, this isn’t really a spoiler you should be worrying about, since âge certainly doesn’t consider it one. Pretty much nobody who buys and plays Muv-Luv, any version of it, is unaware that it's a mecha without extremely careful outside control by a friend who's already read it and wants to run this as an experiment of pretending that Muv-Luv is just a cutesy romcom until the player reaches Unlimited.
And so, Takeru finally gets involved in a squad as a commissioned officer, with cast additions such as Isumi Michiru from Kimi ga Ita Kisetsu, Hayase, Akane and Haruka from Kimi Nozomu ga Eien, Kashiwagi from Extra, as well as Kazama and Munakata (who later got added to the KimiIta remake). This must’ve been a real gift for long-time âge fans, seeing alternate versions of the characters they knew in the BETAverse. Like the BETAverse versions of the Extra heroines, the BETAverse versions of these characters are similar, yet adjusted to the setting. Isumi dies without confessing, and Mitsuki and Haruka have lost Takayuki. Seeing even further connections like this is why I’m planning to finish pre-ML âge VNs before my second trilogy reread, this time in Japanese. Back to Muv-Luv itself though, we finally get to truly fight the BETA for the first time. The reason the XM3 surprise attack was so effective was because the BETA’s appearance was hidden behind ambiguity for the story until that point. They were a threat that was always looming over the characters and in-universe populace. They are a truly terrifying force with no morals or hesitation that people might have. They aren’t even villains of the week — they are more akin to insects such as ants or bees that come in thousands or even millions. Seeing the scale increase so drastically from Extra, and even Unlimited, is a sight to behold. Now we have another new normal that is 1000+ vs 1000+ large scale battles that have multiple parties constantly moving with their own objectives, and seeing how the BETA’s response affects the entire battlefield. Following Takeru’s incredible show of determination in his Storm Vanguard moment and the plan going off the rails, Isumi’s sacrifice is an emotional scene despite for how short of a time Takeru has known her, and seeing Kashiwagi be the first person besides Marimo to get killed off from the Extra cast leaves a void in the reader’s heart.
At this point it becomes abundantly clear to never expect peace from Muv-Luv anymore, but the attack on Yokohama Base comes as a surprise regardless. This time around, the base takes major damage, and with Mitsuki’s and Haruka’s deaths, as well as the injuries of the rest of the Valkyries, the only crew that remains in fighting condition is our original gang, armed with Tsukuyomi and company’s Takemikazuchis. They too undergo a suicidal attack against the BETA, and the story wraps up.
It really is insane that this is the same story as lacrosse and various shenanigans from Extra. I constantly had to remind myself of the fact that yes, this is indeed the same story, many times throughout the experience. But the main reason this even works is due to it taking so long to “get good”. The reason the BETA attack during the XM3 trials is such a shock is due to how long it took for the first ‘real fight’, and the reason chapters 7 through 10 are so impactful is due to how long we spent with these characters. The contrast between the worlds and genres plays a part, too. There are some cool connections that are even more apparent while rereading, such as Alternative Takeru throwing the shoe to his Extra self, or Sumika meeting him while going home with groceries, or Sadogashima mentions and Yuuko’s quantum causality theory, but by far the most impressive part of the trilogy is how almost all the parts work as pieces of a greater picture.
The world building plays a part in that. Muv-Luv’s hard sci-fi lore explains almost everything and connects it to plot points through strategy, tactics, technology and history, while the soft sci-fi such as multiversal and time travel, as well as causality conducting ties to the themes and characters. It is so nice to see things be properly explained in the main work (where it’s often vague or sometimes just straight up unexplained) and not just side content (where it’s usually actually explained). It is so refreshing to see a story with such a grounded take on mechs that don’t have beam swords and cannot fly into space not be filled with unexplained technobabble like omega particles that never get explained outside of interviews or obscure side material, with the main story mentioning rules but immediately breaking them two minutes later. You actually know what an Arrowhead-2 formation, data link or feedback protector is. It's not just there, they actually use this stuff in the story! The XM3 is invented due to just being a logical thing to do when you have a guy who knows a way to improve TSF software. You get told several versions of a plan so that you know exactly what is happening if something doesn’t go ideally and they have to use a backup, which they told you about ahead of time. The TSFs themselves get a lot of detail in their design philosophies between countries, generations and models. In fact, TSFs being based on real life planes like the F-22 Raptor makes it even more cool. It actually makes sense why they were invented — it’s not just to look cool, you want a machine that can move three-dimensionally without crashing into a wall like a plane, but also something with more agility than a tank. Muv-Luv in general has so many things I wish other mecha had, even small things like neck braces when pilots aren't in something like Evangelion LCL or space, so that maneuvers in those mechs don't case whiplash. It is also nice to see a story where you actually have to undergo training (and we see the cast undergo training) both in Basic and with simulators before you can actually pilot a mech. It just makes sense! It makes sense why the cast don’t get into real action for so long, aside from just political reasons which are revealed later. The political and technological landscape is so developed that it is so immersive, and I can’t get enough of it. I was initially curious if I’d end up liking this, since I wasn’t into mecha for the mecha previously, but it seems I just hadn’t found my own niche at that point. Having such comparatively weak mechs with a focus on agility over durability, since additional armor wouldn’t be much help anyway in such a grounded setting definitely made me find that niche. Exposition and a lot of details to remember is a common complaint about Alternative, but that’s what makes it so compelling to me. You can’t have so much detail in strategy, tech, politics with various parties having their own complex motivations and history make consistent sense without explaining them.
The structure certainly makes this story the greatest “trust me bro, it gets good” of all time, even if you liked Extra and Unlimited due to the fact that every reader is excited to see what Alternative is about, but that’s what makes it worth it. It’s already common for VNs to have a slow, slice of life beginning as the high schooler main character gets thrown into supernatural shenanigans, but having that main character live through what is basically a detailed pre-isekai life (making it stand out among a sea of low-effort isekai novels and anime nowadays, 20+ years later), get thrown into a dystopian mecha alien invasion with humanity at the brink of extinction, witness the end of the world, and get timelooped back and experience trauma after creating another branch (route) in his original, more traditional visual novel world makes it stand out even among other acclaimed visual novels. Like I said, it’s crazy that it’s the same story as lacrosse and picking school lunches, and you think that at many points in the story. But most importantly, it gives you attachment to that old life, you genuinely start to miss Extra. Even people who didn’t like Extra can become major Muv-Luv fans and start to miss it and appreciate it more in Unlimited and Alternative, I’ve seen it happen time and time again.
The visuals are amazing even two decades later. This stuff is still more animated than the overwhelming majority of VNs there, and from the popular ones, rivalled only by the recent 2010s and 2020s Type-Moon visual novels. From moving mouths and eyes, to the crazy amount of CGs and movement, to creative uses of the limitations of the VN medium to be as dynamic as possible, Muv-Luv, especially Alternative and future entries, is extremely dynamic, and while not quite like an anime, makes you forget that it isn’t one sometimes. I even remember watching a friend livestream this and be impressed by having back sprites and seeing warm air when characters spoke and breathed outdoors during autumn and winter. But even that doesn’t compare to how dynamically TSFs and tactical maps adjust and change during fights. Very few visual novels have reached this level of constant animation, I can say that for sure after having around 90 at the time of writing this now. I also don’t really get some of the complaints about the soundtrack. Not only are Asu e no Houkou (and the other OPs, such as Name and 0-GRAVITY), Wings and Carry On incredible tracks by JAM Project that (take this with a grain of salt, I don’t have a specific source for this) the author, Kouki, allegedly went into debt to afford, as well as funding a huge part of Alternative out of his own pocket, but you also have banger OSTs like Storm Vanguard, Briefing, War Preparation, Valkyries, For You Who Departs, Ambush Attack, Crash and many more that have become classics to me. The aforementioned War Preparation was inspired by a track from Gunbuster (not the only case of this happening either!), and you will find many of these kinds of references to mecha, such as Takemikazuchi’s design resembling an Evangelion, Kei Ayamine/Rei Ayanami; Sumika’s, Meiya’s and some other girls’ hair designs resembling Gundam helmets, etc in its distinct hair vents-having art style in Muv-Luv. It is inspired by so many previous works, yet puts its own spin on the genre regardless. Some talented individuals that have other acclaimed works in the videogame or anime industries include Yoshinari Kou (animator) and Iwasaki Taku, who also worked on the Gurren Lagann's, Katanagatari's, Soul Eater's and some other soundtracks.
But a love letter to mecha though it may be, Muv-Luv is primarily a love letter to romance visual novels. That is why, despite how exaggerated the tropes are, you have the classic childhood friend, rich girl, class president tsundere, kuudere, as well as others. That is why the fact that the original has routes, and that Takeru creates a new one by interacting with the Extraverse in Alternative, and why you get progressively fewer and fewer impactful choices with each entry in the trilogy. That is why the grand revelation at the end is that Takeru, not simply alternate versions of him, loved them all. That is why the main thing about Muv-Luv is “save in the name of true love”, and why the name comes from the slang mabu-dachi ("true friend") turned into mabu-ravu (Muv-Luv, or "true love"). That is why the closest person to being a human antagonist in the story is the childhood friend who is essentially forcing her own route on the protagonist, making hers the “true route” and not letting the story end until the protagonist chooses her, then finishing the story by undoing her interference on the other routes and giving the other girls an equal playing field. In the 2020s where we have many visual novel "subversions" that actively mock the usual tropes, this treats them with love and care. Extra matters. And after all, who better to showcase the transition between privilege to having real problems than a privileged harem romcom protagonist in a visual novel, and then use his love to persevere regardless even as he is forced to grow up and witness many tragedies? I am in general a fan of “normal guy” main characters who are just ordinary people going through extraordinary circumstances, but the way that connects to the commentary on VNs and the themes is noteworthy.
As a series, Muv-Luv is just relaxing to get into in general. You can basically do anything you want in any order (other than prequels for stuff you’re reading anyway) after Alternative, though you do get some mild references to older works in newer ones. It’s nice to have a series without a strongly enforced reading order, where you can pick and choose what you’re interested in, with little to no amount of what I call “media homework”. You don’t get a cheap copout of having a second Takeru, since none of the other main characters are isekai protagonists. Instead, you get variety with a story that happens in Alaska, which is controlled in part by the UN, in part by the USA, and in part by the USSR, with a Japanese-American protagonist; a gritty struggle for survival in 1980s communist Germany; a post-Alternative V, G-Bombed world with very little of land and population remaining. And those are just the major side-stories, there’s a bunch of shorter ones that you might be into, both with Extra-style humor and Alternative-style serious plot. However, the original story is still my favorite.
To repeat what I said in my MLE/MLU review, and to follow up on talking about S00mika and whether she's a spoiler from earlier, I would like to dedicate this section to comment on one misconception that people often have about the trilogy. So, actually, despite what some say, I don't think it is a spoiler to call ML a mecha, because it was advertised heavily in 2001 and 2002 (since before its release: example 1, example 2), on the original 2003 game box — more sources: 1, 2 (including a quote about Takeru wanting "out of this f'ed up world" (paraphrased), as well as this, though I still think people should spoiler tag the isekai thing to make it more surprising for new people, as it isn't as well known of a plot point), and in the menu screen of the 2003 release (with the Extra menu screen having this in the background, and then changing to this when you unlocked Unlimited. So really you aren't spoiling anyone by calling it a mecha, and it never was a "spoiler that got well-known" — âge were never hiding it in the first place!).
It’s not like I think it’s perfect. The cadet suits were a good idea to phase out as the franchise went on, and I still think that not all the Extra routes are made equal — Tama’s dad’s (who Takeru meets "for the first time" in Unlimited) and Sagiri’s appearances in Unlimited and Alternative, as well as Chizuru’s parental issues (this dad is barely even explored in her Extra route) aren’t really enhanced that much by reading their routes, and I think the doctor willing to throw away everything he has for a high school girl in Kei’s route and the bullying storyline in Chizuru’s don’t really contribute much. Tama’s route is fun but her confidence issues are made apparent without missing content in Unlimited and Alternative even if you don’t do her route. In Extra she has to hit a target with her bow, in Unlimited she has to hit a target with a TSF and a massive sniper rifle. Her dad (who, again, Takeru meets "for the first time" in Unlimited despite Tama's Extra route) is also there. And Mikoto doesn’t even get a proper route in the first place. Unlimited is even worse with this — I cannot expect first time readers to do every almost entirely identical route where the heroine is copy and pasted (besides Yuuko's, but that one is also literally under 10 minutes long and requires barely any auto skipping wait time), with a bunch of unskippable autoread sequences. In my original 100% run after finishing Alt and on this reread, I enjoyed seeing variations of marbles, shogi, cat's cradle, etc. and various Game Guy addiction arcs (with my favorite being what I assume is a Fire Emblem ripoff), however. I will say though that experienced VN readers should definitely try reading all the Extra routes, it’s just natural to want to read all the routes of a VN. But for new people or those who have had enough Extra, reading Sumika (since it has more essential content than Meiya's route, if you're doing one) and maybe also Meiya’s route (which you shouldn't read on its own without Sumika's route in your Extra playthrough before Unlimited) works as the bare minimum before Unlimited. Other than Sagiri’s one-minute appearance and Takeru going “huh? Anyways, moving on”, you won’t really be confused. In fact, Unlimited and Alternative generally only show flashbacks for stuff you've personally done, for example during the sleepover scene in Unlimited, where if you did the side routes, Takeru will have a flashback, and if you didn't, he won't. And I'll take doing the bare minimum without getting spoiled because you might not have a VN friend who's read Muv-Luv over looking stuff up and getting spoiled, which has a high chance of happening considering how easy it is to get spoiled on this story. Now, don’t get me wrong, I won’t lie and say that it doesn’t add even further to the fact that despite the differing circumstances between universes, the core human nature of the characters is the same, as well as perhaps the main point of Muv-Luv — that being Takeru’s love(s) for the girls — and the payoffs in chapter 10, such as the heroines laying down their lives for the protagonist, but you actually don’t get any new plot-related substance added to chapters 6, for example, by knowing about Extraverse Sagiri’s love for Kei (barely talked about in Alternative) and his story with Kei’s mother in the medical field, when it comes to the coup arc and his relationship with BETAverse Kei, because what matters here is his relationship to her dad’s philosophy, and its effect on Sagiri, Kei and Yuuhi. You don’t really need to know about Tama’s archery in Extra beyond that she does archery for Unlimited and Alternative, and you meet Tama’s dad in Unlimited as if it’s for the first time anyway. We never see Chizuru’s dad on-screen, and he barely gets mentioned in Extra. While it makes the payoffs even greater, it’s not knowledge that will make or break the story for you, even though you could interpret Chizuru’s struggles in her route as foreshadowing for her future leader role, and Tama’s contrast as an archer versus her BETAverse self as a sniper and her dad caring for her, or Kei’s and Chizuru's closed-off nature. Everything plot-related (besides Extraverse Sagiri’s one-minute appearance) that you actually need to know will be told or retold in Unlimited and Alternative. The main point of doing Extra, other than the primary two routes having the necessary information for the central plot and background, is the contrast between Takeru’s original world and what comes later, as well as a demonstration of Kouki's view on human nature, where despite the vastly different circumstances, our cast are similar to their Extraverse counterparts in spirit. That being said, like I said in my MLE/MLU review, if you can do them all, by all means, do them — it’ll make you care even more in Alternative, that part is undeniable — you won't just enjoy one of the greatest things you've ever experienced at a 100%, you will do so at 110%, so to speak. The most problematic aspect is probably the “twizzlers” tentacle scene in chapter 9, though, which is arguably disrespectful towards Sumika as a character, even in the all-ages version of the story which I prefer. That scene certainly blindsides you since there is very little sexual content even in the original version of MLA.
One thing I won’t change my mind on is the structure not being to its detriment. Muv-Luv is a work of passion that is so unapologetic about its vision, so dedicated to its niche, so ambitious that I now use "this is the Alternative of X" as a way to explain how big a step up from something is in a sequel, and that to fully enjoy it, you would want to be a fan of both slice-of-life romcoms and hard sci-fi real robot mecha, and have enough patience for the “true story” and action to begin dozens of hours in. Extra gives you no taste of the future TSF vs BETA action to come. For once we have an invasion/war story that doesn’t have the calm before the storm only last the equivalent of the first half of episode 1 (at most), we actually see that peace that is later contrasted to war through the protagonist’s eyes. It is both a slice-of-life romcom and a grounded war story, as well as a love story about that love crossing all boundaries, and prevailing nonetheless. It is a story of a young adult transitioning from adolescence to true adulthood with responsibilities through character development, but does not lose his innate kindness regardless. It wasn’t even a decisive victory against the BETA either, Takeru bought the BETAverse an extra 20 years. But for just a single person, that is an incredible feat. And I don’t think the ending, which is the final most commonly criticised aspect of Muv-Luv, goes against this — the epilogue of Final Extra is the first time we are truly out of sync with Takeru in terms of knowledge and experiences. Regardless of if you think his memories and experiences are still there (at least we know from Altered Fable that the characters act more like their post-Alternative, more developed selves rather than just being their Extra selves from square one), we are shown a second, retroactive, slightly altered look at the beginning of Muv-Luv Extra. Now that we have known what war looks like, now that we have seen Takeru and the Valkyries help peace continue through their own efforts as opposed to being only on the receiving end at the start of the story, will we be able to take that peace we have come to take for granted in Extra the same way? Now that we know the blood and tears, the suffering to create this small miracle that Takeru, Sumika and all the rest went through to create this reality and give Kasumi a peaceful life, will we be able to trivialise the importance of Extra, regardless of how we felt about it at the beginning of the tale? Absolutely not, it wasn’t all for nothing, and that’s why this ending works.
I have never cried over any media before this in general (I got teary-eyed at most, but I didn't go hysterical), and I have never cried over stories this much since. I have cried even more on my reread, noticing foreshadowing and getting emotional over more character and plot moments due to better understanding. It is safe to say that Muv-Luv Alternative will not be surpassed for me as a work of fiction for a while, if ever. There are few works as ambitious and full of passion as this. I feel the same way after having experienced 89 visual novels and much more mecha and other media than my 2021 self that initially read this with around four visual novels’ worth of experience, and far less with other media that makes you appreciate this story more. At the risk of repetition and being cliched, it is also safe to say that my life is divided into pre-MLA and post-MLA. I don’t see myself getting tired of this story and world. I even started learning Japanese and exploring a variety of fiction, not judging things by their cover because of it. It just means that much to me.
I could talk about this for hours, even days. But I do have to put this review to an end somehow. So, to repeat from my spoiler-free review: Thank you, Shirogane Takeru, for your inspiring journey. Thank you, Kagami Sumika, Mitsurugi Meiya, Ayamine Kei, Tamase Miki, Sakaki Chizuru and Yashiro Kasumi, for your stories that showed both the protagonist and reader the many perspectives and lives that exist in the world. Thank you, Kouzuki Yuuko, Jinguuji Marimo and other cast members, for being reliable mentors and saying things that both Takeru and I, a university student at the time who had been lost with as to what to do with life, needed to hear. Thank you for making this story such a joy to read.
Lastly, and most importantly, thank you, âge and Yoshimune Kouki, for creating this beautiful tale of love and courage that I hold dear in my heart to this day.
as melhores e as piores coisas do mundo são manifestadas usando um único tipo específico de condução e transformação de brio em energia: o rock
A spectacular cultured 80s crime thriller mayhem.
Despite being my second GTA game that I've ever played, with GTA 5 being my first, it has aged mostly like juicy fine wine.
Sure the lack of checkpoints, a couple of jankyness elements and the factual meme that Tommy can't swim is real unfortunate, however unlike GTA 3, it's much more manageable which makes the game more of a test of knowledge and skill, instead of janky RNG that severely plagued GTA 3.
Besides that Vice City is the embodiment of chaos, passion and atmosphere.
Tommy Vercetti is a incredible and well defined protagonist who never fails to make me laugh.
The other characters notably Rosenberg, Ricardo and Lance were all memorable in they own ways.
Despite being a PS2, the game visually holds up very well with beautiful lighting, decently presented character models and well designed cities and locations that is filled with life.
A major improvement over GTA 3's basic and repetitive visuals.
The radio stations are some of the best that the GTA franchise has offer, filled with memorable 80s bangers and top musical hits of the 80s.
Not to mention, the voice is and to this day incredible and they all did a great job at capturing their respective characters.
GTA Vice City is at first glance similar to GTA 3, however this time, the difficulty whenever your doing story missions or doing a 6 star rampage in free roam, it's more fair and scaled.
Failing missions or getting wasted feels like natural consequence of a player poor planning, instead of poor game design and janky elements in GTA 3.
Police AI is significantly improved and gives you more a fighting chance especially in higher wanted levels, although the FBI and the Army can still delete you, if your not careful enough.
While not the perfect GTA game, Vice City is a beautiful charming effort that I adore with my heart.
Despite being my second GTA game that I've ever played, with GTA 5 being my first, it has aged mostly like juicy fine wine.
Sure the lack of checkpoints, a couple of jankyness elements and the factual meme that Tommy can't swim is real unfortunate, however unlike GTA 3, it's much more manageable which makes the game more of a test of knowledge and skill, instead of janky RNG that severely plagued GTA 3.
Besides that Vice City is the embodiment of chaos, passion and atmosphere.
Tommy Vercetti is a incredible and well defined protagonist who never fails to make me laugh.
The other characters notably Rosenberg, Ricardo and Lance were all memorable in they own ways.
Despite being a PS2, the game visually holds up very well with beautiful lighting, decently presented character models and well designed cities and locations that is filled with life.
A major improvement over GTA 3's basic and repetitive visuals.
The radio stations are some of the best that the GTA franchise has offer, filled with memorable 80s bangers and top musical hits of the 80s.
Not to mention, the voice is and to this day incredible and they all did a great job at capturing their respective characters.
GTA Vice City is at first glance similar to GTA 3, however this time, the difficulty whenever your doing story missions or doing a 6 star rampage in free roam, it's more fair and scaled.
Failing missions or getting wasted feels like natural consequence of a player poor planning, instead of poor game design and janky elements in GTA 3.
Police AI is significantly improved and gives you more a fighting chance especially in higher wanted levels, although the FBI and the Army can still delete you, if your not careful enough.
While not the perfect GTA game, Vice City is a beautiful charming effort that I adore with my heart.
It's easy to be better than CS4.
This review contains spoilers
So, here we are. The worst Trails game. I will never understand how there are people out there stupid enough to try and defend this shit, but the Falcom fanbase already feels like it's made up entirely of braindead simps so I don't know why I'm surprised. I could sum this whole thing up by saying that I genuinely cannot think of a game, JRPG or otherwise, that's as disappointing to me as this one. That this was my reaction to the series as a whole once I finished CS IV. But for an actual explanation as to why Cold Steel IV is one of the worst games I have ever played, here we go.
First off, I'm skipping over the good section because Falcom does not get credit for anything in this game that's good. The overall gameplay and combat are identical to how it was in CS III, both on foot and in your Divine Knights, so they don't get points for that. You don't get to say "Hey they fucked up the story but at least they didn't fuck up the gameplay too!" and act like that's not the bare minimum. And when you market your game as a story focused RPG, with literal hours upon hours of cutscenes, and your story feels like it was written by a 10 year old, then you have failed at what you set out to do.
The writing in this game is some of the worst shit that I have ever seen in my life. In any form of media. I have read literal fucking fanfiction that is better than this. I don't know what happened between this and CS III, but every character is an idiot now. They all either waste their time with shit that doesn't matter while the actual plot advances offscreen, or they just constantly talk about how much they want to fuck Rean. Rean has been turned from a deconstruction of the stock Light Novel/Anime hero, to just being the stock Light/Novel Anime hero. They have stopped trying to do anything interesting with his character anymore and just turned him into what everyone who hated him said he was. This is capped off by him getting a God-awful redesign that looks like someone's Deviantart OC circa 2006.
They continue to use the Curse as a crutch so every villain sucks and has the same exact "they were just brainwashed" motivation. And making things even worse is that the pacing is somehow worse than CS I! The first 2 Acts of this game do not matter. They are pure filler built around bullshit fetch quests and saving Elise, who I am now calling the single worst character in the entire franchise. Elise Schwarzer is Estelle Bright if Estelle Bright was completely unlikable and written by a dude who is jacking off to Lolicon as we speak. She is every creepy anime incest trope rolled into one insufferable package. So of course, she's perfect for this game.
The only time anything remotely interesting happens is during Fragments, which is ruined when Catgirl Celine shows up because you've got to get that money from the Furry crowd apparently, and Eventide. Eventide feels like what the rest of this game should have been, and it's nice solely because you get to see this massive cast of characters actually interact with each other like people for one of the first times in the series. But even this is immediately undermined by how contrived and poorly written the Finale is.
First off, Osborne's motivations in this game win a special award for managing to out nonsense everyone else in this garbage plot and ruins the ending of Azure in the process. If everything he was trying to do was to free Erebonia and the world from the Curse, and if the Curse only affected the people of Erebonia, THEN WHY DID HE NEED TO ANNEX CROSSBELL? The entire emotional crux of the ending of Azure was Crossbell getting annexed by the Empire despite everything and then it turns out that not only was the occupation not that bad if you go off how everyone acts in CS III, but it apparently only happened because the people making the decisions are the dumbest motherfuckers on the face of the planet. Osborne was originally written to be an Otto von Bismarck/Napoleon expy who loved his country and wanted to annex Crossbell because he wanted Erebonia to eventually rule over the entire continent. Them trying to pivot to all of this being a big plan to stop the Curse not only turns one of Trails best villains into a dumbass, but it feels like a massive retcon that only happened to make this specific game fit in with the rest of the series.
In the end, to borrow a quote from the RPG Site Review, Trails of Cold Steel was a mistake. It took everything that could have made this the series best arc and fucked it all into the dirt beyond the point of redemption. CS I & II, when taken on their own, are worth experiencing since they're at least coherent and feel like they're building up to something. CS III is good as long as you stop right before you finish Chapter 4. But I cannot think of a single reason for anyone to play this game other than sunk cost fallacy. The writing is terrible, the characters have been bastardized to the point that they might as well be different people, the plot makes no sense if you put even a moment of thought into it, and the whole thing feels more like it exists out of obligation rather than as the "climatic finale" to the Erebonia arc that it was supposed to be. I'm going to see Trails through to the end, but every game that I play going forward will be with a massive amount of hesitation in the back of my mind. Because after seeing this and the ending of CS III, I know now that Falcom can fuck it up at any time.
First off, I'm skipping over the good section because Falcom does not get credit for anything in this game that's good. The overall gameplay and combat are identical to how it was in CS III, both on foot and in your Divine Knights, so they don't get points for that. You don't get to say "Hey they fucked up the story but at least they didn't fuck up the gameplay too!" and act like that's not the bare minimum. And when you market your game as a story focused RPG, with literal hours upon hours of cutscenes, and your story feels like it was written by a 10 year old, then you have failed at what you set out to do.
The writing in this game is some of the worst shit that I have ever seen in my life. In any form of media. I have read literal fucking fanfiction that is better than this. I don't know what happened between this and CS III, but every character is an idiot now. They all either waste their time with shit that doesn't matter while the actual plot advances offscreen, or they just constantly talk about how much they want to fuck Rean. Rean has been turned from a deconstruction of the stock Light Novel/Anime hero, to just being the stock Light/Novel Anime hero. They have stopped trying to do anything interesting with his character anymore and just turned him into what everyone who hated him said he was. This is capped off by him getting a God-awful redesign that looks like someone's Deviantart OC circa 2006.
They continue to use the Curse as a crutch so every villain sucks and has the same exact "they were just brainwashed" motivation. And making things even worse is that the pacing is somehow worse than CS I! The first 2 Acts of this game do not matter. They are pure filler built around bullshit fetch quests and saving Elise, who I am now calling the single worst character in the entire franchise. Elise Schwarzer is Estelle Bright if Estelle Bright was completely unlikable and written by a dude who is jacking off to Lolicon as we speak. She is every creepy anime incest trope rolled into one insufferable package. So of course, she's perfect for this game.
The only time anything remotely interesting happens is during Fragments, which is ruined when Catgirl Celine shows up because you've got to get that money from the Furry crowd apparently, and Eventide. Eventide feels like what the rest of this game should have been, and it's nice solely because you get to see this massive cast of characters actually interact with each other like people for one of the first times in the series. But even this is immediately undermined by how contrived and poorly written the Finale is.
First off, Osborne's motivations in this game win a special award for managing to out nonsense everyone else in this garbage plot and ruins the ending of Azure in the process. If everything he was trying to do was to free Erebonia and the world from the Curse, and if the Curse only affected the people of Erebonia, THEN WHY DID HE NEED TO ANNEX CROSSBELL? The entire emotional crux of the ending of Azure was Crossbell getting annexed by the Empire despite everything and then it turns out that not only was the occupation not that bad if you go off how everyone acts in CS III, but it apparently only happened because the people making the decisions are the dumbest motherfuckers on the face of the planet. Osborne was originally written to be an Otto von Bismarck/Napoleon expy who loved his country and wanted to annex Crossbell because he wanted Erebonia to eventually rule over the entire continent. Them trying to pivot to all of this being a big plan to stop the Curse not only turns one of Trails best villains into a dumbass, but it feels like a massive retcon that only happened to make this specific game fit in with the rest of the series.
In the end, to borrow a quote from the RPG Site Review, Trails of Cold Steel was a mistake. It took everything that could have made this the series best arc and fucked it all into the dirt beyond the point of redemption. CS I & II, when taken on their own, are worth experiencing since they're at least coherent and feel like they're building up to something. CS III is good as long as you stop right before you finish Chapter 4. But I cannot think of a single reason for anyone to play this game other than sunk cost fallacy. The writing is terrible, the characters have been bastardized to the point that they might as well be different people, the plot makes no sense if you put even a moment of thought into it, and the whole thing feels more like it exists out of obligation rather than as the "climatic finale" to the Erebonia arc that it was supposed to be. I'm going to see Trails through to the end, but every game that I play going forward will be with a massive amount of hesitation in the back of my mind. Because after seeing this and the ending of CS III, I know now that Falcom can fuck it up at any time.