TL;DR Girlboss Christmas makes for peak fiction
Witch on the Holy Night, or Mahoyo as it's been abbreviated, is not only one of the best gateway visual novels for newcomers, but stands heads over heels as one of the best in the medium. The story of self-discovery and reflection for the main cast is both emotionally captivating and highly relatable, paired with amazing animation/visuals and a beautiful score, makes for one the best game experiences I've had in years, and I hope leads to a brighter future for Type Moon themselves.
Each one of the main casts struggles and growth are wonderful to see unfold, from Alice's acceptance and gradual appreciation of Soujyuro's company, Soujyuro's culture shock of modern society, and the importance of the fragile lives around us to Aoko. Personally, almost every one of Soujyuro's scenes left a mark on me I was not prepared for and will never forget. The grander narrative may have some few (and very well done) high octane action moments, but it's in the quiet and somber scenes these characters and their story feel the warmest in its cold winter months.
Visually, Mahoyo has no contenders in the visual novel medium. The storyboarding and actual animation throughout its playtime are amazing to watch. I think this is helped by the story taking a 3rd person perspective rather than the usual 1st person that other Type Moon VN's take, allowing certain shots and angles that more risks and succeed for almost the entire runtime.
Paired with the amazing visuals is an equally amazing score. It's comforting to hear the works of repeated Type Moon composers return, but the standout among them is the work of Hideyuki Fukasawa. If I had to pick one piece from this soundtrack that just shows how much he gets this story and characters would be Soujyuro's theme. A piece that shows a great understanding of his character and impact for the story represented in this 5-minute track. And the best part? It plays for 5 seconds as part of a joke in a bonus chapter unlocked after completing the main story. I can't think of any other way to show how much Fukasawa just gets these characters and can represent so much of them through his music.
If there's any downers for this, it would simply come down to the spelling and grammar issues that start to show their heads in the final chapters. I'd like to think the reason for these are simply deadline issues for when this translation was done and can be fixed from patches.
It's crazy to think that back when Mahoyo was first released in 2012, Nasu wanted it to cause a big shake up for the industry, to show a new standard for visual novels is being reached and others needed to catch up, but failed to do. And now, 10 years later with this rerelease, I think Mahoyo is going to succeed to heights he's not expecting thanks to this official English release.
A story that almost failed to capture its audience when it first released, now brought to a new audience who've waited a decade to experience it, finding love, appreciation and relation for a near timeless story he first wrote over 2 decades ago and laid the foundation for his future, much beloved works.
I hope that whatever the future holds for these wonderful characters, it will be equally as amazing as it's first outing.
Witch on the Holy Night, or Mahoyo as it's been abbreviated, is not only one of the best gateway visual novels for newcomers, but stands heads over heels as one of the best in the medium. The story of self-discovery and reflection for the main cast is both emotionally captivating and highly relatable, paired with amazing animation/visuals and a beautiful score, makes for one the best game experiences I've had in years, and I hope leads to a brighter future for Type Moon themselves.
Each one of the main casts struggles and growth are wonderful to see unfold, from Alice's acceptance and gradual appreciation of Soujyuro's company, Soujyuro's culture shock of modern society, and the importance of the fragile lives around us to Aoko. Personally, almost every one of Soujyuro's scenes left a mark on me I was not prepared for and will never forget. The grander narrative may have some few (and very well done) high octane action moments, but it's in the quiet and somber scenes these characters and their story feel the warmest in its cold winter months.
Visually, Mahoyo has no contenders in the visual novel medium. The storyboarding and actual animation throughout its playtime are amazing to watch. I think this is helped by the story taking a 3rd person perspective rather than the usual 1st person that other Type Moon VN's take, allowing certain shots and angles that more risks and succeed for almost the entire runtime.
Paired with the amazing visuals is an equally amazing score. It's comforting to hear the works of repeated Type Moon composers return, but the standout among them is the work of Hideyuki Fukasawa. If I had to pick one piece from this soundtrack that just shows how much he gets this story and characters would be Soujyuro's theme. A piece that shows a great understanding of his character and impact for the story represented in this 5-minute track. And the best part? It plays for 5 seconds as part of a joke in a bonus chapter unlocked after completing the main story. I can't think of any other way to show how much Fukasawa just gets these characters and can represent so much of them through his music.
If there's any downers for this, it would simply come down to the spelling and grammar issues that start to show their heads in the final chapters. I'd like to think the reason for these are simply deadline issues for when this translation was done and can be fixed from patches.
It's crazy to think that back when Mahoyo was first released in 2012, Nasu wanted it to cause a big shake up for the industry, to show a new standard for visual novels is being reached and others needed to catch up, but failed to do. And now, 10 years later with this rerelease, I think Mahoyo is going to succeed to heights he's not expecting thanks to this official English release.
A story that almost failed to capture its audience when it first released, now brought to a new audience who've waited a decade to experience it, finding love, appreciation and relation for a near timeless story he first wrote over 2 decades ago and laid the foundation for his future, much beloved works.
I hope that whatever the future holds for these wonderful characters, it will be equally as amazing as it's first outing.