I never expected Kemco of all companies to put out a game so fantastic, since the most I’ve heard about the companies was that they shoveled out sprite JRPGs that many considered “kusoge”. My expectations were a little low even after hearing some good things about this title, so I was completely blown away by the level of ambition and the incredible atmosphere of tension sustained by strong horror writing and a very fitting art style. I was gripped quickly and finished this in a matter of days because the suspense was unbearable, I simply needed to know how the next conference was going to go.
Structurally, it’s the antithesis to Gnosia, another popular game based on Werewolf mechanics. While Gnosia featured randomly generated Werewolf scenarios that relied on passing stat checks and could be cleared in a matter of minutes, Raging Loop features three pre-defined scenarios, traditional VN choices and are a lot meatier in content. I much prefer this approach, as Gnosia can start to feel lifeless after you learn how to game the algorithm and you see all the repeated dialogue. Here, each scenario is incredibly well-crafted with much attention paid to how the characters respond differently when they’re assigned different roles and how their existing relationships affect their suspicions of each other.
I really do want to emphasize just how great the characters are. A lot of the cast can seem pretty unlikable at first glance, especially during the first loop where several people are very untrusting of protagonist Haruaki, but they’re all incredibly dynamic as different sides come out during the loops and they all reveal themselves to be pretty compelling people. I personally liked Chikamochi, a weird kid who at times I really enjoyed and other times I was incredibly annoyed by but still felt a lot of affection for him, and Haru, who I initially wrote off as a bratty teenage girl until later on when I found an incredibly relatable side to her. The true ending works for me because of how much of it is built off of the attachments the player forms towards these characters, and it carries the ending despite a couple of twists being just a tad deflating.
Also, this VN surprisingly has a lot of replay value! Replaying the game after seeing the true ending lets you view several new scenes where Haruaki wasn’t present, get extra commentary on bad endings, and even adds a couple of additional endings. None of it is really necessary but it’s all good stuff and it gave me the chance to spend a few more hours with this incredible cast. The amount of effort put into it is very appreciable, especially since this game is pretty lengthy even without any of this content.
Structurally, it’s the antithesis to Gnosia, another popular game based on Werewolf mechanics. While Gnosia featured randomly generated Werewolf scenarios that relied on passing stat checks and could be cleared in a matter of minutes, Raging Loop features three pre-defined scenarios, traditional VN choices and are a lot meatier in content. I much prefer this approach, as Gnosia can start to feel lifeless after you learn how to game the algorithm and you see all the repeated dialogue. Here, each scenario is incredibly well-crafted with much attention paid to how the characters respond differently when they’re assigned different roles and how their existing relationships affect their suspicions of each other.
I really do want to emphasize just how great the characters are. A lot of the cast can seem pretty unlikable at first glance, especially during the first loop where several people are very untrusting of protagonist Haruaki, but they’re all incredibly dynamic as different sides come out during the loops and they all reveal themselves to be pretty compelling people. I personally liked Chikamochi, a weird kid who at times I really enjoyed and other times I was incredibly annoyed by but still felt a lot of affection for him, and Haru, who I initially wrote off as a bratty teenage girl until later on when I found an incredibly relatable side to her. The true ending works for me because of how much of it is built off of the attachments the player forms towards these characters, and it carries the ending despite a couple of twists being just a tad deflating.
Also, this VN surprisingly has a lot of replay value! Replaying the game after seeing the true ending lets you view several new scenes where Haruaki wasn’t present, get extra commentary on bad endings, and even adds a couple of additional endings. None of it is really necessary but it’s all good stuff and it gave me the chance to spend a few more hours with this incredible cast. The amount of effort put into it is very appreciable, especially since this game is pretty lengthy even without any of this content.