A game I had been meaning to get to for a while due to many people's rave reviews of it. I wouldn't say I found it lacking per say, I had a good or decent time with it, but I'm definitely not as fanatic with it as many other people seem to be.
The main thing that held it back were the routes. I played blindly and my route order went Iris > Ota > Mizuki. It seems that many people recommend Mizuki route first and I completely understand why. The other two routes just don't hold water at all to the suspense that hers has. Iris's route did not feel like a good one to start on, and Ota is just.... I question why he even exists as a character, because everyone else had some major relevancy to the plot while he's mostly a simp for Iris and not much more. I wouldn't go so far as to say his route was a waste of time but I certainly don't understand why he was written in as a main character. There are several characters, even minor ones, who I could see being a little more pivotal to deserve their own route.
Furthermore, the routes end up converging into a weird.... I wouldn't say plot twist per say, but just a strange detail that isn't really explained all too well. I've been told it somehow relates to Uchikoshi's Zero Escape series, or is tangentially similar to it, but I haven't played those games so I can't really say one way or another what he was trying to get at.
As far as gameplay goes, it was okay? I wasn't too much of a fan of the Somnium stages, usually dreading whenever one was about to start. I definitely had fun with most of them though once they actually started, but some of them felt a little too arbitrary with their solutions, and some of the map designs were just a slog to deal with.
Voice acting was pretty good in both English and Japanese, I switched back and forth as my whims dictated and was content with each. Though I forgot how bad English dub pronunciations are for Japanese names... Atrocious, I cringed every time I had to hear me-zoo-key.
Despite this review being largely complaints I did have a decent time with this. Maybe not particularly memorable, I can't see this sticking with me for more than a few months from now, but fine for the experience it was. None of my over 30 hours with it felt like too much of a slog except for when I was making myself check every bit of flavor text (I think I cut that out after Iris route). I really like what they did with the flavor text in this game, it was just too much to be constantly rechecking.
I'm not really sure if I'm going to check out the sequel. I don't feel compelled enough by this game to drop the money on it. If my friend who bought me this one gets to it and recommends it, maybe I will. Otherwise probably not.
The main thing that held it back were the routes. I played blindly and my route order went Iris > Ota > Mizuki. It seems that many people recommend Mizuki route first and I completely understand why. The other two routes just don't hold water at all to the suspense that hers has. Iris's route did not feel like a good one to start on, and Ota is just.... I question why he even exists as a character, because everyone else had some major relevancy to the plot while he's mostly a simp for Iris and not much more. I wouldn't go so far as to say his route was a waste of time but I certainly don't understand why he was written in as a main character. There are several characters, even minor ones, who I could see being a little more pivotal to deserve their own route.
Furthermore, the routes end up converging into a weird.... I wouldn't say plot twist per say, but just a strange detail that isn't really explained all too well. I've been told it somehow relates to Uchikoshi's Zero Escape series, or is tangentially similar to it, but I haven't played those games so I can't really say one way or another what he was trying to get at.
As far as gameplay goes, it was okay? I wasn't too much of a fan of the Somnium stages, usually dreading whenever one was about to start. I definitely had fun with most of them though once they actually started, but some of them felt a little too arbitrary with their solutions, and some of the map designs were just a slog to deal with.
Voice acting was pretty good in both English and Japanese, I switched back and forth as my whims dictated and was content with each. Though I forgot how bad English dub pronunciations are for Japanese names... Atrocious, I cringed every time I had to hear me-zoo-key.
Despite this review being largely complaints I did have a decent time with this. Maybe not particularly memorable, I can't see this sticking with me for more than a few months from now, but fine for the experience it was. None of my over 30 hours with it felt like too much of a slog except for when I was making myself check every bit of flavor text (I think I cut that out after Iris route). I really like what they did with the flavor text in this game, it was just too much to be constantly rechecking.
I'm not really sure if I'm going to check out the sequel. I don't feel compelled enough by this game to drop the money on it. If my friend who bought me this one gets to it and recommends it, maybe I will. Otherwise probably not.
2 Comments
Yeah there was one scene in particular in Mizuki's route where I teared up, I was reallyyy close to crying. Her route was really well written so it's just a shame that everything else pales so much.
It seems a lot of reviews on this site say that so it's a little scary 😭 Ohh Tama I've seen art of she looks very attractive for sure lol. And I didn't know Amame would show up again! I actually liked her design in this game and sketched her while playing, looking her up now she seems to have a nicer design this time too. Idk if I'd say I hate Ota per say he's just a strikingly pointless character imo LOL there were scenes with him that I found amusing, it takes a lot for me to hate (or love) a character.
It seems a lot of reviews on this site say that so it's a little scary 😭 Ohh Tama I've seen art of she looks very attractive for sure lol. And I didn't know Amame would show up again! I actually liked her design in this game and sketched her while playing, looking her up now she seems to have a nicer design this time too. Idk if I'd say I hate Ota per say he's just a strikingly pointless character imo LOL there were scenes with him that I found amusing, it takes a lot for me to hate (or love) a character.
garie
8 months ago
I personally felt that the sequel was WAY worse, but you might like it for Tama and Tokiko (and maybe even Amame); though, admittedly the plot becomes far more convoluted and if you hated Ota then you’re really not going to like Lien.