Apparently I’ve bought a lot of visual novels over the many Steam sales I’ve been through, only to then always say “nah, not really in the mood for that” any time I’m looking for a new game to play. Certainly, the first time I tried this BBacklog Challenge, I was matched with Analogue Hate Story, a game I know for sure I’d never have played if not for it being nominated, which I ended up loving to death.
Having rolled Fault, that same “wehhhh I don’t wanna play this” feeling came up. Maybe I should stop buying VNs, but that’s another matter. So, then, I gave it an hour…
This is some next-level shit right here. The presentation is off the charts, far beyond the usual static anime portraits- there’s camera pans, dramatic zooms, and CGs are used in such a way that parts of the story almost feel like they’re fully animated. There’s a LOT of artistic skill on show here, above and beyond the visuals by themselves.
It’s pretty heavy-handed with terminology, going so far as to include an excyclopedia that can be referenced at any point during the game. A lot of not-really-mainland-european-language words too that are hard to read, with lots of Ks and Vs and Hs in places they oughtn’t be. I haven’t made much headway into the story yet but I do enjoy the two main characters, one a blonde princess who is obviously my fave, and her bodyguard Ritona who is too badass for words.
Fin or Bin:
I really don’t think VNs as a whole are for me, despite wishing they were. This one does have the advantage of not being played from Generic McNiceboy’s perspective, which is something I dislike about the genre. It’s kinetic too, so there aren’t a hundred story branches to go back and follow. I’ll be Finishing this one, then.
Recommended to:
VN fans, and fans of cute princesses.
(Steam)