Ef: A Fairy Tale of the Two.

released on Apr 29, 2010

Ef: A Fairy Tale of the Two is a bundle that compiles both The First Tale and The Latter Tale for the PlayStation 2.


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Ef - a fairy tale of the two is a romantic drama VN that has several intertwining stories about characters dealing with their own set of hardships regarding interpersonal relationships. These stories touch upon themes like ambition, rejection, jealousy, grief, abuse, tragedy, the importance of memory and many others. Ultimately all those separate stories come together in one final act that wraps it all in a touching package. It's a unique and intensely emotional experience.

One aspect that immediately stands out is its presentation. Despite its age, Ef's production values are immense. With over a thousand (!) unique CGs, lipsynching and blinking, fully animated opening and ending sequences and lightly animated walking sequences, it's a visual delight and feels truly alive. You rarely ever look at the same image for long. Every little moment of the story gets its own visual. Combine this with a huge and high quality soundtrack and the whole story feels dynamic and continuously distinctive.

The majority of the (female) characters are well written and have their own role to play in this web of interconnected tales. Unfortunately there was one of five chapters that just didn't quite live up to the rest of the VN, and while it's not entirely worthless and irrelevant, it does feel like a small blemish on an otherwise tightly written story.

Overall, Ef is a wonderful, emotional, heavy and memorable VN experience that fully delivers in the visual, sound and writing departments.

I wish it was a bit shorter in general, but it is pretty good, and Chapter 3 hits like a truck. It hurt like I was dying and I loved it.

incredible soundtrack too