Nestled in the heart of Tokyo, the quaint little aquarium, Manten Aquarium. Numerous urban legends have arisen from here. On the night of the full moon the waters turn to blood and man faced fish lurk within. Junior high school students Mayu and Himeno came to Manten Aquarium to investigate these urban legends. In the beginning it was fun, but then... They see a glimpse of Mayu’s missing little sister, Mari. The wheels of fate begin turning as they chase after Mari’s shadow.
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This is a "collect all the Bad Ends" type of VN, with said Bad Ends ranging from nonsensical to disturbing. All the gory parts are only written though, with the visuals limiting themselves to blood splatter. As a result, the VN is mostly trial and error on your way to a Good End. After unlocking one of the True Ends, more options open up that further explain what is going on at the aquarium.
The story is fine, although the overly-literal translation makes it hard to get invested. There were numerous points were I felt like I could probably guess what the exact line was in the original Japanese, since the phrasing and expression just felt off in English. I feel like the translation could've benefitted from another readability pass, since by the end the character voices blur together.
That said, I did enjoy the second pass through the game much more than the first. The new route that opens up answers a lot more questions and ties together elements that previously felt like they were only there for shock horror. My initial thoughts on this VN was that it felt like a B-horror movie about a haunted aquarium, but the second pass added a lot more depth and thought to the story that I wasn't expecting, even though certain plot twists and character reveals still felt pretty campy.
At the end I'd still describe it that way, but I enjoyed it more than I expected. While the translation holds it back a lot, I'd still recommend this to someone who enjoys their horror with a side of camp.
The story is fine, although the overly-literal translation makes it hard to get invested. There were numerous points were I felt like I could probably guess what the exact line was in the original Japanese, since the phrasing and expression just felt off in English. I feel like the translation could've benefitted from another readability pass, since by the end the character voices blur together.
That said, I did enjoy the second pass through the game much more than the first. The new route that opens up answers a lot more questions and ties together elements that previously felt like they were only there for shock horror. My initial thoughts on this VN was that it felt like a B-horror movie about a haunted aquarium, but the second pass added a lot more depth and thought to the story that I wasn't expecting, even though certain plot twists and character reveals still felt pretty campy.
At the end I'd still describe it that way, but I enjoyed it more than I expected. While the translation holds it back a lot, I'd still recommend this to someone who enjoys their horror with a side of camp.
there are some cons to being a marine biologist
short visual novel clearly made on a budget, I enjoyed it when I took it as a b-horror movie about a haunted aquarium
This feels like it was written by a child with badly written dialogue and a whole heap of choice trees that kill you off without any form of hints or foreshadowing to make those choices apparent. Very lazy storytelling.