A remaster of Symphonic Rain
Symphonic Rain, The reborn HD edition, Remastered by Siro! Set in Piova, the city of music and endless rain. Guide Chris Vertin on the path to become a master musician in a harmonious fusion of Visual Novel and Music-based gameplay.
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Gosh, I love this game so much. Just the opening theme was what made me pick it up in the first place and the entire soundtrack is full of beautiful songs. The voice acting is fantastic, the characters are lovable, and the story had a really emotional impact for me. It's not without its flaws - the music minigame's timing feels kind of off, some story branches meander for a bit to long, but this still deserves 5/5 for me. Even when playing it some 16+ years after it came out.
Piova, a fictional Italian city where it always rain. I love the setting,there are a lot of references to italian's monuments and churches. Solid romance VN with a twist i never expected in a VN.
Vote: 8
Vote: 8
overall pretty good story but some parts really dragged on
Read Symphonic Rain.
(Mild spoilers ahead.)
Symphonic Rain is a story about how all relationships are based on power imbalances, how every friendship is defined by how useful both parties perceive the other, and how redemption from participation in these power structures is impossible. It is about how even romantic relationships, in the truest true-love sense, cannot escape these fundamental facts. It is a deeply cynical story.
It's also about the disproportionate emotional labor women are expected to inflict on themselves for the sake of appeasing men, but unsurprisingly the game doesn't seem interested in exploring that.
There are two extended epilogues both of which wildly changed my opinion on the story, so it seems more useful to review each part individually.
The main routes: The game builds an interesting world very intelligently. Sometimes the stories tread into areas I don't think they're equipped to handle, but generally every "good" ending is satisfying on its own. ("Good ending" is defined by the game and does not necessarily mean a happy ending.) The music minigame isn't particularly fun and is activated so inconsistently that I can't say it adds any value at all.
Al Fine route: Completely dismantles everything the main game established about the world for the sake of a cheap twist. I truly hate this part of the story. Not only does it make the setting significantly less interesting, it highlights just how unlikable the protagonist is, all the baggage he lays on the people unfortunate enough to care about him, and the absurd motivations the other characters need in order for the main routes to exist given the new revelations.
Final route: Somewhat redeems the Al Fine route, though I can't help but feel it would be better to dump Al Fine and make this one of the parallel main routes. By "somewhat redeems" I mean that it reveals that only most* of the interesting stuff has been dismantled, not all of it, which is a bit like discovering your house has been robbed and feeling relieved that they didn't take your mattress.
The final route also finally hits the release valve on the cynicism and the images it concludes with were enough to make me feel more or less satisfied with the overall package. The moral at the end is that everyone sucks, unless you believe in magic. So don't mock me for being willing.
Symphonic Rain is a story about how all relationships are based on power imbalances, how every friendship is defined by how useful both parties perceive the other, and how redemption from participation in these power structures is impossible. It is about how even romantic relationships, in the truest true-love sense, cannot escape these fundamental facts. It is a deeply cynical story.
It's also about the disproportionate emotional labor women are expected to inflict on themselves for the sake of appeasing men, but unsurprisingly the game doesn't seem interested in exploring that.
There are two extended epilogues both of which wildly changed my opinion on the story, so it seems more useful to review each part individually.
The main routes: The game builds an interesting world very intelligently. Sometimes the stories tread into areas I don't think they're equipped to handle, but generally every "good" ending is satisfying on its own. ("Good ending" is defined by the game and does not necessarily mean a happy ending.) The music minigame isn't particularly fun and is activated so inconsistently that I can't say it adds any value at all.
Al Fine route: Completely dismantles everything the main game established about the world for the sake of a cheap twist. I truly hate this part of the story. Not only does it make the setting significantly less interesting, it highlights just how unlikable the protagonist is, all the baggage he lays on the people unfortunate enough to care about him, and the absurd motivations the other characters need in order for the main routes to exist given the new revelations.
Final route: Somewhat redeems the Al Fine route, though I can't help but feel it would be better to dump Al Fine and make this one of the parallel main routes. By "somewhat redeems" I mean that it reveals that only most* of the interesting stuff has been dismantled, not all of it, which is a bit like discovering your house has been robbed and feeling relieved that they didn't take your mattress.
The final route also finally hits the release valve on the cynicism and the images it concludes with were enough to make me feel more or less satisfied with the overall package. The moral at the end is that everyone sucks, unless you believe in magic. So don't mock me for being willing.