Just shy of 140 hours of well researched technological singularity pondering, fun characters and weirdo romance, glued together in a punchy 2D action game with a great make-a-combo system.
Despite appearances it's not a mech game in the super robot sense (quite frankly the mech design is terrible). But Baldr's Sky is a story of everything beyond human. It explores almost all ideas of trans-humanism in some form. The mecha are called simulacrum, they are... virtual other bodies used for fighting. Not what Baudrillard had in mind. But his ideas are reflected in the work and thrown around constantly. Just as you think they're just riffing on The Matrix another completely different thought exercise pops up and proves Baldr's Sky is good enough to sit alongside it's contemporaries in fiction. It is also completely a product of the mid-2000s post dotcom bubble sci-fi. As a fan of that era, I love it. But it's dated as heck.
An extremely niche, extremely long, genre-piece in an already niche genre of gaming. I am so glad this exists. It really shouldn't.
PS I never want to read about Schrödinger's cat again. 3rd or 4th visual novel in a row now.
Despite appearances it's not a mech game in the super robot sense (quite frankly the mech design is terrible). But Baldr's Sky is a story of everything beyond human. It explores almost all ideas of trans-humanism in some form. The mecha are called simulacrum, they are... virtual other bodies used for fighting. Not what Baudrillard had in mind. But his ideas are reflected in the work and thrown around constantly. Just as you think they're just riffing on The Matrix another completely different thought exercise pops up and proves Baldr's Sky is good enough to sit alongside it's contemporaries in fiction. It is also completely a product of the mid-2000s post dotcom bubble sci-fi. As a fan of that era, I love it. But it's dated as heck.
An extremely niche, extremely long, genre-piece in an already niche genre of gaming. I am so glad this exists. It really shouldn't.
PS I never want to read about Schrödinger's cat again. 3rd or 4th visual novel in a row now.
Wonderful game with some of the best worldbuilding ever and the best ending ever. Sora is the greatest
This game cums
visual novel with good gameplay, cool cyberpunk setting and likeable characters
Biggest con is that it may be a little too long for its own good
Biggest con is that it may be a little too long for its own good
BREATHTAKING
havent finished yet, still reading but the beginning of this visual novel has caught me off guard in a good way.
My opinion is that it's good, but not great.
Generally the the VN got better is it went on route-wise, with the exception of Aki (derivative and weird incest stuff) and Reminiscence (not bad but forced you to go through stuff you've seen already).
Setting was pretty cool. Music was fine with a few stand out songs. Gameplay was cool, grinding abilities to get better ones was annoying but when you get your ideal build and just grinding out orbs for plug-ins and stuff makes things a lot more fun. Characters were generally likable and interesting but none I'd personally put on a top favorites list.
Biggest issue was definitely the repetitive nature of the storytelling. Yes it ultimately made sense when you got to Sora's route, but given the length of both Dives, I think they either should've made the routes stand out more by giving more unique scenes OR just cut down the length by like 1/3 or even 1/4 so you don't have to put so many hours in similar-ish events.
That said, for a VN its length (took me 150+ hours on Steam, though it's mixed with H scenes and Survival Mode and listening to music)... it's paced decently well. Gameplay taking over action scenes helped since I'm not usually a fan of how action is written in VNs. It does tends to keep you on your toes and even makes the slice of life/slower scenes fun.
Routes: 1) 6 - I actually enjoyed the first half of recruiting everyone a lot. Second half was cool if maybe relying on some weird writing to solve everything.
2) 5 - Just generally a feel good version of Kou branch. Good stuff happening all around
3) 3 - It being the first route to have Chinatsu develop from not being a cunt was nice, and having the final battle be the forgotten flashback with current mechs was nice.
4) Reminiscence [new stuff only] - The twist of the (half?) forced Simulacra romance was weird but interesting. Reveals in Sora route made this not as bad. Was also nice to see some filling in of the blanks.
5) 2 - Naoki coming in to save Kou before his Heel reveal was one of my fav Dive 1 moments. Otherwise finding out suffering Nanoha's life was hurt. Good route but everything else above was just that much better.
6) 1 - Had the unfortunate issue of being plagued by the most flashbacks. Ultimately didn't matter as much since I actually liked the flashbacks but it just goes back to my comment of how the repetitiveness/pacing could have easily better by either moving Reminiscence earlier, or just limiting flashback length while still keeping this the decent into route it was.
7) 4 - Had dumb romance and a lot of the story was just copied off Chinatsu route. Saved a bit by Simulcara and Tranquilizer fight stuff.
Characters:
1/2) Not sure if I like Nanoha or Sora more. Nanoha is generally more my type the deredere childhood friend but with a dose of suffering to make me care for her more. Did cry a bit too much at times though. Sora is by far the most interesting character in the VN. Not my type personality-wise generally but likable even in the flashback stuff. Woulda been cool to see more Dive Sora stuff.
3) Makoto - Was boring as shit in flashbacks. Became way more interesting once she got unmasked.
4) Chinatsu - Very fun in flashbacks. Was a bit of a cunt in present but developed enough and was pretty interesting regardless.
5) Rain - Was pretty consistent, maybe too consistent? Had a pretty stable personality that was fine but didn't go far beyond that besides a few cool moments. Didn't show up enough in flashbacks.
6) Aki - Likable enough just had the dumb romance dragging her down. Did rely a bit too much on her "super smart but lazy" stereotype.
Other notes:
Being fully voiced made the experience much better
Kou was an ok enough protagonist. Got the job done
Masa was a decent bro character. Having a wife and not being a total loser for once helped
Naoki coulda been one of my fav characters pre-Heel reveal. I like them mentor characters. Sad his character just became all about the corruption but oh well.
* Villains were a little too hammy to be taken seriously sometimes. Gilbert and Gregory were the biggest offenders. Anan's appearance and voice. Even Naoki went a bit far sometimes. 19 in general was just fucking weird all around.
Definitely a solid VN series as long as you don't mind it's length, gameplay, and want a sci-fi multi-route mystery taken to its meta limits.
Generally the the VN got better is it went on route-wise, with the exception of Aki (derivative and weird incest stuff) and Reminiscence (not bad but forced you to go through stuff you've seen already).
Setting was pretty cool. Music was fine with a few stand out songs. Gameplay was cool, grinding abilities to get better ones was annoying but when you get your ideal build and just grinding out orbs for plug-ins and stuff makes things a lot more fun. Characters were generally likable and interesting but none I'd personally put on a top favorites list.
Biggest issue was definitely the repetitive nature of the storytelling. Yes it ultimately made sense when you got to Sora's route, but given the length of both Dives, I think they either should've made the routes stand out more by giving more unique scenes OR just cut down the length by like 1/3 or even 1/4 so you don't have to put so many hours in similar-ish events.
That said, for a VN its length (took me 150+ hours on Steam, though it's mixed with H scenes and Survival Mode and listening to music)... it's paced decently well. Gameplay taking over action scenes helped since I'm not usually a fan of how action is written in VNs. It does tends to keep you on your toes and even makes the slice of life/slower scenes fun.
Routes: 1) 6 - I actually enjoyed the first half of recruiting everyone a lot. Second half was cool if maybe relying on some weird writing to solve everything.
2) 5 - Just generally a feel good version of Kou branch. Good stuff happening all around
3) 3 - It being the first route to have Chinatsu develop from not being a cunt was nice, and having the final battle be the forgotten flashback with current mechs was nice.
4) Reminiscence [new stuff only] - The twist of the (half?) forced Simulacra romance was weird but interesting. Reveals in Sora route made this not as bad. Was also nice to see some filling in of the blanks.
5) 2 - Naoki coming in to save Kou before his Heel reveal was one of my fav Dive 1 moments. Otherwise finding out suffering Nanoha's life was hurt. Good route but everything else above was just that much better.
6) 1 - Had the unfortunate issue of being plagued by the most flashbacks. Ultimately didn't matter as much since I actually liked the flashbacks but it just goes back to my comment of how the repetitiveness/pacing could have easily better by either moving Reminiscence earlier, or just limiting flashback length while still keeping this the decent into route it was.
7) 4 - Had dumb romance and a lot of the story was just copied off Chinatsu route. Saved a bit by Simulcara and Tranquilizer fight stuff.
Characters:
1/2) Not sure if I like Nanoha or Sora more. Nanoha is generally more my type the deredere childhood friend but with a dose of suffering to make me care for her more. Did cry a bit too much at times though. Sora is by far the most interesting character in the VN. Not my type personality-wise generally but likable even in the flashback stuff. Woulda been cool to see more Dive Sora stuff.
3) Makoto - Was boring as shit in flashbacks. Became way more interesting once she got unmasked.
4) Chinatsu - Very fun in flashbacks. Was a bit of a cunt in present but developed enough and was pretty interesting regardless.
5) Rain - Was pretty consistent, maybe too consistent? Had a pretty stable personality that was fine but didn't go far beyond that besides a few cool moments. Didn't show up enough in flashbacks.
6) Aki - Likable enough just had the dumb romance dragging her down. Did rely a bit too much on her "super smart but lazy" stereotype.
Other notes:
Being fully voiced made the experience much better
Kou was an ok enough protagonist. Got the job done
Masa was a decent bro character. Having a wife and not being a total loser for once helped
Naoki coulda been one of my fav characters pre-Heel reveal. I like them mentor characters. Sad his character just became all about the corruption but oh well.
* Villains were a little too hammy to be taken seriously sometimes. Gilbert and Gregory were the biggest offenders. Anan's appearance and voice. Even Naoki went a bit far sometimes. 19 in general was just fucking weird all around.
Definitely a solid VN series as long as you don't mind it's length, gameplay, and want a sci-fi multi-route mystery taken to its meta limits.
Disgust show
Epic SF plot combined with deep action gameplay, what's not to like?
I grew up never really reading much science fiction, and I credit Baldr Sky with fostering an interest in the genre in me as an adult (I first played it in 2011, when I was 21 or so). In that sense, it's a game I'll never really forget. I still think its take on AI is really cool, too.
I grew up never really reading much science fiction, and I credit Baldr Sky with fostering an interest in the genre in me as an adult (I first played it in 2011, when I was 21 or so). In that sense, it's a game I'll never really forget. I still think its take on AI is really cool, too.
not really the biggest fan of certain aspects of the VN, but was a decent read felt kinda too long but most of the routes were decent. soundtrack was alright too.
There are a few reasons as to why I love this game so much. Maybe I'll list some of them out.
1. It's a visual novel.
2. It's a visual novel that features giant robots punching each other really hard.
3. It's a visual novel that features giant robots punching each other really hard and you also get to actually PLAY these giant robots in fast paced frantic action gameplay with an extremely freeform combo system and quite literally way too many weapons.
Hmm yeah idk why i like this game i have no idea
1. It's a visual novel.
2. It's a visual novel that features giant robots punching each other really hard.
3. It's a visual novel that features giant robots punching each other really hard and you also get to actually PLAY these giant robots in fast paced frantic action gameplay with an extremely freeform combo system and quite literally way too many weapons.
Hmm yeah idk why i like this game i have no idea
games doing both story and gameplay justice are few and thos keeping up for 100 hours are in the single digits. Plays better than any dmc game too it's wasted on vn fans
this game changed my life 10/10 unadulterated raw pure kinography would wipe my memory of this game and play it again infinity times
The more gameplay-focused eroge tend to suffer on the gameplay side, but Baldr Sky is one of the few that actually had a sick loop. Reading the story made me want to fight guys more, and fighting guys made me want to read the story more--both parts are in harmony in a way. I wish I was good at the game tho.
Not to mention, the story on display here is just wonderful. Its fairly hard scifi with a military stint to it, but it never manages to lose the compassion and sentimentality, the human element is always at the center even when characters are talking in paragraphs exclusively comprised of technobabble.
The way it tackles its Big Ideas like AI, the connection of our net personas and our real selves, what it means to be human and all that jazz that has been done so many times before also manages to come off as novel and unique, with perspectives so very rarely really seen in the genre.
Just a wonderful game, really.
Not to mention, the story on display here is just wonderful. Its fairly hard scifi with a military stint to it, but it never manages to lose the compassion and sentimentality, the human element is always at the center even when characters are talking in paragraphs exclusively comprised of technobabble.
The way it tackles its Big Ideas like AI, the connection of our net personas and our real selves, what it means to be human and all that jazz that has been done so many times before also manages to come off as novel and unique, with perspectives so very rarely really seen in the genre.
Just a wonderful game, really.
i can't believe this visual novel came with a very fun and well made action game attached
spent way too much time playing around in the practice mode than i probably should have
banger music too. video games are alright sometimes
spent way too much time playing around in the practice mode than i probably should have
banger music too. video games are alright sometimes
Arguably a better action game than Devil May Cry. The actual VN component is pretty solid too.
Budget custom robo fr fr
NOI UOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH 😭
Gilbert Gilberto is just like me
Great game!
Good game. Aki best girl. It really overstayed its welcome in some aspects.
the only people who like this game do so because they fat balding manlets who relate to a game about "Balder Sky" who rely on quasi marvel-ragnarokian lore to tell a good story.
also, a really, really terrible twin stick shooter. hard recommend, go play Hatred, less underage girls and more targets.
also, a really, really terrible twin stick shooter. hard recommend, go play Hatred, less underage girls and more targets.
The more I reread the more I dislike it
This review contains spoilers
Only took like 5 months WOO. Baldr Sky is an impressive VN with surprisingly great gameplay that honestly could've stood on it's own in an action game. The depth of the moveset customization surpasses even God Hand and it's a ton of fun putting together smooth high-damage combos with cool-looking moves. The difficulty is generally fine for all of Dive 1. Fair challenge but gives you room to experiment with low level weapons and develop new ones. In Dive 2, there's some annoying enemies introduced and the difficulty is hiked up a fair bit, especially in the final route and it can be pretty annoying but manageable if you stop experimenting and put together a solid maxed weapon combo to stick with. The final route is also loaded with way too many filler fights and it made me a bit tired of the gameplay as I reached the end. The combat does a good job of making you feel more involved with the story since you actually experience the main character's battles and the bosses in particular are consistently exciting and varied.
The visuals are pretty solid with nice art for the CGs and backgrounds as well as cool-looking animations in the battles. I'm not really a big fan of the character art but I warmed up to it a bit over the course of the game. Nanoha's tired face still ticks me off though. The soundtrack is solid and fitting but didn't really pop for me aside from the final route remixes and the vocal tracks kicking in during some of the boss fights.
The story is generally good, but Baldr Sky's strength mostly lies in its setting and worldbuilding since the focus on cyberspace and AI is what really sets it apart from other VNs. The cyberspace aspect in particular really appeals to me so I was happy to learn details about how the world worked. It's interesting having a cast of characters that lived through the semi-apocalyptic event that changed everyone's lives and seeing how they changed as a result. The hero has amnesia so the player can learn everything alongside him but Baldr Sky handles that cliched premise in a fairly refreshing way by having him regain his memories rapidly and retain at least some of his instincts and knowledge from his mercenary days instead of acting like a high school kid the whole time. The constant flashbacks revealing Kou's past are the weakest parts of the story with a plethora of cliches and childish misunderstandings but they're much more bearable than they could've been and they do provide crucial information. The plot is compelling and enjoyable, but generally lacking in impact until the great ending.
Baldr Sky's cast is full of likable and cool characters, but unfortunately almost none of them are the heroines that get most of the focus. Rain is probably the best one since she has relatively less emotional baggage and doesn't bother dragging highschool drama into adult affairs like the others. She is also endearingly smug when bickering with Chinatsu which is greatly appreciated. Nanoha is far too whiny and self-deprecating while everyone else is realistically growing up. Chinatsu is, for lack of a better word, a bitch for nearly the entire story outside of (barely) her own route and even though it's understandable given the traumatic experience she went through, it's tiring to listen to over and over again. Aki is rather likable and it's nice having a character Kou can interact with without any bickering or emotional meltdowns for the most part, though their diehard attempt to brush incest under the rug by making her a second cousin instead of an actual sister is comical when there are far worse things going on in the world. Makoto is another girl with the emotional fragility of a 5-year old and her mind-reading shtick gets pretty annoying. That being said, her cyberbrain syndrome does make her and her route pretty interesting from a story perspective. Makoto does have the most unreasonable romance out of all the girls though since Kou barely shows any signs of affection for her before they're making love on their beach honeymoon. Sora's route has the most interesting premise and her connection with Kou is the most natural and intriguing one due to the simulacra link which was one of the few good pieces of drama presented in the flashbacks. However while Sora's route has a great premise and an even better ending, the first half or so is a slog with filler fights and repetitive scenes. While I did enjoy the ending a lot, the section where every heroine dies in order and comes back later anyways was too cliche for me and gave me bad symphonia flashbacks. All the characters beside the heroines like the members of Fenrir and Noi are very likable while the unpredictable actions of Gilbert and Kurihara consistently kept things interesting. Neuzhen also ended up being a very intriguing antagonist that fit excellently with the setting and themes. One aspect of baldr sky that limited the story's impact in my humble opinion is that every route shares all the same major events with the changes mostly just lying in perspective or the minor scenes you spend with the heroines as well as the flashback scenes. This has a strong result with the ending revelations but results in a somewhat repetitive experience for every route. I think this could've been rectified at least a little considering Baldr Sky has a linear structure which helps with gameplay balancing but the knowledge of what the reader already knows by certain points could've been used to skip over a lot of the repetitive explanations like those for Assembler, Gungnir, Neuzhen, etc. Even if these explanations are practically unchanged between routes, the game won't recognize it as read text since it's a different route so it made me feel awkward about skipping them since they might have new info which was annoying. The requirement to go through all Reminiscence nodes to access Makoto's route was also stupid since 80% of it was flashbacks I had already seen plus battles without my unlocked weapons which were a pain in the butt. Thankfully I could skip through most of it.
This review is too long. While I do have a lot to rant about, it really was a great VN and I'm glad I played it.
The visuals are pretty solid with nice art for the CGs and backgrounds as well as cool-looking animations in the battles. I'm not really a big fan of the character art but I warmed up to it a bit over the course of the game. Nanoha's tired face still ticks me off though. The soundtrack is solid and fitting but didn't really pop for me aside from the final route remixes and the vocal tracks kicking in during some of the boss fights.
The story is generally good, but Baldr Sky's strength mostly lies in its setting and worldbuilding since the focus on cyberspace and AI is what really sets it apart from other VNs. The cyberspace aspect in particular really appeals to me so I was happy to learn details about how the world worked. It's interesting having a cast of characters that lived through the semi-apocalyptic event that changed everyone's lives and seeing how they changed as a result. The hero has amnesia so the player can learn everything alongside him but Baldr Sky handles that cliched premise in a fairly refreshing way by having him regain his memories rapidly and retain at least some of his instincts and knowledge from his mercenary days instead of acting like a high school kid the whole time. The constant flashbacks revealing Kou's past are the weakest parts of the story with a plethora of cliches and childish misunderstandings but they're much more bearable than they could've been and they do provide crucial information. The plot is compelling and enjoyable, but generally lacking in impact until the great ending.
Baldr Sky's cast is full of likable and cool characters, but unfortunately almost none of them are the heroines that get most of the focus. Rain is probably the best one since she has relatively less emotional baggage and doesn't bother dragging highschool drama into adult affairs like the others. She is also endearingly smug when bickering with Chinatsu which is greatly appreciated. Nanoha is far too whiny and self-deprecating while everyone else is realistically growing up. Chinatsu is, for lack of a better word, a bitch for nearly the entire story outside of (barely) her own route and even though it's understandable given the traumatic experience she went through, it's tiring to listen to over and over again. Aki is rather likable and it's nice having a character Kou can interact with without any bickering or emotional meltdowns for the most part, though their diehard attempt to brush incest under the rug by making her a second cousin instead of an actual sister is comical when there are far worse things going on in the world. Makoto is another girl with the emotional fragility of a 5-year old and her mind-reading shtick gets pretty annoying. That being said, her cyberbrain syndrome does make her and her route pretty interesting from a story perspective. Makoto does have the most unreasonable romance out of all the girls though since Kou barely shows any signs of affection for her before they're making love on their beach honeymoon. Sora's route has the most interesting premise and her connection with Kou is the most natural and intriguing one due to the simulacra link which was one of the few good pieces of drama presented in the flashbacks. However while Sora's route has a great premise and an even better ending, the first half or so is a slog with filler fights and repetitive scenes. While I did enjoy the ending a lot, the section where every heroine dies in order and comes back later anyways was too cliche for me and gave me bad symphonia flashbacks. All the characters beside the heroines like the members of Fenrir and Noi are very likable while the unpredictable actions of Gilbert and Kurihara consistently kept things interesting. Neuzhen also ended up being a very intriguing antagonist that fit excellently with the setting and themes. One aspect of baldr sky that limited the story's impact in my humble opinion is that every route shares all the same major events with the changes mostly just lying in perspective or the minor scenes you spend with the heroines as well as the flashback scenes. This has a strong result with the ending revelations but results in a somewhat repetitive experience for every route. I think this could've been rectified at least a little considering Baldr Sky has a linear structure which helps with gameplay balancing but the knowledge of what the reader already knows by certain points could've been used to skip over a lot of the repetitive explanations like those for Assembler, Gungnir, Neuzhen, etc. Even if these explanations are practically unchanged between routes, the game won't recognize it as read text since it's a different route so it made me feel awkward about skipping them since they might have new info which was annoying. The requirement to go through all Reminiscence nodes to access Makoto's route was also stupid since 80% of it was flashbacks I had already seen plus battles without my unlocked weapons which were a pain in the butt. Thankfully I could skip through most of it.
This review is too long. While I do have a lot to rant about, it really was a great VN and I'm glad I played it.
This Wahfuu guy likes it so i dont
William Gibson wrote Neuromancer on a typing machine, kickstarting the cyberpunk genre as we know it and imagining how computers and virtual reality would actually work decades later. Years after, he claimed to have been disappointed by the real thing, probably because he played this game and found out how some people imagined virtual reality as a good place to play incest with your sister.
So, Baldr Sky, one of the most legendary visual novels, teased for years and arrived on the English scene just last december. This game is all in all massive, it takes over a hundred hours to even complete the main story and the scope of the game shoots to achieve the matrix-levels of thought-provoking insights on virtual reality and the role of men in a world of rising AIs. Sounds terrific on paper, but the plot is at best very cool and poignant and at worst (and more commonly) barely serviceable. Despite beginning in medias res in a futuristic battlefield where mecha pilots are gutting unmanned wardrones, which is how most of the game will play out, the average time spent on the story of Baldr Sky will deal with teenagers and young adults going around, talking about sci-fi jargon and interesting concept but without much charisma to deliver a compelling narrative. Tens of hours of explanations grow tiring in a story which is also riddled with repetitions, stereotypical dialogues made by stereotypical characters, and where many sections just drag on and on, seemingly forever.
I get the sentiment that long flashbacks segments and info-dumping were needed to create a connection with the cast and understanding the core concepts, I really do, it’s fundamental to feel invested in the emotional climaxes and to appreciate the thematic answers at the end of each route. Yet, was it really necessary to stretch the story over so much with so many plodding bits? As an ulterior testament to how mind-numbingly slow this is, despite its length and scope Baldr Sky only has around twenty recurring characters, and not even all of them receive an in-depth arc or development to fully understand their personality or motivations. Almost all of the villains for example have their share of reasoning behind, but that doesn’t make them less repetitive and annoying when they are mostly just the same stereotypically evil caricatures (fat greedy rapists, arrogant violent psychos, narcissistic monomaniacal churchmen, etc.) in every route, furthermore never providing a satisfying counterbalance to the obvious ‘good’ of the main characters.
A huge portion of the game isn’t limited by its story restrictions, thankfully, sometimes actions calls in and the gameplay starts. The gameplay is the meat of the game, and it’s worth the entry price: structured as an isometric beat ‘em up, Baldr Sky offers a wide arrange of progressively unlocking weapons (for a grand total of just about 130 different weapons), which can be developed and chained in combos for massive style and damage. The weapons cover every possible playstyle, from long to short range, bullet vs explosive weapons, light vs heavy, slash vs smash, there are tons of finisher and other stuff to try out, but the game doesn’t want the player to just choose a category and roll with it. A long-range stagger can be combined with a dash move to close the gap and then immediately go to an air launch, followed by a high kick, a sword stun, heavy smash, a drop and close with an explosive punch. This is just one possible combination, not even a full one, out of thousands viable approaches to dispatch single enemies or crowd control hordes. It looks like a very retro take on modern action games on the vein of devil may cry, or bayonetta, and the adrenaline rushes are just as strong. There are videos out there showing people one-shotting the final boss in a single, two-minutes long combo on the hardest difficulty and it is just pure video games aesthetic.
Of course, it doesn’t always work perfectly. One major complaint regards how chains and weapons can be decided only before every fighting sections and never be changed midway until it’s over and story resumes. Meaning that if the players poorly planned a combo, either they have to start all over again (which can mean even half or a full hour of gameplay) or stick with it and hope there isn’t a boss encounter. This can happen quite often because, and here’s the other great issue, before every section the player is given a simulation where to choose weapons and try them out, yet a combo working ten times in a row in a simulation can still fail during the actual combat or on actual enemies, for some reasons. Moreover, same as for the story, many battle sessions just last far too long: for example, closing almost every major route there is a gigantic rush of enemies that kills the pacing and makes the final boss seems a beath of fresh air after so much repetition, rather than the climax one should be expecting.
Art style and sound design are competent, the characters likability requires having some degree of appreciation for anime and the likes, even in the voice department which is pretty good regardless but riddled with typical onomatopoeic clichés. The soundtrack is a banger while the mech designs, despite being small sprites, are very varied and a pleasure to look at.
All in all, Baldr Sky is a hard one to recommend, it is certainly worth if one felt invested in anime on a similar vein of fullmetal alchemist, attack on titan or code geass, but it also presents many of the limits of the genre. The gameplay may seem tiring at first to someone just interested in the story, but it grows on the player, and it is also one of the rare cases where the normal to hard difficulties are recommended to fully experience the investment throughout the highpoints of the story. If one can afford the tens of hours needed to reach even a single ending, the tens more needed to form a somewhat complete understanding of the story’s stakes, and can digest standard anime-tier writing, this game can prove to be absolutely amazing.
So, Baldr Sky, one of the most legendary visual novels, teased for years and arrived on the English scene just last december. This game is all in all massive, it takes over a hundred hours to even complete the main story and the scope of the game shoots to achieve the matrix-levels of thought-provoking insights on virtual reality and the role of men in a world of rising AIs. Sounds terrific on paper, but the plot is at best very cool and poignant and at worst (and more commonly) barely serviceable. Despite beginning in medias res in a futuristic battlefield where mecha pilots are gutting unmanned wardrones, which is how most of the game will play out, the average time spent on the story of Baldr Sky will deal with teenagers and young adults going around, talking about sci-fi jargon and interesting concept but without much charisma to deliver a compelling narrative. Tens of hours of explanations grow tiring in a story which is also riddled with repetitions, stereotypical dialogues made by stereotypical characters, and where many sections just drag on and on, seemingly forever.
I get the sentiment that long flashbacks segments and info-dumping were needed to create a connection with the cast and understanding the core concepts, I really do, it’s fundamental to feel invested in the emotional climaxes and to appreciate the thematic answers at the end of each route. Yet, was it really necessary to stretch the story over so much with so many plodding bits? As an ulterior testament to how mind-numbingly slow this is, despite its length and scope Baldr Sky only has around twenty recurring characters, and not even all of them receive an in-depth arc or development to fully understand their personality or motivations. Almost all of the villains for example have their share of reasoning behind, but that doesn’t make them less repetitive and annoying when they are mostly just the same stereotypically evil caricatures (fat greedy rapists, arrogant violent psychos, narcissistic monomaniacal churchmen, etc.) in every route, furthermore never providing a satisfying counterbalance to the obvious ‘good’ of the main characters.
A huge portion of the game isn’t limited by its story restrictions, thankfully, sometimes actions calls in and the gameplay starts. The gameplay is the meat of the game, and it’s worth the entry price: structured as an isometric beat ‘em up, Baldr Sky offers a wide arrange of progressively unlocking weapons (for a grand total of just about 130 different weapons), which can be developed and chained in combos for massive style and damage. The weapons cover every possible playstyle, from long to short range, bullet vs explosive weapons, light vs heavy, slash vs smash, there are tons of finisher and other stuff to try out, but the game doesn’t want the player to just choose a category and roll with it. A long-range stagger can be combined with a dash move to close the gap and then immediately go to an air launch, followed by a high kick, a sword stun, heavy smash, a drop and close with an explosive punch. This is just one possible combination, not even a full one, out of thousands viable approaches to dispatch single enemies or crowd control hordes. It looks like a very retro take on modern action games on the vein of devil may cry, or bayonetta, and the adrenaline rushes are just as strong. There are videos out there showing people one-shotting the final boss in a single, two-minutes long combo on the hardest difficulty and it is just pure video games aesthetic.
Of course, it doesn’t always work perfectly. One major complaint regards how chains and weapons can be decided only before every fighting sections and never be changed midway until it’s over and story resumes. Meaning that if the players poorly planned a combo, either they have to start all over again (which can mean even half or a full hour of gameplay) or stick with it and hope there isn’t a boss encounter. This can happen quite often because, and here’s the other great issue, before every section the player is given a simulation where to choose weapons and try them out, yet a combo working ten times in a row in a simulation can still fail during the actual combat or on actual enemies, for some reasons. Moreover, same as for the story, many battle sessions just last far too long: for example, closing almost every major route there is a gigantic rush of enemies that kills the pacing and makes the final boss seems a beath of fresh air after so much repetition, rather than the climax one should be expecting.
Art style and sound design are competent, the characters likability requires having some degree of appreciation for anime and the likes, even in the voice department which is pretty good regardless but riddled with typical onomatopoeic clichés. The soundtrack is a banger while the mech designs, despite being small sprites, are very varied and a pleasure to look at.
All in all, Baldr Sky is a hard one to recommend, it is certainly worth if one felt invested in anime on a similar vein of fullmetal alchemist, attack on titan or code geass, but it also presents many of the limits of the genre. The gameplay may seem tiring at first to someone just interested in the story, but it grows on the player, and it is also one of the rare cases where the normal to hard difficulties are recommended to fully experience the investment throughout the highpoints of the story. If one can afford the tens of hours needed to reach even a single ending, the tens more needed to form a somewhat complete understanding of the story’s stakes, and can digest standard anime-tier writing, this game can prove to be absolutely amazing.
I wouldn’t ever tell anyone I have played this but it’s pretty good.
Honestly brilliant. Brought this game for funny mecha and romance action and I got one hell of an amazing story, with incredibly likeable characters (and biggest asshole in the history).
I was hooked from the start and I just couldn't stop. 70 hours later and finally done. It was 100% worth my time, I do not regret a moment.
I was hooked from the start and I just couldn't stop. 70 hours later and finally done. It was 100% worth my time, I do not regret a moment.
i want gilbert to bed me
Gilbert gilberto funny moments