Total Eclipse continues to stay at the excellent level of quality that I've come to expect from all Muv-Luv titles following Alternative.

Part of Total Eclipse's goal is to expand upon the world and events of Alternative by centering itself upon a group of ragtag test pilots from different corners of the world coming together to work on the next generation of TSFs that will lead humanity into the next forefront of their battle against the BETA.

The premise of TE allows for it to tell a much different type of story than what we've come to see in the past with ML titles. It's about people creating and testing advanced new weaponry, and less about them fighting heavily on the battlefield like you'd see in Alternative. If Alternative is a Sci-Fi War Epic, then Total Eclipse feels more like an Action Political Thriller.

The story is a lot about multiple nations and people from different origins coming together to create the technology and weaponry that could define whether humanity survives or not, and with this comes conflicts of interests, espionage, secrets, political skirmishes, compromises, etc. If you loved Alternative, but you wish that you got more of an idea of what the world of that story looked like on a global scale, then I think you'll be very pleased with what you get here. Having all this extra knowledge of the different militaries, their philosophies and technology, and what they were doing prior and during the events of Alternative only serves to further enhance and enrich all those epic moments in the original.

In terms of visuals, it's great. About what you should come to expect of Muv-Luv with how it really pushes your expectations of what a VN can look like and do. The first half or so of the VN combines the visuals alongside some awesome animated scenes, from the anime, to make the action all the more awesome to witness. Unfortunately, though, this is only the case for the first half. Once the VN goes beyond what the anime touched, you never see that level of visual prowess again. It was a bit of a disappointment to see some really well done action scenes throughout the beginning and not see that same amount of quality in the latter half where they REALLY could have elevated some moments.

Also, we finally have a brand new OST in a ML title! It's very refreshing to hear some new original compositions here. Definitely some franchise favorites in here for sure. It's hard to compare it to the original OST since it's been in so many titles and I've heard the tracks a hundred times over, but I think this a worthy OST that honors how great the original was.

As for the characters and writing of Total Eclipse, I have to admit that I was just... not as in love with everything here as I wished I would be. Particularly with the cast. Don't get me wrong, I like the characters in TE, but they're probably my least favorite cast as a whole in the series. There's some stand out characters like Yui, Sandek, Yuuya, and a few others that are as equally charming as they are at being written with lots of depth and much to analyze. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the majority. When it comes to Yuuya's squad, I liked them, but my ability to enjoy them as characters is solely that they're likeable and made me smile and not much else beyond that. With Alternative, and especially TDA, I could tell you in detail why I loved damn near each character in that story, what their internal conflict was, and numerous amounts of moments where you see some really finely crafted character writing that feels well-earned and built-up over the course of the story. I just can't confidently say the cast of TE spoke to me on the same level as prior titles.

I think, for me, this felt most apparent with my feelings toward the characters Cryska and Inia. Without spoiling anything, these two characters are insanely important to the plot and Yuuya's development as a protagonist in the story. The thing is that I just didn't connect with these two characters too deeply. I think they're fine characters, but I think there's a lot of stuff here that rides really heavily on how much you love these two. For me, these two characters never hit that deeply and it somewhat took away the level of passion and engagement that I could have found in this story otherwise.

A worthy continuation of the greatness that has filled this franchise since Alternative. I'm only MORE excited now to finally read Schwarzesmarken whenever that eventually gets localized!

"The man who abandoned his entire existence, just to give the one woman he loves a reason to exist..."

YUUYA FUCKING BRIDGES

I KNEEL