kaeruk
2022
Can actually play as non-binary for once! 🙏 Really makes a difference, considering the protagonist is meant to be relatively self-insert.
Graphics on Switch version are often very bleary, especially noticeable in handheld mode. Shame, because it's otherwise very pretty. The character art is lovely.
Engaging gameplay, allowing the player to create their own balance between farming and JRPG elements, without forcing either. It is more JRPG than it is farming sim (the farming doesn't have the same depth as is found in others of the genre), but one can take the quests and story at their own pace.
Varied job system, and the story is interesting enough so far. Has side quests I actually want to do.
Appealing characters (moreso for me when compared with other farming life sims). Everyone has nice voice acting – too bad it's limited to small lines here and there.
Romance options are not gender-locked~
And the music is lovely... Would definitely purchase the soundtrack if they release that.
Graphics on Switch version are often very bleary, especially noticeable in handheld mode. Shame, because it's otherwise very pretty. The character art is lovely.
Engaging gameplay, allowing the player to create their own balance between farming and JRPG elements, without forcing either. It is more JRPG than it is farming sim (the farming doesn't have the same depth as is found in others of the genre), but one can take the quests and story at their own pace.
Varied job system, and the story is interesting enough so far. Has side quests I actually want to do.
Appealing characters (moreso for me when compared with other farming life sims). Everyone has nice voice acting – too bad it's limited to small lines here and there.
Romance options are not gender-locked~
And the music is lovely... Would definitely purchase the soundtrack if they release that.
2012
Fun, but challenging. I loved learning about the world bit by bit while exploring. A large map full of artistically intriguing areas that gave me a real sense of adventure. The dialogue is funny and well written.
Please play this if you're into challenging platformers!
Please play this if you're into challenging platformers!
2021
Disappointingly cis-het LOL.
I heard that reception of this game in Japan has mostly been either quite negative, or quite positive. I got my hopes up about it, given the premise. My feelings fell somewhere in the middle, though.
The romance is relatively weak in most of the routes (a few of which don't even depict a kiss... which indeed, probably would have felt forced in some routes), and definitely second to the rest of the story, but that doesn't feel like such a bad thing in this case. The story was engaging enough for me to keep me playing until the end, but I was forcing it by the time I was halfway through. Notably, this game features eight love interests, which is a lot, so I think they did OK considering that.
Of the six character routes that are initially available, only three (of the player's choice) must be played in order to unlock the last three routes (including the grand finale). So if, among those initial six LIs, you find a few that you really aren't into, you will have the freedom to skip over them. I felt that each route contributed some bits of information (some routes more than others) to the overall story, but I could see it being fine if some early ones were skipped over.
I felt that all of the LIs were likeable (at least upon concluding their routes... I'm looking at you, Ayumu).
The "gender bending" really felt like a missed opportunity. It doesn't really apply to the romantic aspects of the game, which is odd since they are both big focuses of the game. There isn't much interesting going on here in terms of gender identity, and most of the male characters don't feel anything special about being able to transform into or exist as females. (It's really just their anatomy that changes – not their gender.) It's often treated as something to be embarrassed about, that's hidden. It's mostly there to create what's supposed to be an amusing scenario in which the main character is unaware of the LI's dual identities (which are entirely obvious to the player). Which repeats to varying degrees in all applicable routes and started to annoy me after its second occurrence. It gets old quickly, and I found myself wishing they didn't waste so much time on it, and instead focused on the plot or romance more.
Ibuki is essentially non-binary at least. 😅
I think that the majority of the CGs were of nice quality. Nothing super fancy. Most of the art didn't feel awkward. I feel that they made OK choices about which scenes to include CGs for... Some felt unnecessary, while other scenes would have really benefited from one.
I really liked a lot of the character sprites! There were a bunch of interesting, asymmetrical facial expressions. I was a little disappointed at the lack of inclusion of character portraits for the protagonist, though. And I know it's uncommon for games of this genre, but I would have liked the protagonist to be voiced as well.
I thought the voice acting was great!
The music was fitting and I enjoyed it during the game, but I don't think much of it stood out enough that I would listen to the soundtrack on its own.
The text isn't without typos, and the formatting of the text is disjointed in places, but there's nothing too grievous. The English is not a very literal translation, which differs from my taste — especially where the content is severely altered in order to be more understandable for a non-Japanese audience — but I think most players will be OK with it.
This game functions well as a VN. Players can access a flowchart to return to any part of the game they've played before, and can skip to next choice or next line of unread text (whichever comes first) instantly and with ease. Returning for different endings is a cinch.
Button functions can be remapped manually (there are no alternative presets).
Volume of voice acting can be adjusted as a whole and also individually for each recurring character (although the default volumes are mostly balanced and I barely adjusted them).
My main complaint here is that the Auto mode functions very poorly. I'm not a super speedy reader when playing video games, and the Auto speed was still incredibly slow even at its fastest. I'll be waiting too long for the Auto to proceed from an unvoiced section, meanwhile at the same Auto speed, I'll have unvoiced single word text boxes ripped away before I can comprehend them. I just kept Auto off the whole time I played, and that was fine for me.
As the player progresses through the routes, they will unlock little extra scenes that can be accessed from the ACTIVITY REPORTS section of the menu. These are neat. However, no indication is provided as to which of these extras have been viewed previously, which I found to be a nuisance.
I think there's stuff here to enjoy. I just don't want people to get their hopes up the way that I did. You can still romance the magical girl boys... but don't expect too much.
(Review edited upon game completion.)
I heard that reception of this game in Japan has mostly been either quite negative, or quite positive. I got my hopes up about it, given the premise. My feelings fell somewhere in the middle, though.
The romance is relatively weak in most of the routes (a few of which don't even depict a kiss... which indeed, probably would have felt forced in some routes), and definitely second to the rest of the story, but that doesn't feel like such a bad thing in this case. The story was engaging enough for me to keep me playing until the end, but I was forcing it by the time I was halfway through. Notably, this game features eight love interests, which is a lot, so I think they did OK considering that.
Of the six character routes that are initially available, only three (of the player's choice) must be played in order to unlock the last three routes (including the grand finale). So if, among those initial six LIs, you find a few that you really aren't into, you will have the freedom to skip over them. I felt that each route contributed some bits of information (some routes more than others) to the overall story, but I could see it being fine if some early ones were skipped over.
I felt that all of the LIs were likeable (at least upon concluding their routes... I'm looking at you, Ayumu).
The "gender bending" really felt like a missed opportunity. It doesn't really apply to the romantic aspects of the game, which is odd since they are both big focuses of the game. There isn't much interesting going on here in terms of gender identity, and most of the male characters don't feel anything special about being able to transform into or exist as females. (It's really just their anatomy that changes – not their gender.) It's often treated as something to be embarrassed about, that's hidden. It's mostly there to create what's supposed to be an amusing scenario in which the main character is unaware of the LI's dual identities (which are entirely obvious to the player). Which repeats to varying degrees in all applicable routes and started to annoy me after its second occurrence. It gets old quickly, and I found myself wishing they didn't waste so much time on it, and instead focused on the plot or romance more.
Ibuki is essentially non-binary at least. 😅
I think that the majority of the CGs were of nice quality. Nothing super fancy. Most of the art didn't feel awkward. I feel that they made OK choices about which scenes to include CGs for... Some felt unnecessary, while other scenes would have really benefited from one.
I really liked a lot of the character sprites! There were a bunch of interesting, asymmetrical facial expressions. I was a little disappointed at the lack of inclusion of character portraits for the protagonist, though. And I know it's uncommon for games of this genre, but I would have liked the protagonist to be voiced as well.
I thought the voice acting was great!
The music was fitting and I enjoyed it during the game, but I don't think much of it stood out enough that I would listen to the soundtrack on its own.
The text isn't without typos, and the formatting of the text is disjointed in places, but there's nothing too grievous. The English is not a very literal translation, which differs from my taste — especially where the content is severely altered in order to be more understandable for a non-Japanese audience — but I think most players will be OK with it.
This game functions well as a VN. Players can access a flowchart to return to any part of the game they've played before, and can skip to next choice or next line of unread text (whichever comes first) instantly and with ease. Returning for different endings is a cinch.
Button functions can be remapped manually (there are no alternative presets).
Volume of voice acting can be adjusted as a whole and also individually for each recurring character (although the default volumes are mostly balanced and I barely adjusted them).
My main complaint here is that the Auto mode functions very poorly. I'm not a super speedy reader when playing video games, and the Auto speed was still incredibly slow even at its fastest. I'll be waiting too long for the Auto to proceed from an unvoiced section, meanwhile at the same Auto speed, I'll have unvoiced single word text boxes ripped away before I can comprehend them. I just kept Auto off the whole time I played, and that was fine for me.
As the player progresses through the routes, they will unlock little extra scenes that can be accessed from the ACTIVITY REPORTS section of the menu. These are neat. However, no indication is provided as to which of these extras have been viewed previously, which I found to be a nuisance.
I think there's stuff here to enjoy. I just don't want people to get their hopes up the way that I did. You can still romance the magical girl boys... but don't expect too much.
(Review edited upon game completion.)
2018
This game is so rad. Had my eye on it for a while, and when I got my PC, this was literally the first game I played. Unfortunately it gave me terrible simulator sickness. I pushed on anyway, because Sewer Rave. I made myself so ill that I was rendered useless for hours afterward, able to do naught but attempt to comfort myself and nibble on saltine crackers. I regret it. But approve.
2019
I love GNOSIA. I love the vibes, the mystery, and the characters, who are all unique and fun. I loved gradually gaining bits of information to see how the characters tie into the mysteries.
Even got a couple of great, explicitly non-binary characters (notably, the player can also play as non-binary).
I almost didn't take a chance on this, as I'd never gotten into any games categorized as "roguelite", and the concept doesn't generally appeal to me. I feel that there's narrative utility in the repetitive gameplay loop, in really feeling the situation wear on the player. For me, it was a somewhat immersive aspect.
For anybody who enjoys this gameplay despite the repetition, this game has a lot of replay value. After one full playthrough, I'm still coming across a lot of new things. It's kind of amazing.
The computer AI is "smart" and well designed (as a single-player social deduction game necessitates). Catching subtle hints based on NPC behavior is fun, as well as developing one's own strategy in order to influence the NPCs (lying gave me such intense anxiety though, LOL). The different characters each have unique ways of behaving in different situations, and varying inherent (and circumstantial) affinity towards other characters, including the player.
I wish they would allow for a multiplayer mode (separate from the story)!! I would love to play simultaneously with both the computer AI, and a friend.
I also wish I could casually spend more time with the characters. There's so much to work with here!
Cotori's lovely artwork, and the unusual music are the perfect dressing.
It's exciting to see such a cool game come from such a small development team.
Even got a couple of great, explicitly non-binary characters (notably, the player can also play as non-binary).
I almost didn't take a chance on this, as I'd never gotten into any games categorized as "roguelite", and the concept doesn't generally appeal to me. I feel that there's narrative utility in the repetitive gameplay loop, in really feeling the situation wear on the player. For me, it was a somewhat immersive aspect.
For anybody who enjoys this gameplay despite the repetition, this game has a lot of replay value. After one full playthrough, I'm still coming across a lot of new things. It's kind of amazing.
The computer AI is "smart" and well designed (as a single-player social deduction game necessitates). Catching subtle hints based on NPC behavior is fun, as well as developing one's own strategy in order to influence the NPCs (lying gave me such intense anxiety though, LOL). The different characters each have unique ways of behaving in different situations, and varying inherent (and circumstantial) affinity towards other characters, including the player.
I wish they would allow for a multiplayer mode (separate from the story)!! I would love to play simultaneously with both the computer AI, and a friend.
I also wish I could casually spend more time with the characters. There's so much to work with here!
Cotori's lovely artwork, and the unusual music are the perfect dressing.
It's exciting to see such a cool game come from such a small development team.
2022
Somehow, Voltage made this, and it's delightful. It had me laughing through my tears more than once.
I was surprised by the overall quality of even if TEMPEST, and that was even before really getting into the story.
The developers don't allow the game to be boring for even a moment through the main story (OK, maybe a moment in one of the later routes). The game played me, and I loved it. I felt like I was on a rollercoaster the whole way through (I did feel the ride slow down in the last bits, though). It doesn't shy away from tragedy. I don't think I've ever been so invested in the successes and failures/losses of a character as I have been in Anastasia's. Anastasia is a fantastic protagonist (and ~gorgeous~). I genuinely really like the other main characters too. UGH just let them be happy.
I liked the romance OK, but I would say it's not one of this game's greatest strengths. I love romance, but it's not really what I was here for. The game didn't need it, basically.
The character sprites, and especially their facial expressions, are superb. So many great, freaky expressions. The CGs are generally really good too.
The logic in the trials isn't anything very challenging, but I still thought they were fun. If playing without a walkthrough, the investigations preceding the trials might take some trial and error (pun not intended).
I think the route structure is clever, for a game with multiple paths and love interests.
I enjoyed watching even the plot twists that I predicted play out.
I feel that even many games that I like don't mind wasting my time, but such is not the case for even if TEMPEST (aside from the poor Skip function, which I'll mention shortly).
I enjoyed this so much that these issues don't really touch it, but I will note them anyway (along with more praise, naturally).
Background noise tracks of crowd chatter and such generally either loop very poorly, or last all of five seconds before ceasing, which can be distracting. The sound in the game is otherwise great. The music is fantastic. I wish I could buy the soundtrack! The instrumentation is gorgeous (and they are legitimate instruments played by legitimate artists where applicable — not synthesized as is common in other games. The emotion and flavor of these sounds are very real).
The voice work is super. The game is fully voiced, with the exception of the protagonist, which is such a shame for a character with this much of a personality. And it's disappointing that such a strong character as Anastasia lacks character portraits. These two would be the things I was most disappointed about.
The translation is quite good. There are more than a few typos here and there. The sort of things you could miss if you aren't scrutinizing.
I wish that more thought had been put into the text "skip" function. It's really slow, and can't be adjusted in any way beyond skipping read text or skipping all text, making it pretty troublesome to double back for other route endings. It took me out of the flow of the story more than it should have. I didn't want to miss any content, but the experience of the game would likely be better if I didn't bother. The regular route endings are where it's at. (Edit: I have seen someone else's Skip function in action, and it's much faster than mine is. No idea why. You might get lucky with your copy/system. Or not.)
Skipping to the next choice is becoming a more common feature in otome games, and I missed it here.
The game did crash on me once, which isn't something I recall experiencing with any other Switch games. Not a big deal if one saves often. (Edit: the game of the aforementioned "someone" also crashed a heck of a lot!)
This is really all of my complaints, and I can't even complain... I'm really looking forward to the fan disk. I hope Voltage will make more games like this one.
I was surprised by the overall quality of even if TEMPEST, and that was even before really getting into the story.
The developers don't allow the game to be boring for even a moment through the main story (OK, maybe a moment in one of the later routes). The game played me, and I loved it. I felt like I was on a rollercoaster the whole way through (I did feel the ride slow down in the last bits, though). It doesn't shy away from tragedy. I don't think I've ever been so invested in the successes and failures/losses of a character as I have been in Anastasia's. Anastasia is a fantastic protagonist (and ~gorgeous~). I genuinely really like the other main characters too. UGH just let them be happy.
I liked the romance OK, but I would say it's not one of this game's greatest strengths. I love romance, but it's not really what I was here for. The game didn't need it, basically.
The character sprites, and especially their facial expressions, are superb. So many great, freaky expressions. The CGs are generally really good too.
The logic in the trials isn't anything very challenging, but I still thought they were fun. If playing without a walkthrough, the investigations preceding the trials might take some trial and error (pun not intended).
I think the route structure is clever, for a game with multiple paths and love interests.
I enjoyed watching even the plot twists that I predicted play out.
I feel that even many games that I like don't mind wasting my time, but such is not the case for even if TEMPEST (aside from the poor Skip function, which I'll mention shortly).
I enjoyed this so much that these issues don't really touch it, but I will note them anyway (along with more praise, naturally).
Background noise tracks of crowd chatter and such generally either loop very poorly, or last all of five seconds before ceasing, which can be distracting. The sound in the game is otherwise great. The music is fantastic. I wish I could buy the soundtrack! The instrumentation is gorgeous (and they are legitimate instruments played by legitimate artists where applicable — not synthesized as is common in other games. The emotion and flavor of these sounds are very real).
The voice work is super. The game is fully voiced, with the exception of the protagonist, which is such a shame for a character with this much of a personality. And it's disappointing that such a strong character as Anastasia lacks character portraits. These two would be the things I was most disappointed about.
The translation is quite good. There are more than a few typos here and there. The sort of things you could miss if you aren't scrutinizing.
I wish that more thought had been put into the text "skip" function. It's really slow, and can't be adjusted in any way beyond skipping read text or skipping all text, making it pretty troublesome to double back for other route endings. It took me out of the flow of the story more than it should have. I didn't want to miss any content, but the experience of the game would likely be better if I didn't bother. The regular route endings are where it's at. (Edit: I have seen someone else's Skip function in action, and it's much faster than mine is. No idea why. You might get lucky with your copy/system. Or not.)
Skipping to the next choice is becoming a more common feature in otome games, and I missed it here.
The game did crash on me once, which isn't something I recall experiencing with any other Switch games. Not a big deal if one saves often. (Edit: the game of the aforementioned "someone" also crashed a heck of a lot!)
This is really all of my complaints, and I can't even complain... I'm really looking forward to the fan disk. I hope Voltage will make more games like this one.
2015
This game is a work of art. It is thought provoking and philosophical, and at times feels very personal.
Some of the story-telling is presented in a nonlinear way, which made it feel a bit like the writer dropped me into the deep end suddenly, where I floundered about in confusion for a while, trying to make sense of something I didn't yet have all of the necessary pieces of (which I suspect is similar to how the protagonist feels). This felt very intentional, and kept me interested in gathering all of the pieces — most of which, I couldn't make sense of until I neared the story's conclusion. The game in general all feels very intentional...
Unfortunately, I did struggle with the repetitiveness when I was playing through the latter half of the endings. There IS actually a way to skip text: by holding the down arrow key on your keyboard. That single feature would have left me with nothing to complain about, had I known about it! It's not explicitly indicated anywhere within the game, so I did not learn about it until after I completed the game. Clicking repeatedly to skip lines I'd read many times before sometimes caused me to accidentally select a choice, or miss a variation in the text that wasn't there before, so I'd have to reload. I grew pretty tired of it. But if you're reading this review, you've been saved! (The only thing I'm not sure about is whether this method allows the player to skip unread text too. Which would be concerning. Unfortunately, I can no longer test this.)
The true ending was very impactful for me, and it's a bit of an understatement to say that it had me in tears. I immediately felt that it was worth pushing myself to reach, and it made me very glad that I didn't abandon the game earlier because of the aforementioned struggle. I already want to replay the true ending (which is also something that can be instantly skipped to once it's already been reached, via the Password tab). The feeling it gave me is something that I think (and hope) will stick with me.
I didn't care for the other endings much, but it's necessary to see them all to get the code to unlock the true ending.
As the game went on, I grew to like the characters. The story doesn't delve into most of them deeply, and keeps things brief (it's not a long game). I would be interested in reading more of their stories (there is a side story to unlock). I also felt like the game messed around with my expectations regarding the characters, which I liked.
There is an in-game guide for ending requirements, which is nice for people who want to play without a walkthrough. But there is a good English language walkthrough posted on Steam as well.
The artwork in the game is lovely. I especially really like some of the character art. The music, visual art style, and limited use of colors effectively set a simultaneously dull and intriguing tone.
I'm a horror wimp, so I was worried about that while playing. It gets kinda freaky here and there, but it was never too much for me. I don't recommend approaching this game for want of horror specifically. But if you like some milder horror vibes and the occasional tone shift, I think this does nicely.
There isn't much in the way of disturbing imagery, but the game does deal with sensitive topics like mental illness and suicide. I personally felt it was tastefully done overall.
The game has "mixed" reviews on Steam, but it was due to an issue with Steam keys being revoked, which the developer reinstated. A lot of people left negative reviews about that specifically, which have nothing to do with the contents of the game. So don't let that deter you!
Some of the story-telling is presented in a nonlinear way, which made it feel a bit like the writer dropped me into the deep end suddenly, where I floundered about in confusion for a while, trying to make sense of something I didn't yet have all of the necessary pieces of (which I suspect is similar to how the protagonist feels). This felt very intentional, and kept me interested in gathering all of the pieces — most of which, I couldn't make sense of until I neared the story's conclusion. The game in general all feels very intentional...
Unfortunately, I did struggle with the repetitiveness when I was playing through the latter half of the endings. There IS actually a way to skip text: by holding the down arrow key on your keyboard. That single feature would have left me with nothing to complain about, had I known about it! It's not explicitly indicated anywhere within the game, so I did not learn about it until after I completed the game. Clicking repeatedly to skip lines I'd read many times before sometimes caused me to accidentally select a choice, or miss a variation in the text that wasn't there before, so I'd have to reload. I grew pretty tired of it. But if you're reading this review, you've been saved! (The only thing I'm not sure about is whether this method allows the player to skip unread text too. Which would be concerning. Unfortunately, I can no longer test this.)
The true ending was very impactful for me, and it's a bit of an understatement to say that it had me in tears. I immediately felt that it was worth pushing myself to reach, and it made me very glad that I didn't abandon the game earlier because of the aforementioned struggle. I already want to replay the true ending (which is also something that can be instantly skipped to once it's already been reached, via the Password tab). The feeling it gave me is something that I think (and hope) will stick with me.
I didn't care for the other endings much, but it's necessary to see them all to get the code to unlock the true ending.
As the game went on, I grew to like the characters. The story doesn't delve into most of them deeply, and keeps things brief (it's not a long game). I would be interested in reading more of their stories (there is a side story to unlock). I also felt like the game messed around with my expectations regarding the characters, which I liked.
There is an in-game guide for ending requirements, which is nice for people who want to play without a walkthrough. But there is a good English language walkthrough posted on Steam as well.
The artwork in the game is lovely. I especially really like some of the character art. The music, visual art style, and limited use of colors effectively set a simultaneously dull and intriguing tone.
I'm a horror wimp, so I was worried about that while playing. It gets kinda freaky here and there, but it was never too much for me. I don't recommend approaching this game for want of horror specifically. But if you like some milder horror vibes and the occasional tone shift, I think this does nicely.
There isn't much in the way of disturbing imagery, but the game does deal with sensitive topics like mental illness and suicide. I personally felt it was tastefully done overall.
The game has "mixed" reviews on Steam, but it was due to an issue with Steam keys being revoked, which the developer reinstated. A lot of people left negative reviews about that specifically, which have nothing to do with the contents of the game. So don't let that deter you!
2020
To date, the most well-written VN I've read. It's one of very few "games" I've ever recommended to my non-gamer parent. At first I was just vibing with the music (so pleased to have the OST in my possession. Definitely music I want to listen to outside the game), the striking visual art style, and the poetic writing. That was enough. After a while the narrative really picks up, and I found myself engrossed and eager to get back to the story whenever I was too busy to read it. It also provided me with some inspiration and motivation to make something of my own.
Vampires aren't thematically interesting for me, but Cross the Moon threatened to turn me into a myth-busting vampire activist haha. I don't believe that the way vampires in the story are treated was intended to be a perfect parallel to any particular real-world forms of discrimination, but I thought it was insightful and really well done. There's also an intersectional aspect to the experiences of discrimination two of the protagonists have, being Black in an overwhelmingly White city, and I appreciated that being touched on.
Among the itch store page's listed content warnings is "sexual descriptions". I played the Switch version, for which such scenes were altered to remove the sexual descriptions. The Switch version has nothing more than possible implications of sexual relations. I don't know whether this content is intact in the Steam version.
Was happy to see mlm and wlw rep!
The one thing that bothered me a bit was navigating the menu (mainly when I wanted to reference the text log). It's more comfy on PC, but it's not enough of a nuisance to make me wish I did differently. (But you can get the OST for just $5 extra if you buy the VN on itch!)
For anyone who dislikes kinetic VNs, I also want to mention that Cross the Moon does not present the reader with choices (there's a very little bit of interaction!). Please know what you're getting into.
Had a really nice time with this one. And it's a great price! I hope that more people will enjoy it.
Vampires aren't thematically interesting for me, but Cross the Moon threatened to turn me into a myth-busting vampire activist haha. I don't believe that the way vampires in the story are treated was intended to be a perfect parallel to any particular real-world forms of discrimination, but I thought it was insightful and really well done. There's also an intersectional aspect to the experiences of discrimination two of the protagonists have, being Black in an overwhelmingly White city, and I appreciated that being touched on.
Among the itch store page's listed content warnings is "sexual descriptions". I played the Switch version, for which such scenes were altered to remove the sexual descriptions. The Switch version has nothing more than possible implications of sexual relations. I don't know whether this content is intact in the Steam version.
Was happy to see mlm and wlw rep!
The one thing that bothered me a bit was navigating the menu (mainly when I wanted to reference the text log). It's more comfy on PC, but it's not enough of a nuisance to make me wish I did differently. (But you can get the OST for just $5 extra if you buy the VN on itch!)
For anyone who dislikes kinetic VNs, I also want to mention that Cross the Moon does not present the reader with choices (there's a very little bit of interaction!). Please know what you're getting into.
Had a really nice time with this one. And it's a great price! I hope that more people will enjoy it.
Disclaimer: I'm just playing because of Naru-chan.
Also all "gacha" games are evil. (Although, one can earn some pretty nice cards of the highest rarity during events and such, without paying actual money, at least. Can take a heck of a lot of effort and time, though. Earning enough Diamonds to pull from the gacha is also doable. But then you'll roll over and over sometimes and get no 5-stars, too...)
Honestly the only rhythm game I've played that doesn't give me the sweats haha.
The actual rhythm game is pretty nice. The absence of distinct, visible lanes threw me off initially, but now that I'm used to it, it's really nice. It feels more intuitive and my fingers just move to where they need to be without any thought for what "lane" the "note" is in. On the other hand, the most difficult songs are harder because I haven't managed to assign my fingers to specific lanes as I generally do in other rhythm games. Most of the time I'm playing entire songs with only two fingers.
Compared with other rhythm games, this one feels somewhat on the lenient side in terms of timing.
Unfortunately, one's score is tied to which cards one uses, no matter how well one performs.
While one can fail a song, one is always permitted to finish it. Which I find is much better for practicing than games that force stop a song if one messes up too much.
The songs being original to this franchise is cool. A lot of them aren't ones I care much for, but there are some pretty nice ones. (There's sooo much corny lyrics, which are at least amusing.)
All of the songs are immediately available to all players without any need to earn/unlock/buy any, which isn't the norm in my experience.
The 3D dances in the background are neat and look good (although there are a few videos with more intense flashing lights that can be really bothersome and hard to look at. "Dancing in the Apocalypse", and some of UNDEAD's songs come to mind — the worst, for me, being "Melody in the Dark")! They can be distracting, but can also be turned off entirely and replaced with a static background. It's nice that the 3D dances can be done with any characters the player chooses. There are even a couple of songs for which the vocals change to match the characters the player selects ("BRAND NEW STARS!!" and "Walk with your smile").
All of the songs have full versions that can be heard outside the game, which I recommend for any you fancy~
The user interface is quite busy and I felt lost for a while after I started playing, with so many different currencies, learning where to use what items.
The story is available for free (some of the event stories are available only during certain times). I haven't managed to get interested in it at all, despite trying plenty of times. So, unfortunately, I can't judge it properly. Some of the characters seem charming, though. There's a lot of variance. However, most of the characters don't feel particularly realistic or relatable to me. The story is set in an alternate universe and is genuinely bizarre.
The translation is pretty good (although there are plenty of typos). The translators make a good effort to convey personality and unusual speech through use of capital letters and such. The main story is all voiced too!
One can play together with friends and be matched with strangers, which is always a nice feature. People I've played with are generally friendly. When doing Lives (playing songs) together, players can't exit or disband the group once they've entered, which is so nice compared with my multiplayer experiences in Colorful Stage of repeated disbanding late into the process (seemingly because people are being picky about which song they want to play?). Life is too short for that crap!!!
The chat function in this game is laughably (and frustratingly) bad. You aren't allowed to use curse words like "just", and "pretty". (Your guardian should have taught you better anyway.) But also sometimes you can. It's super inconsistent about which combinations of letters are "illegal". Worst of all, it won't indicate which word/letters are the problem within a message. It's pretty much impossible to guess. Rather than just using asterisks or removing the offending words, the user is barred from sending the message at all. So good luck communicating with people in-game.
This game is currently occupying 8.33 GB on my phone, which is kind of awful.
Switch, MaM, Double Face, Valkyrie, and ArashiP??? Am I allowed to do that?
Also all "gacha" games are evil. (Although, one can earn some pretty nice cards of the highest rarity during events and such, without paying actual money, at least. Can take a heck of a lot of effort and time, though. Earning enough Diamonds to pull from the gacha is also doable. But then you'll roll over and over sometimes and get no 5-stars, too...)
Honestly the only rhythm game I've played that doesn't give me the sweats haha.
The actual rhythm game is pretty nice. The absence of distinct, visible lanes threw me off initially, but now that I'm used to it, it's really nice. It feels more intuitive and my fingers just move to where they need to be without any thought for what "lane" the "note" is in. On the other hand, the most difficult songs are harder because I haven't managed to assign my fingers to specific lanes as I generally do in other rhythm games. Most of the time I'm playing entire songs with only two fingers.
Compared with other rhythm games, this one feels somewhat on the lenient side in terms of timing.
Unfortunately, one's score is tied to which cards one uses, no matter how well one performs.
While one can fail a song, one is always permitted to finish it. Which I find is much better for practicing than games that force stop a song if one messes up too much.
The songs being original to this franchise is cool. A lot of them aren't ones I care much for, but there are some pretty nice ones. (There's sooo much corny lyrics, which are at least amusing.)
All of the songs are immediately available to all players without any need to earn/unlock/buy any, which isn't the norm in my experience.
The 3D dances in the background are neat and look good (although there are a few videos with more intense flashing lights that can be really bothersome and hard to look at. "Dancing in the Apocalypse", and some of UNDEAD's songs come to mind — the worst, for me, being "Melody in the Dark")! They can be distracting, but can also be turned off entirely and replaced with a static background. It's nice that the 3D dances can be done with any characters the player chooses. There are even a couple of songs for which the vocals change to match the characters the player selects ("BRAND NEW STARS!!" and "Walk with your smile").
All of the songs have full versions that can be heard outside the game, which I recommend for any you fancy~
The user interface is quite busy and I felt lost for a while after I started playing, with so many different currencies, learning where to use what items.
The story is available for free (some of the event stories are available only during certain times). I haven't managed to get interested in it at all, despite trying plenty of times. So, unfortunately, I can't judge it properly. Some of the characters seem charming, though. There's a lot of variance. However, most of the characters don't feel particularly realistic or relatable to me. The story is set in an alternate universe and is genuinely bizarre.
The translation is pretty good (although there are plenty of typos). The translators make a good effort to convey personality and unusual speech through use of capital letters and such. The main story is all voiced too!
One can play together with friends and be matched with strangers, which is always a nice feature. People I've played with are generally friendly. When doing Lives (playing songs) together, players can't exit or disband the group once they've entered, which is so nice compared with my multiplayer experiences in Colorful Stage of repeated disbanding late into the process (seemingly because people are being picky about which song they want to play?). Life is too short for that crap!!!
The chat function in this game is laughably (and frustratingly) bad. You aren't allowed to use curse words like "just", and "pretty". (Your guardian should have taught you better anyway.) But also sometimes you can. It's super inconsistent about which combinations of letters are "illegal". Worst of all, it won't indicate which word/letters are the problem within a message. It's pretty much impossible to guess. Rather than just using asterisks or removing the offending words, the user is barred from sending the message at all. So good luck communicating with people in-game.
This game is currently occupying 8.33 GB on my phone, which is kind of awful.
Switch, MaM, Double Face, Valkyrie, and ArashiP??? Am I allowed to do that?
Short and sweet! The price is great for what it is, and it's a treat visually. I love the character art, the environments, and the use of color. It's a simple adventure game well worth playing through (with a small dose of silly point-and-click adventure game logic).
Not that I wouldn't enjoy more of this, but I think it is exactly as long as it should be.
Horror wimp approved.
Functions well on Steam Deck.
Not that I wouldn't enjoy more of this, but I think it is exactly as long as it should be.
Horror wimp approved.
Functions well on Steam Deck.
2023
I anticipated little more than some laughs out of this, but had a really nice time (and some laughs still). The story twists unpredictably (in my experience) this way and that, and the game as a whole was a near-constant stream of lively (and occasionally slightly repetitive) banter between the characters, keeping the game from dipping into any lulls that bored me.
I enjoyed the setting (the background art is really nice), small town vibes, and the cultural tidbits. I'm not deeply versed in Russian culture, so there might be some more subtle ideas communicated that I was unable to pick up on (such as how respectful the portrayal of a Ukrainian character is).
The game is fully voiced, and the voice acting is great (as a player with minimal Russian language comprehension).
The character art is expressive and dynamic. Some of the more estrogen-affected bodies look somewhat sexualized, but I think one of the main victims of this (Alisa) still shines as a character. There were a couple of moments when I was like, "apparently written by a cis-het man", but nothing too egregious.
Overall, not fantastic, but a fun experience I'm pleased that I didn't skip!
I enjoyed the setting (the background art is really nice), small town vibes, and the cultural tidbits. I'm not deeply versed in Russian culture, so there might be some more subtle ideas communicated that I was unable to pick up on (such as how respectful the portrayal of a Ukrainian character is).
The game is fully voiced, and the voice acting is great (as a player with minimal Russian language comprehension).
The character art is expressive and dynamic. Some of the more estrogen-affected bodies look somewhat sexualized, but I think one of the main victims of this (Alisa) still shines as a character. There were a couple of moments when I was like, "apparently written by a cis-het man", but nothing too egregious.
Overall, not fantastic, but a fun experience I'm pleased that I didn't skip!
2021
A cute little VN, with sweet romance. Mostly a pleasant experience, but I felt bored at times -- particularly when the focus was on not the main couple of the route, but on side characters. At times, the writing gets repetitive or feels like it's trying to reach a word count quota. It wasn't especially for me, but it might be someone else's cup of tea.
I quite like the protagonist. Marcel felt to me like better non-binary rep than I've seen in some more explicit examples of non-binary characters. (Ey's also super adorable.) I appreciate how the love interests respond to this aspect of Marcel (especially Luce and Mirabel). The ending of Mirabel's route elicited more than a few tears from me...
I will say that Mirabel being bullied relentlessly by fellow classmates bothered me, and personally, I sometimes felt like the game didn't frame it seriously enough. Like the game wasn't being just toward that character, and that left a bad taste in my mouth.
There were a lot of really sweet CGs, especially of some of the more intimate moments between Marcel and the LIs.
My play order: Mirabel→ Luce→ Celine→ Claudine. (I don't think the order matters much.)
I think I liked Luce or Celine's route most, followed by Mirabel's and lastly Claudine's.
I quite like the protagonist. Marcel felt to me like better non-binary rep than I've seen in some more explicit examples of non-binary characters. (Ey's also super adorable.) I appreciate how the love interests respond to this aspect of Marcel (especially Luce and Mirabel). The ending of Mirabel's route elicited more than a few tears from me...
I will say that Mirabel being bullied relentlessly by fellow classmates bothered me, and personally, I sometimes felt like the game didn't frame it seriously enough. Like the game wasn't being just toward that character, and that left a bad taste in my mouth.
There were a lot of really sweet CGs, especially of some of the more intimate moments between Marcel and the LIs.
My play order: Mirabel→ Luce→ Celine→ Claudine. (I don't think the order matters much.)
I think I liked Luce or Celine's route most, followed by Mirabel's and lastly Claudine's.
I can't recommend this to anyone at all in its current state. It worked fine when it first released, but has since received an update (version 1.0.1) that causes an error that closes the software before I reach even the title screen. It takes multiple tries (sometimes over six), reopening the software, before I can actually get past it.
Anyway...
I picked this up immediately upon finding it, simply because it's made by Child-Dream, which developed a game I first played many years ago: Scar of the Doll. There weren't really any reviews to go by at the time.
I'm curious about what sort of experience I would have had playing the original 1999 PC game (which was never released in English). It seems like the sort of game that would have been really immersive! I think it's really fun when the player needs to use resources external to the game to investigate and glean information to then apply to the game. All of the necessary information is included in this remake, in the form of simulated websites (it still provides the web addresses for those websites, but you'll have the options of reading those pages in Japanese, or using Google Translate, so...). It functions, and it's clear why they included them, but I think it removes some of the fun of figuring out when to reference those websites, and that feeling of exploring something real. (Which I suppose was a large part of the appeal of the original.)
I kind of liked the sort-of message of the game, especially as someone greatly distressed about the current course humanity is taking, but the whole thing was pretty sloppy. The initial scenario set-up takes way too long and was pretty boring. It became somewhat more interesting after that, but was still mostly a slog. The translation is pretty bad; not only inelegant and lacking in personality, but hard to understand at times, which is especially unfortunate in a mystery game, as the player is supposed to be picking up on details with which to formulate their own theories (that's what I'd like to do, anyway).
The mystery feels all over the place, which did make it largely unpredictable (plus)... It ties together OK, though. Most things were explained. I'm not entirely sure what to think.
The character art isn't bad, but for a game with horror elements, it's really lacking that eerie feeling that the original character art evokes. I think it would have been better to just clean up the original art and use that.
There are some great music tracks. Some of the vocal pieces in particular enchanted me.
The game has some technical problems (the most egregious of which, I noted at the top of this review). Whenever a field for entering text appears on the screen, if one tries using the "rewind" feature, the game basically freezes up -- none of the buttons will work anymore. All I could do was close the software (which is annoying to reopen). I had some other experiences with that feature malfunctioning too, but I still appreciated that it was present.
Also, I played this mostly docked, just because I have a preference for playing my Switch that way, but navigating (especially) the map using the Joy Cons is a nightmare! Way easier to use the touch screen.
Even if they fix the technical problems, I don't know to whom I could recommend this experience.
Anyway...
I picked this up immediately upon finding it, simply because it's made by Child-Dream, which developed a game I first played many years ago: Scar of the Doll. There weren't really any reviews to go by at the time.
I'm curious about what sort of experience I would have had playing the original 1999 PC game (which was never released in English). It seems like the sort of game that would have been really immersive! I think it's really fun when the player needs to use resources external to the game to investigate and glean information to then apply to the game. All of the necessary information is included in this remake, in the form of simulated websites (it still provides the web addresses for those websites, but you'll have the options of reading those pages in Japanese, or using Google Translate, so...). It functions, and it's clear why they included them, but I think it removes some of the fun of figuring out when to reference those websites, and that feeling of exploring something real. (Which I suppose was a large part of the appeal of the original.)
I kind of liked the sort-of message of the game, especially as someone greatly distressed about the current course humanity is taking, but the whole thing was pretty sloppy. The initial scenario set-up takes way too long and was pretty boring. It became somewhat more interesting after that, but was still mostly a slog. The translation is pretty bad; not only inelegant and lacking in personality, but hard to understand at times, which is especially unfortunate in a mystery game, as the player is supposed to be picking up on details with which to formulate their own theories (that's what I'd like to do, anyway).
The mystery feels all over the place, which did make it largely unpredictable (plus)... It ties together OK, though. Most things were explained. I'm not entirely sure what to think.
The character art isn't bad, but for a game with horror elements, it's really lacking that eerie feeling that the original character art evokes. I think it would have been better to just clean up the original art and use that.
There are some great music tracks. Some of the vocal pieces in particular enchanted me.
The game has some technical problems (the most egregious of which, I noted at the top of this review). Whenever a field for entering text appears on the screen, if one tries using the "rewind" feature, the game basically freezes up -- none of the buttons will work anymore. All I could do was close the software (which is annoying to reopen). I had some other experiences with that feature malfunctioning too, but I still appreciated that it was present.
Also, I played this mostly docked, just because I have a preference for playing my Switch that way, but navigating (especially) the map using the Joy Cons is a nightmare! Way easier to use the touch screen.
Even if they fix the technical problems, I don't know to whom I could recommend this experience.
2020
Every time I started a DanganRonpa game for the first time, this is basically exactly how I wished and hoped their stories would go (they did not).
I played this back at launch, but my memory of it is pretty clear.
I feel like it's kind of spoilers to talk about the direction this game takes, because it's clearly playing on the expectations of people who played some of Uchikoshi and Kodaka's other games (certainly was me), but I suppose some people will probably be disappointed by that expectation (and you've probably already had it spoiled by other reviews anyway). Might be for the best. (Although you can look elsewhere for more of that.)
I liked this. It was cute and emotional. It's not on the level of the Zero Escape games, but it's its own thing. The soundtrack is amazing and I love listening to it outside the game. It's just packed with awesome tracks.
Some of the gameplay sequences were a bit annoying to get through, forcing me to retry a few times.
The character designs are really cool, although I think they did Mowchan dirty. Cute character, but just the same fat joke/stereotype you've seen again and again.
The characters themselves are fine, but very cartoon-ish, with exaggerated personalities a la DanganRonpa. They still have some meaningful moments, but most of what you'll see is just silly stuff. I particularly like Jennu, Pochi, and Nyoro.
Some of the story twists were pretty fun.
It was a worthwhile time for me~ Still have to go back to find my last like, two stickers...
I played this back at launch, but my memory of it is pretty clear.
I feel like it's kind of spoilers to talk about the direction this game takes, because it's clearly playing on the expectations of people who played some of Uchikoshi and Kodaka's other games (certainly was me), but I suppose some people will probably be disappointed by that expectation (and you've probably already had it spoiled by other reviews anyway). Might be for the best. (Although you can look elsewhere for more of that.)
I liked this. It was cute and emotional. It's not on the level of the Zero Escape games, but it's its own thing. The soundtrack is amazing and I love listening to it outside the game. It's just packed with awesome tracks.
Some of the gameplay sequences were a bit annoying to get through, forcing me to retry a few times.
The character designs are really cool, although I think they did Mowchan dirty. Cute character, but just the same fat joke/stereotype you've seen again and again.
The characters themselves are fine, but very cartoon-ish, with exaggerated personalities a la DanganRonpa. They still have some meaningful moments, but most of what you'll see is just silly stuff. I particularly like Jennu, Pochi, and Nyoro.
Some of the story twists were pretty fun.
It was a worthwhile time for me~ Still have to go back to find my last like, two stickers...
2023
Short, sad VN...
Short, sad review...
I found this to be well-written, believable, and relatable — such that I have to wonder if this is a depiction of the writer's actual experience.
The art is cute. The text speed is slow and can't be sped up at all, but I believe that's simply the pace at which the writer wants it to be experienced. I'd consider it more of a problem were this a longer VN.
I did sometimes have trouble knowing which character is talking within the memories.
Putting that aside, it's free, and easy to recommend.
Functions well on Steam Deck (handheld. Selecting the clothing and accessories ranges from annoying to impossible without using the touch screen).
Short, sad review...
I found this to be well-written, believable, and relatable — such that I have to wonder if this is a depiction of the writer's actual experience.
The art is cute. The text speed is slow and can't be sped up at all, but I believe that's simply the pace at which the writer wants it to be experienced. I'd consider it more of a problem were this a longer VN.
I did sometimes have trouble knowing which character is talking within the memories.
Putting that aside, it's free, and easy to recommend.
Functions well on Steam Deck (handheld. Selecting the clothing and accessories ranges from annoying to impossible without using the touch screen).