It's been a while since I've beaten a VN game or even played one that I really enjoyed, but I got one in Witch on the Holy Night. It's an enhanced port of a game that came out about a decade ago. The concept was actually made before even Type-Moon was created so it's a pretty old story. I'm not too big on Type-Moon myself, but have experienced a few Fate and other related series anime so I'm not a complete beginner. My few exposure to the Aoko Aozaki character had piqued my interest (Melty Blood) so having a VN based on her origin story was captivating.

The story overall was quite engaging and despite how it seemed, there weren't many actual battles in it. The few that were there were developed pretty well and extensive. There's probably more "slow" parts to it, but surprisingly, I wasn't bored by them. I guess it helps that there's a lot of comedy spread around. While I think many of the science/magecraft/magic stuff explanations were eye rolling worthy, I guess I bought into them to care and follow.

The three main characters were great and were developed well. The explosive and fiery, Aoko, the quiet cool aristocratic, Alice, and the very kind fish out of water, Soujyuro. I thought I wasn't going to like Soujyuro much, but his lack of common sense from living his entire life in the mountains really made for great comedic moments. The chemistry between the three were interesting and I looked forward to see how they would develop across the game. The supporting characters were great too and had more focus than I'd expected.

The story is linear though which I didn't mind. No branching paths or even dialogue options except for a special small segment of the game. The game would've benefit from a glossary of sorts since there's a ton of terms just thrown out at you.

A few highlights of the game are the art direction and presentation. The scenes are very dynamic and consists of many back to back CG shots instead of the standard character talking portraits that you see in many typical VN games. While there are no fully animated scenes, it does make use of some sort of pseudo animation (like flash animation) to make many scenes come more alive. The battle scenes really benefited from this.

Music is well done particularly the tracks that played during the battles. They enhanced the intensity even more.

The game took me about 20 hours to clear which is of decent length, but not too long that it becomes a drag to read through.

Overall, I'd really like to see a direct sequel someday. The trio are too good to leave as is.

Reviewed on Mar 29, 2023


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