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5 years ago I downloaded the demo of this, but the demo was unbelievably long and I never finished it. I just thought "I'm gonna wait for the fun game and play it then" Then I just forgot. About a year ago I saw this was coming to vita. I break my back reading VN's on any other platform so vita version was a must. Two days ago Fata Moragna came with the post and at long last I get to reaaaad. Some of the early comments on this thread have raised my expectations somewhat.
I adore the artstyle other than that the heads are humongous.
I finally got to the point where I left when I was reading the demo. I'm at second door
That's all I have to say. I'll propably post my thoughts after I finish door 2
I adore the artstyle other than that the heads are humongous.
I finally got to the point where I left when I was reading the demo. I'm at second door
I still love the first door's tragedy. I just wish it had continued a bit longer. I want to know what happened to nellie and melĺ! Was white girl being Mell's half sister one of the twists mentioned in the OP?
I'm guessing the maid is some sort of immortal being that lives with the house? Maybe she's "the witch?"
I guess that the white haired girl reincarnates and always finds her way back to the house. The maid has seen her many tragedies and has grown fond of her over the cycles?
I wonder if the house stays in the same place or maybe it moves?
I'm now at the point where bestia has killed the other beast. The tonal shift beyween the doors is big. I pity bestia and the atmosphere gives me creeps.
I'm guessing the maid is some sort of immortal being that lives with the house? Maybe she's "the witch?"
I guess that the white haired girl reincarnates and always finds her way back to the house. The maid has seen her many tragedies and has grown fond of her over the cycles?
I wonder if the house stays in the same place or maybe it moves?
I'm now at the point where bestia has killed the other beast. The tonal shift beyween the doors is big. I pity bestia and the atmosphere gives me creeps.
That's all I have to say. I'll propably post my thoughts after I finish door 2
Just discovered something at the end of Reincarnation.
When you get to the final scene make sure to check the backlog.
When you get to the final scene make sure to check the backlog.
New patch coming to fix a typo and add a Scene Back feature. It's pretty much like scene skip but in reverse.
A patch for a single typo.
Is it...
Scene skip reverse would be handy though. Sometimes I feel like I click through too quickly. Half the stuff I've found
hidden in the logs
Guys how many doors are there? I'm up to
And I kinda like it but not even as close as Steins;Gate or 999 which I fell in love with immediately, think I need more action or mystery in my VNs, this one gets warmer but slowly. Can't explain, still a good one though
door number seven
OP
OP
You're almost there, but there are a good five, six hours until it's over.
Does this game get better? I've played about half hour of it and I know it's not much but it's been pretty dull so far.
Like the premise seemed interesting and cool at first but then I've gone back to some kind of flashback with these two kids one of them bratty and insufferable.
I wouldn't have minded so much if it also weren't for the EXTREMELY annoying playground/circus like music that's always playing in the background as you are reading. There's a horrible kid wailing or "singing" on top of the music all the time. It's a huge distraction and so far it's actually wanting me to mute the whole thing or just stop playing. It loops after like 2 minutes too. Please don't tell me the whole game is gonna be like this?
I would have preferred speech too but don't mind too much. I just hope it improves because the opening impression so far has not been good.
Not sure why I bought it. Kinda disappointed so far.
Like the premise seemed interesting and cool at first but then I've gone back to some kind of flashback with these two kids one of them bratty and insufferable.
I wouldn't have minded so much if it also weren't for the EXTREMELY annoying playground/circus like music that's always playing in the background as you are reading. There's a horrible kid wailing or "singing" on top of the music all the time. It's a huge distraction and so far it's actually wanting me to mute the whole thing or just stop playing. It loops after like 2 minutes too. Please don't tell me the whole game is gonna be like this?
I would have preferred speech too but don't mind too much. I just hope it improves because the opening impression so far has not been good.
Not sure why I bought it. Kinda disappointed so far.
The whole game is defo not those two kids. The game deals almost entirely with the actions of adults. The soundtrack also shifts to very different tones, themes, instruments as it shifts time periods and featured characters, but it does keep doing that thing where it uses loops and (far as I can tell) nonsense vocals.
What platform are you playing on? If Steam, you could always refund and play the demo to completion to see if you'd like to continue. It covers the first two chapters, which is the one with the two kids and then one more after. even if not though, kids doing dumb kid shit is a very very very brief part of the game and you'll move past it pretty soon.
What platform are you playing on? If Steam, you could always refund and play the demo to completion to see if you'd like to continue. It covers the first two chapters, which is the one with the two kids and then one more after. even if not though, kids doing dumb kid shit is a very very very brief part of the game and you'll move past it pretty soon.
I'll try and stick with it but seems like a slow burn. I bought it on ps4 as I like visual novel games that aren't love stories or otome stuff. I really liked steins gate and Virtues Last Reward.
Love stories are a major thematic component here, but they're basically all undercut by tragedy, so maybe that does something for you, maybe it doesn't. I didn't play S;G, but I'll say that I'm pretty far into this game and its pacing makes VLR look positively breakneck.
I laughed reading this because I assume the music you're talking about is Petalouda, which I totally adore and listen to from time to time because it reminds me of the tranquil parts of the story and lifts my mood. Also because I had the exact same experience as you with one of the later doors, that had a story I wasn't really interested in and grating prohibition era music that was driving me up the wall until I had to mute the game. I ended up taking a break from it for a few weeks then coming back to finish it.
For what it's worth, the narrative is a really slow burn, and I personally didn't feel like it got really good until the flashback door stories at the start were out of the way and it was getting into the meat of what happened with the maid/current mansion etc. But it really is a beautiful story in a way you rarely see in the videogame industry. You have to suspend your disbelief a bit with the supernatural elements, and the writing is sometimes a little stiff in the playful moments, though that could just be the localisation, but I was very glad I stuck with it.
The slow pacing is also quite important to the narrative, even if it makes it a challenge sometimes, because the tone of the story really benefits from imparting a sense of the achingly slow passage of time in the house. By the time you reach the end it feels like you've been through so much with the characters.
I'm really not a fan of the third door's time period (at all). The music was fine, but I wasn't a fan.
However, everything that followed after... oh boy
However, everything that followed after... oh boy
I also wasn't really on board during the first door, and I know what you mean about that song. It's definitely a slow burn, but at least for me, it got eventually got there, and once it clicked it just got better and better and better up through the end. It won me over so thoroughly that I even kind of like that one song now, lol.
Every aspect of the game I didn't like at first I now look back on with incredible fondness.
The game's story is indeed wonderfully crafted, way more than I thought. When everything connects, it's magnificent.
So Michel is intersex I guess? Somehow I felt so satisfied when he emerged from his room with "see told you so", but for real it must really be agony even today to think you are a girl and then your body just starts doing super unexpected things when you hit puberty. Even more so if no one even knows what intersex is.
Do men experience intense pain from their growth spurt? I never had one since I'm a 4'11 woman so I wouldn't know.
Do men experience intense pain from their growth spurt? I never had one since I'm a 4'11 woman so I wouldn't know.
I accidentally read somewhere that reincarnation has the main characters reincarnate in modern times. I hope Michel's a man that. I feel like the story would disrespect him, if he's born as a woman for a 4th time.
It's Portuguese with a Brazilian accent (with the obvious exceptions like Sanctus), with a pretty decent pronunciation as well, although the actual lyrics is a bit off. In some songs it is especially recognizable, in others it isn't, but it's never as bad as something like Wir Fliegen in Xenoblade Chronicles X that is supposed to be in German but it's actually only gibberish.
OP
OP
It's Portuguese with a foreign, non-native accent, I can assure you that. I read something about Gao (I think that's her name) before, I believe she's either from Japan or an european country, definitely not from Brazil.
Well then I feel very foolish. I'd thought it was a Nier Automata invented language situation. Thank you for correcting me.
Also: currently working my way through
Chapter 7.
This is one heck of a set of stairs.
Trust me as some one who enjoyed Steins;Gate and VLR this game gets much much better. Don't let the beginning discourage you from playing this gem.
Yeah I was deciding on playing this or Valhalla cyberpunk bartender and even though that game seemed cool the mechanics when making drinks were really clunky and I kept messing up due to the controls. I also couldn't figure out the games angle like wha the point of it was. I only played the first day though so I need to give it more of a chance I guess. The reviews on that were also more mixed than this game.
Ha! I just started playing around in that game recently and making drinks was confusing and frustrating. I will keep playing it eventually. Shame on no auto saves/quick saves at least where I left off at.
One thing though does the plot get overly convoluted or hard to follow like a lot of Japanese games especially JRPGs?
I loved the twists in VLR and Steins Gate but sometimes you get awful pointless stuff in these types of games where it's just hard to figure out stuff or the game does the lazy thing of giving everything open to interpretation meanings or things as stories end. Or unless you don't pick up on stuff you should have noticed or you don't delve deep into the lore and need an encyclopaedia or internet to explain stuff you're just lost. I hate stuff like that.
I like being just given the plot rather than having all these hidden meanings that were scenarios of could/maybes or couldnts and you have to go on the internet to make sense of it so it's never as satisfying when you do that.
I loved the twists in VLR and Steins Gate but sometimes you get awful pointless stuff in these types of games where it's just hard to figure out stuff or the game does the lazy thing of giving everything open to interpretation meanings or things as stories end. Or unless you don't pick up on stuff you should have noticed or you don't delve deep into the lore and need an encyclopaedia or internet to explain stuff you're just lost. I hate stuff like that.
I like being just given the plot rather than having all these hidden meanings that were scenarios of could/maybes or couldnts and you have to go on the internet to make sense of it so it's never as satisfying when you do that.
To get off topic, drink mixing in Valhalla isn't really interesting. There's very little gaminess to it. You're asked for a drink, and you make it. There's no creativity, no inventiveness. And once I got past expecting the game to treat it as anything besides an attempt to anchor you to the character you were playing, I started having a much better time with it. Valhalla is a VN, and the drink mixing is just part of its style.
There was really only one moment for me in this game where I felt totally lost as to what was going on, about halfway through. I'd recommend you just soldier on an don't worry too much about having missed hidden meanings. I'm very near the end and I feel like regardless of how sharp a wit you think you are or aren't, all will be made clear.
I have to say the music in this game is dreadful. As for the story, I'm not sure yet whether I like it or not.
I have no strong feelings on the OST one way or the other, but it's hilarious how polarizing it is, because I feel like every second poster in this thread is here to talk about how much they either love or hate the music. Perhaps you're just in the first chapter with that one cheerful song, though and if so, there will be other tracks. Hopefully not all of them will seem so grating.
Production page still says TBA
I personally don't agree that the beginning is "slow," at least in comparison to other visual novels I've tried.
The reason being, each door has a clear story arc with a beginning, middle, and end. So you still have a conflict and resolution many times over, while learning a bit more each time, as the story develops. It's not like in some stories where nothing happens for a long time before you get to the meat of the story. And these little stories in the beginning play a big part in the story later too.
I think it's possible that the VN style does put off people as well, because VNs meander for lengthy periods in chit chatty conversations, and if the story is not your cup of tea at the moment, it can be hard to get into. I'm having this problem with Umeneko: When They Cry. I've played for an hour or two, but I keep thinking "When are they going to get to the damn mansion?" I'm not interested in their catching up convos, and the game has already talked about squeezing boobs a few times, so I'm definitely not a fan. And in this way, I'm struggling with continuing, because here, it does lack the mini arcs that are offered in HFM. But I can see why people like it at the same time. I guess I'm just not into VNs unless it's really a particular style and story structure I like.
In this sense, House in Fata Morgana was a perfect storm for me of interesting art, atmospheric music, and great storytelling for the medium. It has some weak parts, but it makes up for them and then some with everything else. It's honestly hard for me to play another VN without comparing it to this game.
So..hurry up with your new game, Novectacle! (lol)
The reason being, each door has a clear story arc with a beginning, middle, and end. So you still have a conflict and resolution many times over, while learning a bit more each time, as the story develops. It's not like in some stories where nothing happens for a long time before you get to the meat of the story. And these little stories in the beginning play a big part in the story later too.
I think it's possible that the VN style does put off people as well, because VNs meander for lengthy periods in chit chatty conversations, and if the story is not your cup of tea at the moment, it can be hard to get into. I'm having this problem with Umeneko: When They Cry. I've played for an hour or two, but I keep thinking "When are they going to get to the damn mansion?" I'm not interested in their catching up convos, and the game has already talked about squeezing boobs a few times, so I'm definitely not a fan. And in this way, I'm struggling with continuing, because here, it does lack the mini arcs that are offered in HFM. But I can see why people like it at the same time. I guess I'm just not into VNs unless it's really a particular style and story structure I like.
In this sense, House in Fata Morgana was a perfect storm for me of interesting art, atmospheric music, and great storytelling for the medium. It has some weak parts, but it makes up for them and then some with everything else. It's honestly hard for me to play another VN without comparing it to this game.
So..hurry up with your new game, Novectacle! (lol)
I think it's not unreasonable to say that early door 1 has some of the the least great music in the game. Fortunately, and this applies to most of the soundtrack, each door has its own musical identity, so if you're not super attached to the soundtrack early on, your opinion might change for door 2, or door 3, or so on. And even Door 1 has some better tracks towards the end.
EDIT: Yeah for the genre I wouldn't call Fata slow either. Although my perception is skewed because I just finished the Muv Luv trilogy that's... on the opposite end of the spectrum. Each door is only a few hours long for the most part, and they each tell their own mini story that contributes to the grander narrative.
EDIT: Yeah for the genre I wouldn't call Fata slow either. Although my perception is skewed because I just finished the Muv Luv trilogy that's... on the opposite end of the spectrum. Each door is only a few hours long for the most part, and they each tell their own mini story that contributes to the grander narrative.
I'm only at door 3, but I'm loving it so far. The music is definitely not something I'd ever listen to outside of the game, but it fits the game very well, mostly because it's different and it gives the game a very unique flavor, same with the lack of voice-overs (don't miss 'em one bit) and character-art. It took a while to get used to the music in the first story especially, but again, it really makes it feel different. It's a breath of fresh air after playing so many VN's that are so stereotypically anime. I recently finished Utawarerumono Mask of Deception, which I really liked and has relatively high production values , but every cliche in the book is used and it's heavy on the fan service (I'm not particularly bothered by it, but it's pretty overt).
If it keeps up (and I think it will) it should be high on my list of favorite VN's joining the likes of Steins;Gate and 428 Shibuya Scramble.
If it keeps up (and I think it will) it should be high on my list of favorite VN's joining the likes of Steins;Gate and 428 Shibuya Scramble.
Thanks! It doesn't sound Portuguese from Portugal, I wrongly assumed it to be Brazilian.
OP
OP
Nah, the accent is awful. The first time I played the game, I truly thought it was just gibberish, I was really surprised when people told me it was portuguese.
Finished the game. Was a delightful playthrough.
Thank you again OniBaka , I'd been looking to play this for some time and your gift did not disappoint.
When I first started out I assumed that give there were achievements for four doors. Imagine my surprise when what I thought was the game wrapping up was actually closer to the halfway point, if even that far. The game only got better from there, too. Also, while I didn't love the soundtrack behind the first door, many of the tracks in the later parts of the game were absolutely fantastic. The only piece of music in the game I can't stand is Hex, the rest is all great.
The only part of the narrative for me that really dragged was the third door. I felt like there was just too much time spent on the failure of the White Haired Girl and Jacopo to communicate. It felt interminable and drearily repetitious, with Maria laughing maniacally like a cartoon character in the background. I realize that it was an attempt to evoke the actual feelings experienced by the characters, and that it was a connection to the way the Jacopo had failed to communicate in their first lives, but brevity is the sole of wit and all that. At some point it felt like reading the steamroller gag from Austin Powers.
Besides that element, I think it was all fantastic. The way the game set up and then subverted expectations came to be perhaps a little bit too predictable by the end, but being predictable never made it feel inappropriate. This wasn't a mystery novel, after all. All of the characters felt grounded enough in this fictional world to be believed, and all of their endings, happy and unhappy, felt earned. The actual final ending, despite not being a complete redemption of every character or a perfect happy ending, was still a relief. It felt appropriately bitter-sweet and hopeful.
The only part of the narrative for me that really dragged was the third door. I felt like there was just too much time spent on the failure of the White Haired Girl and Jacopo to communicate. It felt interminable and drearily repetitious, with Maria laughing maniacally like a cartoon character in the background. I realize that it was an attempt to evoke the actual feelings experienced by the characters, and that it was a connection to the way the Jacopo had failed to communicate in their first lives, but brevity is the sole of wit and all that. At some point it felt like reading the steamroller gag from Austin Powers.
Besides that element, I think it was all fantastic. The way the game set up and then subverted expectations came to be perhaps a little bit too predictable by the end, but being predictable never made it feel inappropriate. This wasn't a mystery novel, after all. All of the characters felt grounded enough in this fictional world to be believed, and all of their endings, happy and unhappy, felt earned. The actual final ending, despite not being a complete redemption of every character or a perfect happy ending, was still a relief. It felt appropriately bitter-sweet and hopeful.
Thank you again OniBaka , I'd been looking to play this for some time and your gift did not disappoint.
Oh I have a question about a line that appeared I think a couple of times throughout the game.
I think more than once, as we journey through the doors, The Maid says to the White Haired Girl something about the grocer's servant breaking into their safe in the middle of the night. This seems to catch the girl off guard? I thought it would be something that would come to make sense with time but it never did. Was it in reference to something I missed, or am I imagining this happening several times?
This was a memory from her time before she became an immortal maid. It's there to show that her sense of time had become completely distorted, believing something that had happened centuries ago to be a recent event.