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Visual Novel Community Thread: No Auto Read Required
- Thread starter Vylash
- Start date
Is this the first time R;N Elite has been announced for ps4? Odd that it's double pack only.
I wouldn't be surprised if they sell it separately digitally but don't think it's worth a standalone physical release.
Is the Switch version digital only? Otherwise it wouldn't make any sense.
i have a burning desire to play robotics notes but it's very unlikely it will get localized isn't it
It's more likely than it's ever been with the new partnership between Spike Chunsoft and MAGES, combined with the timing of these new ports, but it might hinge on how well Steins;Gate Elite does for them...
that's good to hear, even if it involves steins;gate elite
LBP is PS4 exclusive? I thought Steam was getting that as well...
Also, wrt to Sol Press:
Also, wrt to Sol Press:
Can someone translate that answer to English for me? I see lots of words without any meaning.
the official website lists Steam as well
http://www.spike-chunsoft.com/SteinsGateElite/phenogram/product/
http://www.spike-chunsoft.com/SteinsGateElite/phenogram/product/
That sure is a ridiculously overworded way to say "We can only work with so many distribution partners to start with, and we thought Hyourin was the best fit, but we're definitely keeping other platforms in mind as we expand."
instead it's just sentence after sentence of barely parseable phrases, which is not the best way to make me interested in what you're localizing
EDIT: wait I reread that tweet; is this their own platform?
that's even easier then
"We're keeping other platforms in mind, but we wanted something that fit our needs well and wasn't restrictive, so we thought making it ourselves would be best."
Finished Death Mark. Took me 15 hours to get all the trophies. Game has a superb sound and visual design (with the exception of one enemy design which ended up looking quite...derpy). However, the game's low budget is quite apparent. Most of it is void of any voice acting. This didn't bother me much, but it might be a deal breaker for some. It is wrought with tension, and it's something the game executes rather well. The stories in each chapter are intriguing and, in some cases, progressive as well. Unfortunately, the game is not without its downsides - mainly its ridiculous titillation and lack of meaningful character development. Characters come and go, sticking around for only 1 or 2 chapters (chapter 6 being the exception) and their development is only surface deep. From what I'm seeing the sequel seems to have remedied that since it has a focus on only a few characters.
The fanservice in the game was incredibly off-putting. No, I do not want to see half-naked teenagers, and no, I don't want to see dead women sexualized either. Some torture scenes are just there to titillate and it's absurd. It would've been a much better experience without them. I hope NG does away with the fanservice and I hope Aksys will localize it too. I really think Exp Inc is onto something with their horror adventure games. I'd love to see them improve.
The fanservice in the game was incredibly off-putting. No, I do not want to see half-naked teenagers, and no, I don't want to see dead women sexualized either. Some torture scenes are just there to titillate and it's absurd. It would've been a much better experience without them. I hope NG does away with the fanservice and I hope Aksys will localize it too. I really think Exp Inc is onto something with their horror adventure games. I'd love to see them improve.
Sounds okay, but not 50-euros-okay so I think I'll wait for a sale. Thanks for the impressions!
I recently finished House in Fata Morgana (got a big LTTP in the works already) and now I'm almost done binging on J.D. Harold: Manhattan Requiem for iOS. The latter's a bastard, though, since this story has a lot more places and suspects to poke for story advancement. Hopefully it's not a procedural where I've fucked myself out of an ending because I went to the suspect phase with a character too quick. That didn't happen in Murder Club, though, and I think Rika Suzuki's been smart enough to avoid that in all her command-selection adventures. The mystery's conventional but well-designed, more entertaining than the first game's for sure. I'd like to see all of Althi's ex-Riverhill Soft adventures get proper translations, better than the old LaserActive English script still used for Manhattan Requiem.
Oh yeah, I have all these other VNs to play. I need to beat Steins;Gate and get Nonary Games before I meet the Sci;Adv nerds at MAGFest next year, for example. And since I'm playing ancient mystery games, Hotel Dusk and Last Window seem like the next step.
UPDATE: Yep, you can fuck yourself out of completion in Manhattan Requiem. I hope my earlier save still lets me get 100% information since the game never says I need that to win, just like Murder Club (which also does this upon reflection). What a tedious formula.
Oh yeah, I have all these other VNs to play. I need to beat Steins;Gate and get Nonary Games before I meet the Sci;Adv nerds at MAGFest next year, for example. And since I'm playing ancient mystery games, Hotel Dusk and Last Window seem like the next step.
UPDATE: Yep, you can fuck yourself out of completion in Manhattan Requiem. I hope my earlier save still lets me get 100% information since the game never says I need that to win, just like Murder Club (which also does this upon reflection). What a tedious formula.
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So VGP sent me a coupon for $5 off of Song of Memories PS4 (since I bought Chaos;Child PS4 there) and listed a release date of December 21st, 2018. I looked through PQube's most recent tweets and searched the title, but I cannot seem to find where that date was announced by PQube.
I don't think there's been any news on that title in AGES.
Stealth release incoming?
The Date A Live collection is coming westward on PS4 and PC, per IFI's event last night. The PS4 version will have two modified CG scenes.
So this is cool. Reddit vn community patched the classic Ever 17 (from Uchikoshi of 999 fame) https://www.reddit.com/r/visualnovels/comments/9v76tp/ever17_himmel_edition_released/
This game is extremely good, please play it even if you aren't into BL.
Our World is Ended, World End Syndrome, The World Ends With You. A lot of worlds are ending.
Massive Fata Morgana spoiler breakdown incoming!
People tend to compare the overall story to Shakespeare, but only this Door really feels comparable. It's a conventional tragic romance, but smooth flow and many subtleties make it work for me.
Nellie's revenge, for example, illustrates the ruin of the social system that favors Mell, Arthur, and other men who lost themselves in customs and broken promises. Mell gives her an occasional, transactional kindness but never wants to confront her about their relationship. He takes the stability of life for granted, losing himself in false hopes just like his sister. They both end up distant, misunderstood, and desperate to find power through the only means left to them.
I really enjoyed the tension between Mell, the Maid, and the White-Haired Girl. It's interesting that the White-Haired Girl nearly managed to kill Mell (of course, a late-game twist explains this.) There isn't much to her at this point, but the Door quickly indicates that the Maid has more involvement with the albino than with Mell. She also gives a moral lesson to Mell at the end, but it feels callous and hollow compared to when the rose turned red for the White-Haired Girl.
This door demonstrates the baseline flow of most stories in Fata Morgana, as well their tragic depths and ironies. Biases of both narration and presentation appear for the first time, though it's in the next door that this becomes clear.
Nellie's revenge, for example, illustrates the ruin of the social system that favors Mell, Arthur, and other men who lost themselves in customs and broken promises. Mell gives her an occasional, transactional kindness but never wants to confront her about their relationship. He takes the stability of life for granted, losing himself in false hopes just like his sister. They both end up distant, misunderstood, and desperate to find power through the only means left to them.
I really enjoyed the tension between Mell, the Maid, and the White-Haired Girl. It's interesting that the White-Haired Girl nearly managed to kill Mell (of course, a late-game twist explains this.) There isn't much to her at this point, but the Door quickly indicates that the Maid has more involvement with the albino than with Mell. She also gives a moral lesson to Mell at the end, but it feels callous and hollow compared to when the rose turned red for the White-Haired Girl.
This door demonstrates the baseline flow of most stories in Fata Morgana, as well their tragic depths and ironies. Biases of both narration and presentation appear for the first time, though it's in the next door that this becomes clear.
I'll be honest: Yukimasa's iffy. His conflict swaps between interesting and uninteresting much too often, and I feel Hanada could have added more depth to him. Pauline, Javi, and the Maid make this chapter as interesting as it can get.
This door's weird, a mix of iffy pacing and some of my favorite scenes early on. I figured, based on the CG of Bestia killing the trader (who looks different from the portrait), that the Maid wanted to bait-and-switch us. Learning about how Yukimasa becomes Bestia, and then the opposite, never got as involved as I'd like, but it brings some of the tensest moments in the game. It definitely bugged me how we never see the shipwreck, just the aftermath...almost as if the mansion itself couldn't recall.
Familiar themes show up here: distrust of other races, travelers on missions (Pauline's not alone here), and the fragility of oneself vs. one's company. Javi provides a mournful cynicism so far lacking in the game, ever aware of what he's lost and cautious of losing more. The White-Haired Girl becomes a Mary Sue-ish character, albeit one who hardly steals attention from Yukimasa, Pauline, and Javi. Pauline's death, while expected, was as painful and hopeless as I could have imagined. Her fun, natural dialogue with Yukimasa from their early days lives on in my mind.
In all these stories, the protagonists fail to control themselves when encountering something new and life-changing. Mell had found love and a destabilizing desire to save the Girl; Yukimasa found control and affirmation through torture and sadism. Change, and the acceptance of change, confront them in different ways befitting their inner selves. Yukimasa, under the impression he's a bestia, can briefly recall the moment he found power and lost control. However, he's powerless to do anything with any such memories because he lacks restraint. Others give him conscience, thinking he doesn't need it. The shipmate would think otherwise.
This door's weird, a mix of iffy pacing and some of my favorite scenes early on. I figured, based on the CG of Bestia killing the trader (who looks different from the portrait), that the Maid wanted to bait-and-switch us. Learning about how Yukimasa becomes Bestia, and then the opposite, never got as involved as I'd like, but it brings some of the tensest moments in the game. It definitely bugged me how we never see the shipwreck, just the aftermath...almost as if the mansion itself couldn't recall.
Familiar themes show up here: distrust of other races, travelers on missions (Pauline's not alone here), and the fragility of oneself vs. one's company. Javi provides a mournful cynicism so far lacking in the game, ever aware of what he's lost and cautious of losing more. The White-Haired Girl becomes a Mary Sue-ish character, albeit one who hardly steals attention from Yukimasa, Pauline, and Javi. Pauline's death, while expected, was as painful and hopeless as I could have imagined. Her fun, natural dialogue with Yukimasa from their early days lives on in my mind.
In all these stories, the protagonists fail to control themselves when encountering something new and life-changing. Mell had found love and a destabilizing desire to save the Girl; Yukimasa found control and affirmation through torture and sadism. Change, and the acceptance of change, confront them in different ways befitting their inner selves. Yukimasa, under the impression he's a bestia, can briefly recall the moment he found power and lost control. However, he's powerless to do anything with any such memories because he lacks restraint. Others give him conscience, thinking he doesn't need it. The shipmate would think otherwise.
Virgin Mary my ass.
Maria steals the story for me with her scheme and confidence that she's become master of the house, but Jacopo's still important. He's utterly hopeless when communicating his real feelings to anyone but someone he never should have betrayed. Then again, every major player, except the White-Haired Girl, works for some great reward. The baron represents toxic masculinity at its finest: imperialistic, emotionally destructive, the epitome of of self-entrapment lying in wait. It's just a shame that Maria misaimed; the house always wins. Jacopo loses more than the others because he's buried himself beneath his role. To become capofamiglia, one necessarily drinks from the well of toxic masculinity, embodying it against their will.
I empathized with the White-Haired Girl despite her progressive simplicity. At this point she's little more than a symbol of innocence at the whims of Maria and Jacopo. Seeing her reduced from a person to a tool, and then nothing, really hurts. This does lead to some redundancy and poor pacing in parts of Door 3, but there's plenty other details to mull over while witnessing the slow family downfall. Everything from the house mysteriously landing in North America to the bizarre curse written in Maria's Sicilian fascinated me. How real are these stories? Does the house, or even the witch, simply bend reality to fool us and the Maid?
Something I don't see discussed often is the creeping change in music direction. Mellok'n did the previous doors' music, save for "Fecha Me" by GAO, and now Takaki Moriya takes over. Switching to jazz and opera makes the time and tone difference very clear. This Door has some of the most distinct tracks overall, compared to later BGM that focuses more on new combinations of motifs and slow build-ups. GAO's vocals in these more playful tracks give the Door a sense of climax to this section of the game, after which things change.
Maria steals the story for me with her scheme and confidence that she's become master of the house, but Jacopo's still important. He's utterly hopeless when communicating his real feelings to anyone but someone he never should have betrayed. Then again, every major player, except the White-Haired Girl, works for some great reward. The baron represents toxic masculinity at its finest: imperialistic, emotionally destructive, the epitome of of self-entrapment lying in wait. It's just a shame that Maria misaimed; the house always wins. Jacopo loses more than the others because he's buried himself beneath his role. To become capofamiglia, one necessarily drinks from the well of toxic masculinity, embodying it against their will.
I empathized with the White-Haired Girl despite her progressive simplicity. At this point she's little more than a symbol of innocence at the whims of Maria and Jacopo. Seeing her reduced from a person to a tool, and then nothing, really hurts. This does lead to some redundancy and poor pacing in parts of Door 3, but there's plenty other details to mull over while witnessing the slow family downfall. Everything from the house mysteriously landing in North America to the bizarre curse written in Maria's Sicilian fascinated me. How real are these stories? Does the house, or even the witch, simply bend reality to fool us and the Maid?
Something I don't see discussed often is the creeping change in music direction. Mellok'n did the previous doors' music, save for "Fecha Me" by GAO, and now Takaki Moriya takes over. Switching to jazz and opera makes the time and tone difference very clear. This Door has some of the most distinct tracks overall, compared to later BGM that focuses more on new combinations of motifs and slow build-ups. GAO's vocals in these more playful tracks give the Door a sense of climax to this section of the game, after which things change.
Having choices in these sections put me into theorycrafting mode right when I hoped. I don't regret looking into the window, but seeing the mirage effect on the Maid right after was spooky. Seeing these window and master bedroom sequences so early stoked my paranoia. After all, why would the Maid try to hide the memory of that woman? I figured she couldn't be the witch, assuming that entity still lived or continued to influence the house. Michel said he's not the witch, but the narration does? (That's likely the Maid's timely interference...and how did she know to find You here at this windowpane?)
Choice in this game's very limited, so I really enjoyed talking with the Man in the Painting and exploring the mansion for hints. The game excels at giving you fulfilling breadcrumbs in parts like this. Things that seemed unimportant before, like the chapel remnant or the tower door, take on a new air. Learning the hotspots of the mansion before and between Doors also connects geography with vivid moments in the story. You may or may not be "master of the house", but wandering around without the maid gives you a sense of ownership previously denied.
Then there's meeting the sinners, the spirits of leading men that seem awfully familiar. At this point I figured they must have ended up here after their deaths, returning to the mansion to do penance for their failures in life. That seems a little suspicious, though, as the melodramatic styling of each story overrules different perspectives. I wasn't ever sold on the idea that Mell, Yukimasa, and Jacopo were necessarily evil or irredeemable. Even Maria, cruel as she was, humbled herself and had to justify what she did in a world she couldn't fully trust.
Choice in this game's very limited, so I really enjoyed talking with the Man in the Painting and exploring the mansion for hints. The game excels at giving you fulfilling breadcrumbs in parts like this. Things that seemed unimportant before, like the chapel remnant or the tower door, take on a new air. Learning the hotspots of the mansion before and between Doors also connects geography with vivid moments in the story. You may or may not be "master of the house", but wandering around without the maid gives you a sense of ownership previously denied.
Then there's meeting the sinners, the spirits of leading men that seem awfully familiar. At this point I figured they must have ended up here after their deaths, returning to the mansion to do penance for their failures in life. That seems a little suspicious, though, as the melodramatic styling of each story overrules different perspectives. I wasn't ever sold on the idea that Mell, Yukimasa, and Jacopo were necessarily evil or irredeemable. Even Maria, cruel as she was, humbled herself and had to justify what she did in a world she couldn't fully trust.
Everything about the witch's text in red, and her conversation with someone, put me on edge. The game makes it rather clear you're not going to get a story like any of the previous Doors; the Maid even lets go of your hand without comment. Then come the glitches, the suspiciously neat story cliches, and the shortness of the tale itself. It manages to shroud itself against accusations of outright falsity because the previous Door's storytelling styles all matched their eras and themes. But that's not enough to distract me.
It's hard to extricate what part of the White-Haired Girl here represents Morgana and what part resembles how Morgana (or the WHG) perceives Giselle. Morgana clearly wanted to replace Michel's vestigial memories with something apparently better and fantastic, a true mirage, the kind of miracle Morgana now wants to give. Morgana feels she's reached her own point of contentment by throwing the sinners, and all their familiars, into an eternal cycle, but ??? (Michel) actively resists this in the backlog. Perhaps Morgana and the WHG both envy Giselle, meaning they unknowingly collaborated to make a different WHG matching both Morgana and Giselle's mannerisms. That's a big reason why I think this Door reads so off, since the WHG hadn't been this outgoing and seemingly normal before.
Most of the fun here's seeing Michel come back to life in a cryptic way. There's no reason to believe the person speaking either as ??? or in fragmented speech (reminding me of House of Leaves) could be anyone other than him or Giselle. I ruled this person out as the Maid before the Door ended, based on what I knew from Memento and on the witch's threats of giving You a happy ending. After all, I want a satisfying ending, not a nice and polished one that overwrites what must have happened.
Most of the fun here's seeing Michel come back to life in a cryptic way. There's no reason to believe the person speaking either as ??? or in fragmented speech (reminding me of House of Leaves) could be anyone other than him or Giselle. I ruled this person out as the Maid before the Door ended, based on what I knew from Memento and on the witch's threats of giving You a happy ending. After all, I want a satisfying ending, not a nice and polished one that overwrites what must have happened.
Amedee's a real shitbag. Including him, the generic medieval village, and the intrigue surrounding both protagonists' ties to the Bollingers made this a lot more fun. Of course, it's great to see where the small intermission fragments go, leading to one of the best romances that I can remember. It's not especially innovative stuff, but the extremes of hope, despair, and confusion here built a lot of tension that the rest of the game expertly develops. I can't think of other games where we go from waterboarding to a very genuine apology to painting the heroine.
Giselle's just amazing. There's not a whole lot I can say here without repeating that. She's a perfect complement to Michel in personality, all while having a ton of agency and tragedy behind her that's unfortunately way too lifelike. To find love and acceptance in someone like Michel, who's had similar rejection and negative branding, makes their meager existence more than noble. Contrast this with Amedee, who lives in jealousy and ignorance despite his leadership. Michel's watchman at least seems well-adjusted, willing to acknowledge the master as a man in his private way, until the village wreaks revenge on the couple at the end. All the while, Giselle gives us perspective never afforded to the White-Haired Girl, and many succinct episodes showing the conflict between appearances and inner struggles.
Others have mentioned how Door 4 corrupts this more compelling, authentic story. Touch doesn't kill so much as it hurts and threatens, as seen with Giselle vs. Antonin and later Michel. A specter of a white-haired lady haunts Michel and the mansion; the Witch's comments to Giselle later, about needing to take form, reminded me of the portrait and what it meant. The sublime close-up of Giselle matches the White-Haired Girl's in the previous Door, just as some other shots and scenes resurface. Additions like Michel's reluctance towards confessing love, meanwhile, play into his character as seen at the end of Door 4, same going for Giselle.
The transience of Michel and Giselle's love in the mortal world ultimately explains the structure of previous Doors without feeling like a 1-to-1 match. I started to wonder why certain elements from those Doors, mainly the lead characters, hadn't appeared here. Of course, the game's confident enough to pull metanarrative tricks and assert that all these stories happened, save Door 4. Morgana's interaction with Giselle at the end hints at the legitimacy of all these elements, even the White-Haired Girl and what she means. Seeing all this from a woman's perspective gives necessary contrast.
Also, holy shit @ the soundtrack here. Tracks like Cicio, Giselle, and Planador stick in my mind with ease. The art's pretty good too. I'm a fan of Giselle's classic portrait, even if it looks a bit unusual compared to others (including her portrayal in CGs). Switching between perspectives often, and window frames in turn, accelerated my reading pace just by raising my expectations.
Giselle's just amazing. There's not a whole lot I can say here without repeating that. She's a perfect complement to Michel in personality, all while having a ton of agency and tragedy behind her that's unfortunately way too lifelike. To find love and acceptance in someone like Michel, who's had similar rejection and negative branding, makes their meager existence more than noble. Contrast this with Amedee, who lives in jealousy and ignorance despite his leadership. Michel's watchman at least seems well-adjusted, willing to acknowledge the master as a man in his private way, until the village wreaks revenge on the couple at the end. All the while, Giselle gives us perspective never afforded to the White-Haired Girl, and many succinct episodes showing the conflict between appearances and inner struggles.
Others have mentioned how Door 4 corrupts this more compelling, authentic story. Touch doesn't kill so much as it hurts and threatens, as seen with Giselle vs. Antonin and later Michel. A specter of a white-haired lady haunts Michel and the mansion; the Witch's comments to Giselle later, about needing to take form, reminded me of the portrait and what it meant. The sublime close-up of Giselle matches the White-Haired Girl's in the previous Door, just as some other shots and scenes resurface. Additions like Michel's reluctance towards confessing love, meanwhile, play into his character as seen at the end of Door 4, same going for Giselle.
The transience of Michel and Giselle's love in the mortal world ultimately explains the structure of previous Doors without feeling like a 1-to-1 match. I started to wonder why certain elements from those Doors, mainly the lead characters, hadn't appeared here. Of course, the game's confident enough to pull metanarrative tricks and assert that all these stories happened, save Door 4. Morgana's interaction with Giselle at the end hints at the legitimacy of all these elements, even the White-Haired Girl and what she means. Seeing all this from a woman's perspective gives necessary contrast.
Also, holy shit @ the soundtrack here. Tracks like Cicio, Giselle, and Planador stick in my mind with ease. The art's pretty good too. I'm a fan of Giselle's classic portrait, even if it looks a bit unusual compared to others (including her portrayal in CGs). Switching between perspectives often, and window frames in turn, accelerated my reading pace just by raising my expectations.
...welp.
This constitutes a surprisingly large section of the game if you include the sinners and Morgana's life story. I thought it'd be hard enough seeing how much Giselle lost over centuries, turning into the Maid as even her immense willpower faltered. The ending of Door 5 becomes the game's normal up until the good ending of Door 7. If anything, the game really starts to challenge you here. Thankfully this never gets to an exploitative level of grimdark, as there's occasional hope spots and tenacity to seek refuge in. Watching the year screen come up again, and again, and again felt crushing and, somehow, inspiring as she survived over time.
Learning how Morgana's powers work through the mansion, and how they start shaping Giselle and her houseguests, terrified me. It becomes clear how ruthlessly Morgana can break people as optimistic and experienced as Giselle; the witch never relents. However, the writing here threw me off track from simply deciding that Morgana's a villain. She never fully commits to stringing along Giselle with a betrayal in mind, though her apathy and difficulty empathizing with Giselle sticks out. Nor does she interfere with Giselle as she experiences the tragic, exaggerated recurrence of the sinners' lives over centuries.
Michel asserting that Giselle never stopped calling for him, even as she devolved, warmed my heart. At this point, I figured the house didn't simply belong to Morgana. Is it in the witch's best interest to permit Michel's soul entry, or to live with a shell of Giselle and the regurgitation of past evils? I assumed the latter with Morgana acting as she does, though a later twist made this trickier to decide. Michel, as You, seems the one aberration in Morgana's experiment, a test to the Maid that she neither denies nor takes pleasure in. To "reclaim yourself" involves a different, truer but fragmented retread of the past, rather than how Morgana delights in twisting or influencing the fates of the sinners.
Many moments ruined me in Giselle's recollection and the stories after, but nothing stood out as much as the new title card appearing after her capture. I figured I was in for something bizarre, a Kojima-like mindscrew that the story kind of delivers on. Revisiting one of Michel's best memories, then landing in a bloody mess of a mansion, heightened the tension. At this point the plot becomes more a battle of wits, with Michel and Giselle defeating the Maid person as a preamble. It's a much needed jump in pacing at this point since, some incredible art and music aside, the Maid story started to get a bit repetitive and predictable. No less sad and horrible, that said.
Morgana's story, curiously unillustrated and embellished...bloody hell! That level of betrayal, lost identity, and newfound hatred simply never let up. It's easy to see why she considers Giselle a plaything, also someone worth her envy. The witch suffered more than anyone yet had no one left to understand her in the mortal world. Her desperation to perform miracles, to believe she's born of God, instead becomes the power through which she judges the men who did her wrong. Furthermore, we learn that nothing really changes in society at the base level: the classes feud, the outliers become scapegoats for the masses, and all love seemingly succumbs to mortal suffering. Much as she tried to raise herself and the people around her, the world didn't want anyone like innocent old Morgana. Only hate and power keep her going, hurting everyone.
Hanada does a very good job of conveying Morgana's confidence in her account while hinting that we don't have the full story. After all, what we know of Jacopo from Door 3 outright doesn't match the Lord's description here. I had to wonder, at this point, what could follow this chapter.
This constitutes a surprisingly large section of the game if you include the sinners and Morgana's life story. I thought it'd be hard enough seeing how much Giselle lost over centuries, turning into the Maid as even her immense willpower faltered. The ending of Door 5 becomes the game's normal up until the good ending of Door 7. If anything, the game really starts to challenge you here. Thankfully this never gets to an exploitative level of grimdark, as there's occasional hope spots and tenacity to seek refuge in. Watching the year screen come up again, and again, and again felt crushing and, somehow, inspiring as she survived over time.
Learning how Morgana's powers work through the mansion, and how they start shaping Giselle and her houseguests, terrified me. It becomes clear how ruthlessly Morgana can break people as optimistic and experienced as Giselle; the witch never relents. However, the writing here threw me off track from simply deciding that Morgana's a villain. She never fully commits to stringing along Giselle with a betrayal in mind, though her apathy and difficulty empathizing with Giselle sticks out. Nor does she interfere with Giselle as she experiences the tragic, exaggerated recurrence of the sinners' lives over centuries.
Michel asserting that Giselle never stopped calling for him, even as she devolved, warmed my heart. At this point, I figured the house didn't simply belong to Morgana. Is it in the witch's best interest to permit Michel's soul entry, or to live with a shell of Giselle and the regurgitation of past evils? I assumed the latter with Morgana acting as she does, though a later twist made this trickier to decide. Michel, as You, seems the one aberration in Morgana's experiment, a test to the Maid that she neither denies nor takes pleasure in. To "reclaim yourself" involves a different, truer but fragmented retread of the past, rather than how Morgana delights in twisting or influencing the fates of the sinners.
Many moments ruined me in Giselle's recollection and the stories after, but nothing stood out as much as the new title card appearing after her capture. I figured I was in for something bizarre, a Kojima-like mindscrew that the story kind of delivers on. Revisiting one of Michel's best memories, then landing in a bloody mess of a mansion, heightened the tension. At this point the plot becomes more a battle of wits, with Michel and Giselle defeating the Maid person as a preamble. It's a much needed jump in pacing at this point since, some incredible art and music aside, the Maid story started to get a bit repetitive and predictable. No less sad and horrible, that said.
Morgana's story, curiously unillustrated and embellished...bloody hell! That level of betrayal, lost identity, and newfound hatred simply never let up. It's easy to see why she considers Giselle a plaything, also someone worth her envy. The witch suffered more than anyone yet had no one left to understand her in the mortal world. Her desperation to perform miracles, to believe she's born of God, instead becomes the power through which she judges the men who did her wrong. Furthermore, we learn that nothing really changes in society at the base level: the classes feud, the outliers become scapegoats for the masses, and all love seemingly succumbs to mortal suffering. Much as she tried to raise herself and the people around her, the world didn't want anyone like innocent old Morgana. Only hate and power keep her going, hurting everyone.
Hanada does a very good job of conveying Morgana's confidence in her account while hinting that we don't have the full story. After all, what we know of Jacopo from Door 3 outright doesn't match the Lord's description here. I had to wonder, at this point, what could follow this chapter.
Even more Fata Morgana playthrough thoughts!
Wondering couldn't prepare me for this. I'd be surprised if anyone was ready for this.
Morgana wasn't off when she claimed she had so much in common with Michel. They mirror each other in way too many ways, the key difference being that he had someone to live for at the end of his mortal life. It was tempting to Let Go at the end, given what I'd seen, but the game makes that bad ending easy to skip since you get the chapter end after a few seconds of thinking. The smart thing for Morgana to do would have been to expel Michel from the house entirely, or to at least make an effort. I doubt she wanted to lose him entirely, though. So she devised this final test—faking or exaggerating Giselle's disgust at Michel's past—to destroy his hopes.
In no other Door does Tsutsumi's lumbering music work so damn well. Everything about this weighs heavy on the reader's mind. Michel's bizarre transition, his puberty wrecked by torture and superstition, is very daring stuff that I couldn't look away from. It feels like this chapter epitomizes the gothic horror part of the story, best shown by Aimee's privileged cruelty and Didier's complete allegiance to role over family. There's no room for disagreeing with Michel about what had happened to him, as awful as it is to learn how the Man in the Painting and the elder brother discarded him. The visage of Michel naked, stabbed, and mutilated at the end says everything: he crawled his way towards Giselle in the darkness with barely any hope left, having found the right path in a wrong lifetime. What's to say anyone gets the life they want?
Intersexuality, even discussed within the story's extreme example, offers so many ambiguities for the characters to handle, let alone the writer. I've seen many posts about whether or not Michel counts as transgender or just intersex; I feel he's both. He not only admired Didier's life and features, but felt he had just as much a right to it because it seemed completely natural. At no point was Michel ever mad or deluded the way his parents and Aimee thought, not that they could understand. Didier's own failure to voice his acceptance seems like a trap for him, and even Georges lives at the mansion now in some form. Michel put so much trust in those who let him down, and they too might have fallen into the mansion's curse indirectly. Suffering knows no boundaries, only intersectionality.
Placing this Door right after Morgana's account successfully plants a new theme into the story that connects all the previous Doors: to forgive or not to forgive. No one involved with the mansion had lives they would willfully return to. The person currently in control, however, cannot exorcise the past and cannot understand her death. She seeks solace in eternal damnation thinking that she no longer need to understand, whereas Michel lived on solely to comprehend why he had suffered. I think the writing here avoids a pure dichotomy, too, because the White-Haired Girl still exists without a clear analogue. Is it really Michel, as Morgana asserts? Or is it the innocence and optimism Morgana lost? What if the house has a say in this?
Aimee, as insufferable as she is, remains one of the more intriguing characters given the role she plays. More than just mirroring and outdoing Amedee, she represents the merchant and courtesan lifestyle that Giselle once lived in. She's grown up without much power of her own, desiring that and more in order to navigate the noble realm. It's horrendous how Michel's first crush remorselessly destroys him for amusement, all because he became the perfect outlet for her malice. That it all plays into her socio-economic frustrations and expectations says even more about the kind of self-destructive world they live in. Thankfully, Michel never forgives her, nor Antonin and Amedee, knowing they're damned yet dominant in a supposedly moral world. It's funny how this contrasts with others comparing him to the Archangel, as he knows how human and selfish he can be. What does that say about Morgana?
Giselle invading this Door was cathartic. It's a twist I figured could happen since Morgana would stop at nothing to win now, but the way it happens stands out. Giselle imprinting on that window did far more to ruin Morgana's plans than expected. When the Maid called You "master of the house", she had no way of realizing that could actually happen, but through her own doing. So Giselle ultimately saves everyone first by bringing Michel true love, then by freeing him from the past in a productive way. The following confrontation with Morgana, no longer hiding her form, brought to mind the story of the princess in the tower, something I now knew the context behind. We've gone from a tragic mystery anthology to a dramatic fight for closure in the afterlife, and I couldn't feel more worn-out.
I love the presentation shift here, with stately emotional portraits in place of full art. Whereas previous window frames and portrait styles evoke theatre, the elements in this Door aim for something more cinematic and claustrophobic. The game may not offer any interesting mechanics, but it does have these neat changes which are quite important. Speaking of important presentation…
Morgana wasn't off when she claimed she had so much in common with Michel. They mirror each other in way too many ways, the key difference being that he had someone to live for at the end of his mortal life. It was tempting to Let Go at the end, given what I'd seen, but the game makes that bad ending easy to skip since you get the chapter end after a few seconds of thinking. The smart thing for Morgana to do would have been to expel Michel from the house entirely, or to at least make an effort. I doubt she wanted to lose him entirely, though. So she devised this final test—faking or exaggerating Giselle's disgust at Michel's past—to destroy his hopes.
In no other Door does Tsutsumi's lumbering music work so damn well. Everything about this weighs heavy on the reader's mind. Michel's bizarre transition, his puberty wrecked by torture and superstition, is very daring stuff that I couldn't look away from. It feels like this chapter epitomizes the gothic horror part of the story, best shown by Aimee's privileged cruelty and Didier's complete allegiance to role over family. There's no room for disagreeing with Michel about what had happened to him, as awful as it is to learn how the Man in the Painting and the elder brother discarded him. The visage of Michel naked, stabbed, and mutilated at the end says everything: he crawled his way towards Giselle in the darkness with barely any hope left, having found the right path in a wrong lifetime. What's to say anyone gets the life they want?
Intersexuality, even discussed within the story's extreme example, offers so many ambiguities for the characters to handle, let alone the writer. I've seen many posts about whether or not Michel counts as transgender or just intersex; I feel he's both. He not only admired Didier's life and features, but felt he had just as much a right to it because it seemed completely natural. At no point was Michel ever mad or deluded the way his parents and Aimee thought, not that they could understand. Didier's own failure to voice his acceptance seems like a trap for him, and even Georges lives at the mansion now in some form. Michel put so much trust in those who let him down, and they too might have fallen into the mansion's curse indirectly. Suffering knows no boundaries, only intersectionality.
Placing this Door right after Morgana's account successfully plants a new theme into the story that connects all the previous Doors: to forgive or not to forgive. No one involved with the mansion had lives they would willfully return to. The person currently in control, however, cannot exorcise the past and cannot understand her death. She seeks solace in eternal damnation thinking that she no longer need to understand, whereas Michel lived on solely to comprehend why he had suffered. I think the writing here avoids a pure dichotomy, too, because the White-Haired Girl still exists without a clear analogue. Is it really Michel, as Morgana asserts? Or is it the innocence and optimism Morgana lost? What if the house has a say in this?
Aimee, as insufferable as she is, remains one of the more intriguing characters given the role she plays. More than just mirroring and outdoing Amedee, she represents the merchant and courtesan lifestyle that Giselle once lived in. She's grown up without much power of her own, desiring that and more in order to navigate the noble realm. It's horrendous how Michel's first crush remorselessly destroys him for amusement, all because he became the perfect outlet for her malice. That it all plays into her socio-economic frustrations and expectations says even more about the kind of self-destructive world they live in. Thankfully, Michel never forgives her, nor Antonin and Amedee, knowing they're damned yet dominant in a supposedly moral world. It's funny how this contrasts with others comparing him to the Archangel, as he knows how human and selfish he can be. What does that say about Morgana?
Giselle invading this Door was cathartic. It's a twist I figured could happen since Morgana would stop at nothing to win now, but the way it happens stands out. Giselle imprinting on that window did far more to ruin Morgana's plans than expected. When the Maid called You "master of the house", she had no way of realizing that could actually happen, but through her own doing. So Giselle ultimately saves everyone first by bringing Michel true love, then by freeing him from the past in a productive way. The following confrontation with Morgana, no longer hiding her form, brought to mind the story of the princess in the tower, something I now knew the context behind. We've gone from a tragic mystery anthology to a dramatic fight for closure in the afterlife, and I couldn't feel more worn-out.
I love the presentation shift here, with stately emotional portraits in place of full art. Whereas previous window frames and portrait styles evoke theatre, the elements in this Door aim for something more cinematic and claustrophobic. The game may not offer any interesting mechanics, but it does have these neat changes which are quite important. Speaking of important presentation…
The game takes a godly level in tension and release here just by having the characters face you as Michel. Now, in this seemingly real version of a past before your time, it's now or never to persuade three difficult people. The journey from unknown to spectator to participant rings strongly from someone like me who would love to revisit the past like this (assuming, of course, I have the same strength Michel and Giselle possess). Michel's way of fooling into the church estate, along with influencing Mell upon arrival, brought me the first of many fist-pumps. A lot of this Door ended up feeling like a classic Doctor Who serial in the best way.
Giselle's presence here reminds me of how plain-spoken she can get. Some reviews mentioned how casual and non-period-specific the localization gets when she's around, let alone Maria. I'm fine with this since I can't imagine her using Middle English or an old English approximation of French in the script. Instead, I easily understood the intent and emotion behind her talks with Michel here, which I really missed later on in the Door after her soul seemingly loses contact. However, seeing Michel become a person of society on largely his own terms was the right story choice. Going with Doctor Who comparison again, it's like watching a regeneration story where the Doctor has to collect himself and define what he's going to be. Michel does sort of the same thing here.
Damn is Mell a lot more interesting now. His relationship with Morgana, detailed in her story, suggests why the White-Haired Girl wanted him dead in the 17th century. The pain of going from an easy noble life to surviving off the land, with a spoiler sister in tow, definitely wrecked Mell. What I didn't see coming, though, is how the story connected all this to Javi. I don't see a lot of commentary about this elsewhere, so I'll say it here: Morgana must have somehow brought about Javi through the curse based on this part of his life. How much power Morgana has outside the mansion fascinates me, not that I ever expect a full answer; the mansion has its own secrets to keep. Anyway. Mell's relations with Pauline, his reluctance to do the right thing (like stand up to society, now shown through the Swordsman), and the growing nihilism in his heart all reek of Javi. Every major figure from the opening Doors appears back in this time sans Javi, but that's because Mell's already that guy. Who else went down into the cellar? Javi!
Nellie's also a lot more sympathetic here. Getting through to her first, then Mell, feels quick and engaging, more than her dolled-up tragedy in Door 1. Her ridiculous dialogue with Pauline and Maria later helps give Door 8 the best balance of levity and sorrow in the game. I looked forward to talking with her more than I expected.
I love how Michel just knows he has to practice his negotiation skills in order of major Door characters he met in order. That gives us strong progression and expectations for how this Door will go, and the conditions Michel must meet to defeat the curse. With the perspective change matching more conventional visual novel tropes now, it feels like we've hit "endgame", that moment of enlightenment after a long march through uncertain, uncomfortable territory.
The Swordsman has less to offer here, other than rumination on his origins and what made him this way. Living as a slave for so long would probably mess up anyone, so much that they can't remember who they used to be. I love the tension he brings here, with every encounter bringing us closer to demise. It's cool how Hanada makes the build-up to confession different for each character without sacrificing the Door's tone and style. Same goes for the confessions themselves, with the Swordsman having less to say for himself despite how much he's thought it all through. Michel has no choice but to cut through to the Swordsman directly at first; Pauline's persona makes this situation quite unlike Mell and Nellie. It also hints that getting Jacopo to confess will take some kind of magic.
Michel deciding to give the Swordsman a non-ideal, pragmatic answer felt right. Not good, not bad, but just right. It's refreshing to read a beyond-good-and-evil story set in medieval times, even during the invocation of good vs. bad, good vs. evil, holy vs. heretical. Any moral of the story has its necessary counterexample. Anyone hoping Michel is an angel or prophet cannot fathom his all-too-human actions, thoughts, and mistakes. He can only hope the Swordsman accepts harsh truths if that means they'll work together to atone. Forgiveness isn't always an option, but empathy and a firm desire to change one's life will mean just as much if not more.
Maria and Jacopo are pretty interesting to compare here. The former gains a lot more balance in her character than before, but the latter plays the Lord role hard until right after the pendant drops. This works because Jacopo's got a lot in common with Morgana: bitter, sarcastic, self-destructive, and unwilling (though not unable) to express himself without stepping on someone. I am mad that going to the village with Maria gives me one of those dumb Ending 0 sequences that aren't telegraphed well enough at all, but it's always fun to hear her talk. Jacopo's so much more of a struggle, making his confession the most satisfying because it reveals way too much. I wonder how far back Novectacle planned Requiem for Innocence, given he seems to have remaining loose ends even now.
Going up the tower and rescuing Morgana felt very satisfying. Learning right after that Michel had not changed the past worked super well too. The previous standoffs between Michel and Morgana all worked in her favor, but her past self has no choice but to believe in him as someone she can believe in. So much of the story drowns in regrets and hypotheticals until moments like these come around. It felt surreal to see Michel, in a telltale twist of fate, become the archangel on earth. Morgana's soul having split also perfectly explains why something felt off about her nihilism vs. her behaviors. She's more than not all there—same with the men who played themselves into an inescapable death. Only now can they perceive, as she did, the injustices of the world they perpetuate. The watchtower becomes something more than their grave: a place of renewal. Michel and Giselle revealed not just everyone's character, but what the mansion could become for them.
We now arrive at the final confrontation: the White-Haired Girl without any disguise. I liked how Michel can't initially bring himself to delete her from existence, as it contradicts his entire philosophy. Embracing the paradox will free them all, yet the WHG's aware that he needs something more for motivation. This segment ends by bringing up a cool topic: the difference between one's soul and one's memory. Power goes beyond life itself because of the power of remembrance; if so, what does one need a soul for? Any power Morgana and the sinners craved or needed meant nothing because of their mistakes and tragedies. They all wanted "good" lives, moral victories of a sort, which were fleeting at best. The most pure, theoretical character in the whole game knows how awful the world is, and how her existence points out the ability of people to distort themselves beyond recognition. (Jacopo and Morgana succeed at this in stunningly similar ways, all based on how they identify with social function over personal hopes.) All must survive tainted lives, hoping that maybe memories can escape that fate.
People call the WHG a "Purity Sue" quite often, but I don't see how that damages any of the previous Doors. She was always a device with something real behind her. All the other characters are more interesting than her because they have to be. Her increasing purity over time also suggests that Morgana slipped further and further into delusion over time, not all at once. The process only began the day before the plague massacre, when no one came to rescue her from hate in the watchtower. Hate and destruction for its own sake negates the potential to move on and rebuild. It's not a simple matter of restoring balance, either, as if you could forgive all that had happened to move on. Michel doesn't technically destroy the WHG so much as she loses identity, but reducing someone to merely an ideal is no joke either.
Learning all of this now, when we've already had strong stories to indulge in, sidesteps the problems a Mary Sue character would bring early on. Overall I admire how the story's use of the WHG develops to match our perception of the whole saga. She's arguably more of an anchor for the game than Morgana because of how early she's invoked and involved. Morgana was always there before she revealed her presence; in fact, she had no way to know she was involved so soon.
The music's just amazing at this point, same with the art and general pacing of the Door. (Some of the initial formalities with Michel's stay at the church and attempts to speak with Pauline go on too long.) Plenty is solved now, and anything more just needs to arrive at its own pace. Questions remain, though: are all the relevant souls accounted for at the mansion? We know the sinners and their closest peers are there, but what about Didier?
Giselle's presence here reminds me of how plain-spoken she can get. Some reviews mentioned how casual and non-period-specific the localization gets when she's around, let alone Maria. I'm fine with this since I can't imagine her using Middle English or an old English approximation of French in the script. Instead, I easily understood the intent and emotion behind her talks with Michel here, which I really missed later on in the Door after her soul seemingly loses contact. However, seeing Michel become a person of society on largely his own terms was the right story choice. Going with Doctor Who comparison again, it's like watching a regeneration story where the Doctor has to collect himself and define what he's going to be. Michel does sort of the same thing here.
Damn is Mell a lot more interesting now. His relationship with Morgana, detailed in her story, suggests why the White-Haired Girl wanted him dead in the 17th century. The pain of going from an easy noble life to surviving off the land, with a spoiler sister in tow, definitely wrecked Mell. What I didn't see coming, though, is how the story connected all this to Javi. I don't see a lot of commentary about this elsewhere, so I'll say it here: Morgana must have somehow brought about Javi through the curse based on this part of his life. How much power Morgana has outside the mansion fascinates me, not that I ever expect a full answer; the mansion has its own secrets to keep. Anyway. Mell's relations with Pauline, his reluctance to do the right thing (like stand up to society, now shown through the Swordsman), and the growing nihilism in his heart all reek of Javi. Every major figure from the opening Doors appears back in this time sans Javi, but that's because Mell's already that guy. Who else went down into the cellar? Javi!
Nellie's also a lot more sympathetic here. Getting through to her first, then Mell, feels quick and engaging, more than her dolled-up tragedy in Door 1. Her ridiculous dialogue with Pauline and Maria later helps give Door 8 the best balance of levity and sorrow in the game. I looked forward to talking with her more than I expected.
I love how Michel just knows he has to practice his negotiation skills in order of major Door characters he met in order. That gives us strong progression and expectations for how this Door will go, and the conditions Michel must meet to defeat the curse. With the perspective change matching more conventional visual novel tropes now, it feels like we've hit "endgame", that moment of enlightenment after a long march through uncertain, uncomfortable territory.
The Swordsman has less to offer here, other than rumination on his origins and what made him this way. Living as a slave for so long would probably mess up anyone, so much that they can't remember who they used to be. I love the tension he brings here, with every encounter bringing us closer to demise. It's cool how Hanada makes the build-up to confession different for each character without sacrificing the Door's tone and style. Same goes for the confessions themselves, with the Swordsman having less to say for himself despite how much he's thought it all through. Michel has no choice but to cut through to the Swordsman directly at first; Pauline's persona makes this situation quite unlike Mell and Nellie. It also hints that getting Jacopo to confess will take some kind of magic.
Michel deciding to give the Swordsman a non-ideal, pragmatic answer felt right. Not good, not bad, but just right. It's refreshing to read a beyond-good-and-evil story set in medieval times, even during the invocation of good vs. bad, good vs. evil, holy vs. heretical. Any moral of the story has its necessary counterexample. Anyone hoping Michel is an angel or prophet cannot fathom his all-too-human actions, thoughts, and mistakes. He can only hope the Swordsman accepts harsh truths if that means they'll work together to atone. Forgiveness isn't always an option, but empathy and a firm desire to change one's life will mean just as much if not more.
Michel probably realized, by the time he met Morgana as she began to split her soul in two, that the Swordsman might suffer the same problem. It's ultimately a matter of what knowledge he had to work with, and what he could tell the Swordsman to give him some hope. The Swordsman brings up questions about his second life quicker than the others, as if he knows there's no simple escape from a split personality...or worse, a split soul.
Maria and Jacopo are pretty interesting to compare here. The former gains a lot more balance in her character than before, but the latter plays the Lord role hard until right after the pendant drops. This works because Jacopo's got a lot in common with Morgana: bitter, sarcastic, self-destructive, and unwilling (though not unable) to express himself without stepping on someone. I am mad that going to the village with Maria gives me one of those dumb Ending 0 sequences that aren't telegraphed well enough at all, but it's always fun to hear her talk. Jacopo's so much more of a struggle, making his confession the most satisfying because it reveals way too much. I wonder how far back Novectacle planned Requiem for Innocence, given he seems to have remaining loose ends even now.
Going up the tower and rescuing Morgana felt very satisfying. Learning right after that Michel had not changed the past worked super well too. The previous standoffs between Michel and Morgana all worked in her favor, but her past self has no choice but to believe in him as someone she can believe in. So much of the story drowns in regrets and hypotheticals until moments like these come around. It felt surreal to see Michel, in a telltale twist of fate, become the archangel on earth. Morgana's soul having split also perfectly explains why something felt off about her nihilism vs. her behaviors. She's more than not all there—same with the men who played themselves into an inescapable death. Only now can they perceive, as she did, the injustices of the world they perpetuate. The watchtower becomes something more than their grave: a place of renewal. Michel and Giselle revealed not just everyone's character, but what the mansion could become for them.
We now arrive at the final confrontation: the White-Haired Girl without any disguise. I liked how Michel can't initially bring himself to delete her from existence, as it contradicts his entire philosophy. Embracing the paradox will free them all, yet the WHG's aware that he needs something more for motivation. This segment ends by bringing up a cool topic: the difference between one's soul and one's memory. Power goes beyond life itself because of the power of remembrance; if so, what does one need a soul for? Any power Morgana and the sinners craved or needed meant nothing because of their mistakes and tragedies. They all wanted "good" lives, moral victories of a sort, which were fleeting at best. The most pure, theoretical character in the whole game knows how awful the world is, and how her existence points out the ability of people to distort themselves beyond recognition. (Jacopo and Morgana succeed at this in stunningly similar ways, all based on how they identify with social function over personal hopes.) All must survive tainted lives, hoping that maybe memories can escape that fate.
People call the WHG a "Purity Sue" quite often, but I don't see how that damages any of the previous Doors. She was always a device with something real behind her. All the other characters are more interesting than her because they have to be. Her increasing purity over time also suggests that Morgana slipped further and further into delusion over time, not all at once. The process only began the day before the plague massacre, when no one came to rescue her from hate in the watchtower. Hate and destruction for its own sake negates the potential to move on and rebuild. It's not a simple matter of restoring balance, either, as if you could forgive all that had happened to move on. Michel doesn't technically destroy the WHG so much as she loses identity, but reducing someone to merely an ideal is no joke either.
Learning all of this now, when we've already had strong stories to indulge in, sidesteps the problems a Mary Sue character would bring early on. Overall I admire how the story's use of the WHG develops to match our perception of the whole saga. She's arguably more of an anchor for the game than Morgana because of how early she's invoked and involved. Morgana was always there before she revealed her presence; in fact, she had no way to know she was involved so soon.
The music's just amazing at this point, same with the art and general pacing of the Door. (Some of the initial formalities with Michel's stay at the church and attempts to speak with Pauline go on too long.) Plenty is solved now, and anything more just needs to arrive at its own pace. Questions remain, though: are all the relevant souls accounted for at the mansion? We know the sinners and their closest peers are there, but what about Didier?
I cried. A lot. Way more than I usually cry when I reach the end of a game. Everything just releases. I wouldn't say it's the best ending possible, but it's very close.
Here's the flaw: Didier's arrival feels a bit rushed and lacking in build-up. Georges revealing himself and confessing to Michel felt right, but Didier showing up right as it seems we're leaving is abrupt. I love the ambiguity of Georges maybe dying for good (or maybe not) and the serious possibility that Michel might not persist long enough to reincarnate and meet Giselle. Didier finding peace seems like the only way left for him to earn Michel's forgiveness, something Morgana thinks she cannot give anymore. It was all too easy to meet and recover the sinners now that they know everything. Having more time to flesh out the Didier encounter would have this work better for me, especially if that meant one last romp through the mansion.
Everything else, though? Simply transcendent.
Morgana's face turning from scars to her original self, for example, just had to happen. It didn't translate into her falling for Michel or admitting defeat, for the better. Like the final prisonere emerging from Plato's cave, she sees what she's lost and what she hopes to regain in a world that can finally accept her. She spells out in plain terms how forgiveness means nothing without questing to change oneself and live for others. We know how worthless the curse was, but also how a damaged person might perceive it as forcing justice and redemption upon others. Whether or not we get next lives, no one can null certain actions and viewpoints in the life they know. The story's optimistic to offer these characters a second chance, but not anyone like Aimee or Antonin or Amedee. Souls like theirs refuse the next world, thinking an afterlife's what they need.
That's a theme I really love in this game: how the "afterlife" is neither hellish nor heavenly. It's just a purgatory for those who believed way too hard in an outcome they had no guarantee of. Self-fulfilling prophecy's a big target for this VN, coming in many forms while hiding in the background as much as possible. On the other hand, "live and let live" gets satirized just as much. People throw away thinking deep about who they are, what they want, and how to live with others; sometimes they fall into an abyss of thought that stalls action. Belief brought everyone to their highest highs and their lowest lows. Internal balance saves them in the end.
Opening the door to the light seemed normal. Then the credits music started. Most players brings up "Giselle" as their favorite track, but "A Fleeting Fata Morgana" is leagues beyond that. It perfectly matches the pace of parting with Morgana, herself trying to hope that her hope means something. It contrasts with what just happened to everyone, especially Michel. As the mansion evaporates, and the dramatis personae reveals everyone's natural deaths, the tension grows. Tsutsumi ratchets up every element of his style this time. The silence rings loud against GAO singing the final thoughts of the White-Haired GIrl. Instruments double each other and cascade into strained chords bordering on dissonance. An orchestra of tormented but beautiful souls ring in the background, nearly to the end of the track. Something tells me the music wouldn't have intensified so much if every soul had departed the mansion one after the other. Everyone's so eager to leave, including everyone trapped by the curse over centuries. This track tells its story better than most others, just like how "Giselle" gains strength with every repeat.
In short, it's what I hope a near-death experience could feel like for me. Nothing else in the story feels as bizarre and religious as this. I'm not a person of faith, but I was reduced to tears as Michel disappeared into the song, as the very setting of the game faded to white, and as Giselle finally made contact. I was scared. I knew that Hanada, with a simple coin-toss, could justify even the worst ending. If there are higher states of existence, then would they be as impossible as this?
The rest of the ending delivered on my hopes. Everyone's back, even Morgana. They're themselves, but living in the modern world no doubt will change them. Possibilities come quick and extend farther than back in medieval times. Whether or not everyone remembers each other, they'll at least learn to avoid their previous tragedies and deal better with any new ones. But we, the players, get a happy ending for once. Michel and Giselle reunite, the mansion having disappeared with only a nondescript cross left behind. The butterflies roam free. Why ask for anything more? (Of course I want to see them living in our times! Beyond reuniting with the cast, though, their stories have concluded, all the more why we shouldn't tamper with them.)
Here's the flaw: Didier's arrival feels a bit rushed and lacking in build-up. Georges revealing himself and confessing to Michel felt right, but Didier showing up right as it seems we're leaving is abrupt. I love the ambiguity of Georges maybe dying for good (or maybe not) and the serious possibility that Michel might not persist long enough to reincarnate and meet Giselle. Didier finding peace seems like the only way left for him to earn Michel's forgiveness, something Morgana thinks she cannot give anymore. It was all too easy to meet and recover the sinners now that they know everything. Having more time to flesh out the Didier encounter would have this work better for me, especially if that meant one last romp through the mansion.
Everything else, though? Simply transcendent.
Morgana's face turning from scars to her original self, for example, just had to happen. It didn't translate into her falling for Michel or admitting defeat, for the better. Like the final prisonere emerging from Plato's cave, she sees what she's lost and what she hopes to regain in a world that can finally accept her. She spells out in plain terms how forgiveness means nothing without questing to change oneself and live for others. We know how worthless the curse was, but also how a damaged person might perceive it as forcing justice and redemption upon others. Whether or not we get next lives, no one can null certain actions and viewpoints in the life they know. The story's optimistic to offer these characters a second chance, but not anyone like Aimee or Antonin or Amedee. Souls like theirs refuse the next world, thinking an afterlife's what they need.
That's a theme I really love in this game: how the "afterlife" is neither hellish nor heavenly. It's just a purgatory for those who believed way too hard in an outcome they had no guarantee of. Self-fulfilling prophecy's a big target for this VN, coming in many forms while hiding in the background as much as possible. On the other hand, "live and let live" gets satirized just as much. People throw away thinking deep about who they are, what they want, and how to live with others; sometimes they fall into an abyss of thought that stalls action. Belief brought everyone to their highest highs and their lowest lows. Internal balance saves them in the end.
Opening the door to the light seemed normal. Then the credits music started. Most players brings up "Giselle" as their favorite track, but "A Fleeting Fata Morgana" is leagues beyond that. It perfectly matches the pace of parting with Morgana, herself trying to hope that her hope means something. It contrasts with what just happened to everyone, especially Michel. As the mansion evaporates, and the dramatis personae reveals everyone's natural deaths, the tension grows. Tsutsumi ratchets up every element of his style this time. The silence rings loud against GAO singing the final thoughts of the White-Haired GIrl. Instruments double each other and cascade into strained chords bordering on dissonance. An orchestra of tormented but beautiful souls ring in the background, nearly to the end of the track. Something tells me the music wouldn't have intensified so much if every soul had departed the mansion one after the other. Everyone's so eager to leave, including everyone trapped by the curse over centuries. This track tells its story better than most others, just like how "Giselle" gains strength with every repeat.
In short, it's what I hope a near-death experience could feel like for me. Nothing else in the story feels as bizarre and religious as this. I'm not a person of faith, but I was reduced to tears as Michel disappeared into the song, as the very setting of the game faded to white, and as Giselle finally made contact. I was scared. I knew that Hanada, with a simple coin-toss, could justify even the worst ending. If there are higher states of existence, then would they be as impossible as this?
The rest of the ending delivered on my hopes. Everyone's back, even Morgana. They're themselves, but living in the modern world no doubt will change them. Possibilities come quick and extend farther than back in medieval times. Whether or not everyone remembers each other, they'll at least learn to avoid their previous tragedies and deal better with any new ones. But we, the players, get a happy ending for once. Michel and Giselle reunite, the mansion having disappeared with only a nondescript cross left behind. The butterflies roam free. Why ask for anything more? (Of course I want to see them living in our times! Beyond reuniting with the cast, though, their stories have concluded, all the more why we shouldn't tamper with them.)
WIP!
No wonder I thought this game was already localized... Too bad Arc Sys means digital-only :/
Sakura Sakura is finally out! Try out the demo if you're interested. It's cute.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/658140/Sakura_Sakura/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/658140/Sakura_Sakura/
Wonder why its not an uncensored version. Did they say anything about that?
Yeah. But the patch isnt online. I assume its the steamappid i just posted, since its quite new.
I just bought Umineko on the steam sales. It was either this or G-senjou.
I'm going almost blind in this since I just saw a few episodes of the anime when it was aired years ago. I pretty much forgot everything, only scene I remember is
So I just install this patch and I'm good to go?
I'm going almost blind in this since I just saw a few episodes of the anime when it was aired years ago. I pretty much forgot everything, only scene I remember is
All the parents dead in the garage
So I just install this patch and I'm good to go?
That's amazing, I still haven't touched my vita LE but I'm glad this sold well for Experience inc
I've just read through the first door of The house in fata morgana after putting it off for so long.
Yeah, this is really good so far, it's a really well written tragedy. I really love its tone so far, it's more akin to a classic novel than a pandering light novel, it's quite refreshing. Can't wait to see where it's going.
Yeah, this is really good so far, it's a really well written tragedy. I really love its tone so far, it's more akin to a classic novel than a pandering light novel, it's quite refreshing. Can't wait to see where it's going.
Playing through Tsukihime now. It's, uh, not quite as wild as I expected after years of passively absorbing TYPE-MOON/Nasuverse hype. So far that's a good thing. It's a really fun and well-thought story so far, though I can't help but notice the contrivance Nasu used to set up early sex (but I've patched out the ero content because nah). I'm sticking to the recommended route order, so time to hang out more with Arcueid.
I'll say this: Nasu's writing style really appeals to me. It goes overboard at times, but the concision and rhythmic patterns he uses reminds me of procedural mysteries and noir stories I used to read. So even without a lot going on, I'm zipping through this at great speed. Also, there's plenty more weird eldritch stuff here than I expected, all without satisficing for Lovecraft-isms. The horror and psychological action's a strong reward for paying attention to Shiki's regular life.
I'll say this: Nasu's writing style really appeals to me. It goes overboard at times, but the concision and rhythmic patterns he uses reminds me of procedural mysteries and noir stories I used to read. So even without a lot going on, I'm zipping through this at great speed. Also, there's plenty more weird eldritch stuff here than I expected, all without satisficing for Lovecraft-isms. The horror and psychological action's a strong reward for paying attention to Shiki's regular life.
Damn, if you think Door 1's great, hold to your butt! The next Door could use better pacing and variety (also much less droning onomatopoeia), but Door 3 and beyond excels.