Beaches: Isolation, Summer and Escapism – An Anatomy Of Visual Novels
Sand With A Hint Of Sea
No
choice of setting is coincidence and the recurring selection of the Beach as the core location for a visual novel’s story speaks to the
power its developers feel it holds. Some of the most instantly
recognisable titles in the medium utilise this location so there it
clearly resonates with its audience. It is important to notice the
majority of stories set on the seaside take place during the
summer time and they do this to try and invoke the memory of the
player's own summer holidays as a child. This dreamlike and hazy
recollection can be leveraged to create a sense of freedom from
responsibility backed up by the inherent beauty of the golden sands
and blue sea. Yet not all uses of the Beach are positive given an
island’s beaches cut it off from the outside world and isolate the
people on it for both good and ill. Let’s shield are eyes from the
sun and find out why the edge of the world remains so evocative.
Summers Long Past
One
of the most memorable part of any childhood is the summer holidays
and the freedom it provides from the regimented school life. A time
without responsibilities where you could do anything and play with
your friends to your hearts content. Only the spectre of the holidays
end and homework could bring down a child’s elation. Or at least
this is the fantasy constructed from half remembered pieces of the
distant past. What else is associated with summer? The Beach with its
hot sun and blue sea and it is not a place generally visited out of
season. As such it forms a natural association between summer and is a place were many a child has created sandcastles or paddled in the
sea. It is no coincidence visual novels utilising the Beach setting
tend to also be set at or around summer time since it excuses the
characters not being at school while tapping into the player’s own
experiences. This allows the game to have a foundational set of
emotions and an understanding of the setting common between the cast
and the player so making it easier for the player to empathise with
the struggles the characters undergo. Alongside this connection, the
familiar setting helps the player slip into a self insert role as
they are pulled back into a faded memory of their own lives and the
line is blurred under the blinding sunlight. Since summer must come
to an end at some point the story often has this coincide with the
growth of the characters and their movement to adulthood as those
days without responsibilities cannot last forever, we must all one
day face the world.
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| Sun, Sea and Freedom |
One of the most popular visual novels to use this
summer and seaside setting is Summer Pockets which takes places
solely on the small island of Torishirojima. The choice of an island
with a low population is made to double down on the sense of
freedom since with less people around the characters are less likely
annoy them or be otherwise bothered by the busy adults. Visually
Summer Pockets firmly places itself into the sea and summer with the brilliant blue sky and ocean being right next to various cooling
beverages and even a character wielding a water pistol. In term of
narrative representation the setting is more of a background element
to justify the light tone of the opening sections and their almost
dreamlike quality as the protagonist gets involved in fun activities
such as table tennis while getting to know the colourful cast. This
slight disconnect with reality is also key to how the game handles
the introduction of its supernatural elements where the already loose
feeling grasp on the real world smoothens the introduction of these
out of place forces. When it comes to dramatic climaxes Summer
Pockets likes to invoke the strong imagery of the seaside and summer
to reinforce its emotional punch through the connection its
fantastical rendition has to the player’s own life and
childhood. Another example of the power of the Beach is Aokana - Four
Rhythms Across the Blue. The presence of flight as a core aspect of
the story’s identity provides a strong avenue to connect the blue
sky the cast travel into and the blue water they often walk beside and
further push the idea of the freedom they both represent. Putting the
school concerns to the background in favour of the Flying Circus and
the way the group each push themselves towards the focused goal
furthers the idea of the freedom open to them introduced through the
summer connection. It is no coincidence much of the cast’s
activities take place on or around the beach either in the air or on
the ground since not only does it make for a scenic backdrop, it also
ensures the player is always passively immersed in this mood. Despite
not being as summer and beach focused as Summer Pockets, the game
still manages to capture much of the same energy in a way suited to the
more sport drama centric narrative it wants to tell.
Beauty And Freedom
These presentation of the seaside are idyllic ones with little interest in
reality and the many issues surrounding its maintenance or the
threats it faces. It is space of immaculate beauty that effortlessly
draws in the player through half remembered reference to their own
experiences. This leads to a fairly standard set of presentational
techniques being used across titles with a Beach setting in terms of
visuals and the manner in which the narrative engages with this
beauty. Strong use of bright colours throughout is a major feature of
the Beach from the blues of the sea to the gold of the sand and the
white of the few stray clouds, everything reflects the intense
sunlight in a universal brilliance. It can sometimes be pushed to its
extreme where the colours become washed out to sell the idea of the
light being so overwhelming it becomes had to see properly as it
blinds and you are forced to squint into the glare. Regardless of
which is chosen the effect is to push the impression of summer onto the
player through the way it makes the world seem more alive and vibrant
and an idyllic place for the characters to go on their
journey. This is compounded by the way the casts reacts to the
setting. Each character can describes the setting’s physical nature
from complaining about its heat to shielding their eyes from the
sun’s rays and it adds a layer of immediacy to the vision of beauty. These senses are easier to understand given
our own experiences with beaches and help conjure up a complete
picture of the location while not straying from its idyllic fantasy.
The activities which the characters partake in often continue this
grounding of the beauty through actions like paddling in the sea,
sunbathing, wearing swimsuits to play on the sand or other such
things people associate with the Beach. Downtime in this setting can
be filled with these events since they are freely available due to
the location and each is a constant remainder of the fun and unique
freedom offered when on the summer seaside.
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| The beach continues its beauty even at night |
When a beach can make
even a job seem like a wondrous thing then its power over the
player’s perceptions is at its height. Koisuru Natsu no Last Resort
has its poor and overworked protagonist being offered a part-time
position on a southern resort island and this change in location
leads to fundamental changes in his life. The idyllic nature of the
resort comes across not only in the sun and sea but also in the
heroines he meets and romances there. They are all kind individuals
who care about the protagonist and each other as they engage in the
work of running the resort. Amongst the whole cast there is not a
single openly hostile person and even the conflicts of the routes do
not intrude on this vision with them focusing on what the characters
came to the resort to escape. Combining these together creates this
ideal work environment which is a mixture of holiday and
rehabilitation centre and pushes the idea of escapism associate with
going to the Beach. The narrative set up relies heavily on
reinforcing the idyllic seaside aesthetic to make it feel slightly
distanced from reality and so allow the player to overlook its
outlandish set up. In a similar vein, Adventure of a Lifetime uses
the beauty of its beaches to sell the real life equivalent of its
setting. Its protagonist goes there to help his grandmother with her
shop and ends up taking part in adventures, most notably a treasure
hunt. During these outings there is a notable focus on the islands
themselves as the lens through which their beauty and freedom should be
understood. It communicates these islands to be the only place were
this idyllic vision of the world can exist and so isolates the
experiences there in order to sell the player on the story’s
content while encouraging them to go their themselves. While this is
not quite a piece of tourist propaganda, Adventure of a Lifetime does
seem in love with its location and wants to express this enthusiasm
through the fantastically pretty locations and the nice people living
there.
Cut Off From The World
An
island surrounded by beaches can be a beautiful place for the sand,
sea and disconnection from the outside world it offers, but these
things can be turned on their head when this isolation is not
voluntary. Being cut from the world invokes a sense of fear through
the knowledge that no one is going to come if things go wrong and
they may never even know of your demise. In this context the initial
idyllic presentation takes on a sinister tone where it is the honey
to lure the characters into this trap. When being threatened with
death it is difficult to stop and appreciate the beauty which
continues this poisoning of the seaside as a positive place before
slowly reducing it to an impenetrable wall ever pressing down on the
cast. How much the visual novel leans into subverting the idyllic
beach setting depends on the importance they place on its visual and
tonal base and if this matches their overall direction. For example
Umineko presents is island setting with bright colours and light
atmosphere during the opening to its first chapter where the cast and
basics of the premise are introduced. However, this is quickly turned
on its head when a storm rolls in and the sky and sea darken as the
island shaped trap closes around the characters to coincide with the
ramping up of the murder mystery. After this point the subsequent
chapters never really deal with the island in anything more than the
abstract and this inverting of the idyllic imagery exists just for
this dramatic setup. For Umineko it is something brought in to serve
a specific purpose and, once that is done it is, discarded to make way
for the more important elements of its identity.
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| A prison has never looked this pretty |
On the opposite end of
the spectrum sits Danganronpa 2 which leans heavily into the idyllic
beaches of the island being a prison. Rather than inverting it into a
dark place, the game maintains the bright and colourful imagery
throughout the entire experience and instead makes what happens in
those locations horrific so as to change the player’s association
of the Beach from positive to negative. This fits within
Danganronpa’s over the top style and the match between the island’s
aesthetic disconnection from reality and the character’s insane
adventures allows this second game to push its absurdity to even
greater heights than in the original. The overall result is a beach
which is simultaneously beautiful and a death trap in a suitably
comedic fashion. Sitting between these two games is Island where the
beaches as the walls preventing escape is predominately mental in
nature. Unlike the previous two examples the protagonist is not
actually physically trapped on the island since boats off are easily
available, but nonetheless it feels like they are unable to leave.
This is achieved by having the beaches be the edges of the
protagonist’s world due to his amnesia and the constant feeling he
has to be doing something here. What starts out as an idyllic
paradise quickly takes on a darker edge when he is become ensnared in
lives of those he meets and has nowhere to run and nobody to turn to.
Conclusion
Beaches
and their connection with summer make for a powerful tool for visual
novels to control the player’s emotions and perception of the
story. It can invoke half remembered memories of our own childhood
summer holidays and create a feeling of freedom and a slightly
detachment from reality to help the narrative along. This can be
flipped on its head and the bright beaches can be the walls of a
prison where the detachment from the world becomes a negative
quality. Idyllic presentation runs through how the Beach is used in
visual novels with its colours and perfection surrounding the player
in its gentle and warm embrace. There is a lot on offer to a
developer who picks a seashore to be their core setting and if it
matches what you want out of your story then it has proved to be a
powerful source of emotion and ideas.
Senpai And Kouhai – Character And Cliche In Visual Novels
A Comedy Of Ages
The
particulars of the Senpai/Kouhai character are firmly rooted in the
way Japanese culture emphasises social hierarchy. As such they are
only really found in visual novels developed in Japan and absent in
the rest of the world unless they are trying to imitate that style.
Yet despite this factor it is an extremely prolific type of character
in the medium and has developed its own language of traits and
expectations. At the centre of the Senpai/Kouhai character’s world
is the protagonist since it in relationship to them that their
status is decided and with it all sort of power
dynamics. When romance gets added to the mix the differing ages of the
characters involved start to come to the forefront and plays a role
in shaping how they react and develop until a balance between them
can be established. Being so popular has lead to certain character
traits solidifying as being expected from these archetypes which reflect both their age and seniority. These troupes have formed
into a strong part of their core appeal with many visual novels with
a school setting leaning heavily into this desirability. Let’s
greet our Senpai/Kouhai and uncover how a seemly dry element of
social hierarchy became so popular.
Power Dynamics
Since
the Senpai/Kouhai owes their identity to their social position in
relation to the protagonist, there is a strong element of hierarchy
to how they are presented within the story. While it is rare for them
to abuse their position to compel the protagonist, they still engage
in acts appropriate for their status and form an initial relationship
with the protagonist through this lens from which they can build out
into whatever form needed by the narrative. Schools provide the most
common and easy to understand version of this use of status so this
setting will be the primary source of examples for this phenomenon.
For the Senpai their status is born from the seniority of age and this is reflected in the positions they occupy such a club or student council president.
These titles immediately present an air of authority to the player
and set an easy baseline for their interactions with the Senpai. In
addition they offer a simple source of friction between the Senpai,
their responsibilities and their own wishes which is a great basis
for a character arc. Amaha Miu, from Mashiro-iro Symphony, is the
president of the Nuko club and has to grapple with running it
including financing it through her own part-time job. As such it
plays a major role in her story since as a third year student she
will soon have to leave it behind and when the protagonist joins it
helps create a baseline for their banter and mutual respect. Despite
being a gentle character Miu does pull rank on the protagonist on
occasion out of concern for him and this soft power provides a good
sense of her maturity in comparison to the protagonist since she
understand when and how to use her authority. Another Senpai style
character who has notable authority is Charles Maroth, from Da Capo
III, the student council president. Being in the highest student
position gives her an authority over the rest of the cast and the way they
talk with her often reflects this respect. This makes her rivalry
with her vice president Ricca stand out to the player as it
undermines the initial universal respect the player would expect and
creates a curiosity the game can capitalise on later. Playing with
how this authority is thought about by others takes the edge of this
power and provides an avenue for her weaknesses to come through
without completely ruining her Senpai role.
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| She is not the sharpest tool in the box |
As for the Kouhai, their
position is that of the inferior and subordinate and rely on the
protagonist as their Senpai to act as their senior and a responsible
individual. This is not the same as them being weak and incapable but
rather an understanding of social status within the school structure
even if they can be somewhat cheeky at times due to their youth. A common strategy to create drama is to
play up this youthfulness as a kind of ignorance and have the Kouhai
make a big mistake due to overconfidence or not listening to their
Senpai. Toumine Tsukasa, from Irotoridori no Sekai, looks up to the
protagonist as their Senpai and sees them as a source of wisdom. Her
high energy and ignorance about the world highlight their youth and
the role which the protagonist takes in protecting them and acting as
a guiding point or senior. There is a definite over-exaggeration of
the Kouhai identity in Tsukasa for the purposes of comic effect given
she is so gullible to be beyond simple inexperience, but it still
achieves the desired effect of the player wanting to make sure she
does not come to any harm. A Kouhai’s respect can be merely
performative as is the case with Arimura Hinae, from Chaos;Child, who
only ever invokes her status as the protagonist’s Kouhai when it is
convenient for her or as a sign of mockery. She is a character whose
disrespect and confidence are a sign of her immaturity and they end
up coming back to bite her when she pushes her luck due to this trait
then needs to be bailed out. It also works as a means of establishing her weakness through an already present social dynamic and so make
it feel more like an organic exploration of her and the protagonist’s
changing relationship.
Romance Takes The Wheel
Once
the Senpai/Kouhai has entered into a romantic relationship with the
protagonist their dynamic shifting to accommodate this change. At
this point the seniority element of their interactions becomes an
uncomfortable issue to be worked around and most games aim to have it
disappear into the background to avoid any problematic abuses of
power within their romance. What often ends up happening is the
playing up of the relative maturity of the Senpai/Kouhai as a source
of endearment or comedy to take the edge off their previous dynamic.
This can lead to a reduction in the emotional complexity of said
character if not handled well since it is the removal or
simplification of a core aspect of their identity. Even outside of
romance the seniority element often finds itself sidelined in favour
of other kinds of drama when it is not the story’s core focus for
similar reason. It makes the inclusion of such a character outside
of a main heroine role potentially problematic due to lack of time to
smooth over their transition into what the narrative needs of them.
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| You can just hear the 'Ara Ara' |
For a Senpai example of this tendency, Renjouji Mai, from Secret
Agent, can showcase an attempt to reconcile this friction. Her role
as a Senpai and Captain of the Knights is a major focus of her
initial introduction and relationship with the protagonist. Yet once
the player enters her route this aspect almost instantly disappears
when it concerns the protagonist as the game tries to rebalance their
connection into a suitable romantic one to meet the needs of the
romance genre. She morphs into more of a doting older sister kind of
character where the age difference is merely an extra avenue for her to
express her love for the protagonist. However, her seniority and its
burdens still remain unchanged within the context of the dramatic
plot points and her character development. This results in a weird
sense of whiplash between how important her status as Senpai is to
the story and to the protagonist with a stark line drawn to divide these elements. It feels
like the game is trying to have its cake and eat it and highlights
how blending romance and the need for drama using the Senpai role can
be a challenge to keep coherent. Andou Misaki, from Chrono Clock, is
a Kouhai who can demonstrate the opposite extreme manner visual
novels handle this transition into romance. Rather than a sharp cut
off, her loss of Kouhai status is a gradual process used to further
the idea of her bond with the protagonist becoming closer and the
barriers between them dissolving. On the other hand the game does not
use her Kouhai aspects for any narrative purposes so it remaining
prominent could have clashed with the character growth she undergoes.
The issue with this approach is the way the Kouhai role almost feels
redundant since it is neither a strong selling point for her
character nor important for her arc and the player may feel cheated
or confused at this shift in her personality. Neither of these
attempts to deal with the Senpai/Kouhai relationship as part of
romance can deal with the fundamental issues brought about by the
imbalance in power between the relationship’s participants. They
can only paste over the cracks and try to move away from it as
smoothly as possible.
Confident, Teasing and Energetic
Having
such a specific social relationship with protagonist has resulted in
the Senpai/Kouhai character developing a number of personality
archetypes and traits to meet the audience’s expectations. These
work as a shorthand for the normal elements of this dynamic and aim
to shape it into a desirable trait for the players to become attached
to as they interact with the character. It also creates a common design language of their
place within the player’s understanding of the
archetype in a new visual novel. Let us go through a few of the most
common traits or combinations to see this influence in action. In
Shigure Asa, from Shuffle!, can be seen the outgoing and mischievous
Senpai archetype where her maturity gives her the wisdom to outplay
the protagonist in social situations while being generally liked by
all and gets involved in their problems. There is a strong emphasis
in her maternal personality through the care she gives others and the mixture of
domestic skills from her participation on the cook club with the
confidence she outwardly presents to others. What makes this
appealing is the way Asa ends up revealing her vulnerability
alongside her strengths and her teasing ends up being played on her
instead for an entertaining swapping of roles and a humanising which
differs from her self-presentation. The maturity of the Senpai is
important to their traits and Ciel, from Tsukihime, showcases how that
wisdom can be played up to make for a loveable character. She is a
gentle and knowledgable person as befits her status as the
protagonist’s Senpai and is always there to be a rock they can rely
on in the face of chaotic events. This stability gives her a kind of
soft power through the wisdom she can offer and how she presents it
to the protagonist while being able to gently and powerfully suggest
he does not do anything reckless. Even if the protagonist might not
follow her guidance she is still willing to step in to help and, even
has her less altruistic motives come to light, she cannot help but do
what is right due to her sense of responsibility demanding it.
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| She is everything the protagonist is not |
Unlike
the Senpai, a Kouhai can have a larger range of their initially
presented personalities since their youth or inexperience allow them
to openly have a weakness on display. The twins Himeyuri Sango and
Ruri, from ToHeart2, are good examples of the breadth of traits
present within the archetype. Sango is naive and has quite a child
like attitude towards the world around her and the people she
interacts with. It a curiosity and lack of world experience which
would be expected from someone young so it triggers the player’s
desire to protect her from mistakes she might make. Yet
this does not exclude her from being able to display intelligence in
matters of being an older sister and her work maid gynoids since it
does not directly contradict the worldly wisdom she lacks. In
contrast to her is Ruri who is the younger of the twins and prone to
outbursts of emotion and possessiveness especially when it concerns
Sango. This lack of control over her emotions is due to having not
developed proper self control yet and communicates clearly the state
of her development into an adult. Just like Sango’s naivety, this
speaks to a time in our lives where we were the same while invoking
the idea of this time in her life as being precious and worth turning
the other check when she lashes out. As the extremes of the Kouhai
spectrum they make for perfect twins since the player gets to enjoy
the complete Kouhai experience. The Kouhai’s wide-eyed and naive
beliefs in the good of the world can also function as a counterpoint
to the protagonist’s cynicism such as with Claris Zeinburg, from
Meteor World Actor. She is a fresh faced rookie and still possesses
faith in the good their work is doing and acts on this conviction
even if her inexperience does cause her to slip up regularly. A
relationship forms with the protagonist being the unwilling Senpai to
a Kouhai who wants him to sort his act out. This is a mutually
beneficial kind use of the Kouhai archetype since it endears the
player to both parties where their banging of heads humanises them.
Only visual novels containing strongly defined protagonists tend to
use this type of Kouhai given a self insert would not provide enough
material to create a believable dynamic.
Conclusion
Age
and seniority are the defining elements of the Senpai/Kouhai
character where their relative position to the protagonist often
defines their personalities and place within the world. This means a
Senpai/Kouhai has to occupy a place within a social hierarchy like a
school and assume the roles associated with their status such student
council president or a new club member. It also results in the
formation of certain archetypes to meet the player’s exceptions from
the gentle and mature Senpai to the impulsive and emotional Kouhai.
When they end up in a romantic relationship with the protagonist
their role as a Senpai/Kouhai has to awkwardly fade into the
background so the pair can be on equal ground and avoid any
unfortunate abuses of power. Overall, the Senpai/Kouhai is born from
the rigid and structured nature of Japanese society and it makes
little sense to use it outside of this context so it is best avoided
if you are not deliberately trying to emulate this style.
The Pillagers Of Raillore Review – Two Lives Divided By Disaster
Genre – Medieval Fantasy, Action, Superpowers Play Time – 20 hours Developer - 3rdEye MangaGamer(18+) VNDB
Stealing Your Future
The
technological marvels and achievements of the modern world have faded, its cities now lie in ruins and humanity has return to living in
medieval conditions. The existence of various kinds of superpowers
called Dunamis have shaped this new world and the ruins of the past
are pillaged for anything of value. In this world two young men
living vastly different lives find themselves swept up in the tides
of change and must utilise their unique powers to navigate these
choppy waters. Raillore jumps between the perspectives of these two
protagonists and it is through their eyes the player will witness
this vibrant world with its own social problems. There is a strong
theming around acceptance of others and the damaging effects of
discrimination which helps add texture to even minor characters.
The cast surrounding the two protagonists are endearing and form
entertaining dynamics to further push the groups character arcs and
solidify the side of the world they occupy. When it comes to the
supernatural battles 3rdEye continue to be one of the best at
capturing the intensity and momentum of combat in a visual novel
form. However, there are a number of quite large issues with Raillore
from the protagonist’s stories being detached from one another to
its intrusive sexuality. Are these problems the death blow to this
imaginative world? Let’s steal someone’s power and find out.
Divided Down The Middle – Narrative and Themes
Front
and centre of Raillore’s narrative presentation are the twin
stories of its two protagonists, Reno and Graydric, and their
individual journeys form the solid core around which everything
rotates. Their joint trauma steaming from a catastrophe which
occurred during their childhood leads them down vastly different
paths. Reno ends up as part of the Regulatory Corps while Graydric
sinks into the underbelly of society. Their isolated stories give
them the space to explore these two characters as they unpick the
damage that has warped them. For Reno, he must face this
unwillingness to live without the orders of others while Graydric has
to learn to love himself again after all he has done and accept the
affection others have for him. Neither are initially willing to do so
and their attempts to run away from it even as it catches up to them
gives them strong arcs which feel earned while justifying their long
length. These contrasting looks at the same world allow for a more
nuanced presentation of the various problems it faces and the state
of humanity beyond the walls of Raillore. It frames the characters’
actions within this clashing of circumstances and this helps justify why
their beliefs have ended up the way they are and create a baseline
level of sympathy towards the suffering they undergo. The unveiling
of this world is also slow so there is always something new for the
player to experience even in the later parts which supports
the narrative idea of this as an expansive place filled with all
types of people. Showing these different groups gives the game room
to push its core theme about acceptance and the dangers of
discrimination through both its world and its characters. The
existence of Errors and the use of the threat they supposedly pose as a
justification for terrible treatment is the main way this theme
influences the cast since some become Errors and have to grapple with
this reality. Most of the first half of the game is focused around
this conflict over the existence of Errors and it utilises this time
well to create an emotionally resonant argument against this
discrimination while still making people’s lingering fears feel
somewhat justified. This theming around discrimination is hardly
revolutionary and plays out much as one would expect for it, but its
sincerity and how it is tied into the narrative stakes and character
arcs lend it a memorable quality and a good remainder as to why this
theme is so timeless.
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| Acceptance is core to Raillore's theming |
Cracks
start to show when it comes to the transitions between these two
protagonist’s POVs and the way the game handles the points where
their stories intersect. These transition are not smooth in the
slightest with one character’s story coming to a sudden and
juddering halt to swap to the other protagonist so they can have
their turn. It is also unwilling to go back in time and show events
from the other POV and instead continues from the present just
swapping character, but the result is large chunks of time from each
protagonist’s story just being missing and the game have to rapidly
catch the player up to speed. As you can imagine every time this
happens there is a sizeable period where there is confusion about what is going and it draws the player out of
the experience as they have spend time adjusting to the new
information. Another strange choice which plays into this disconnect
is the lack of any pause given where the player is encourage to view
the side episodes which unlock at regular intervals. Instead the game
just continues on and it would not be surprising if the player
completely forgot about them and just barrelled straight onwards
since that is what it encourages them to do. This is a shame since
these episodes do a lot of work for the side characters if viewed
during the sections they are unlocked. Then there is the issue of the
divide between the first and second halves of the story. The problems
around the Errors discrimination have begun to be resolved and the
major players of the narrative have all been put to rest with a
vaguely hopeful future ahead of them. This appears to be a perfect
point to end the game since everything the player was invested in has
met some kind of resolution, but then the game plays a second opening
and just continues onwards. No big twist occurs, no shift in our
understanding to justify a new conflict, it just keeps going.
Eventually, it does create a new solid threat and build on the characters’
arcs, but for a long period there is a jarring sense that the game
should already be over since its main theme and narrative push have
been put to rest. There is even a big fight at the end of the first
half which feels climatic enough to be the final battle since it is
against someone the characters have a meaningful connect to. These
sources of friction in the experience of playing Raillore make it
very bumpy and impede the player’s ability to invest themselves
into the experience.
Yet
there is a more fundamental issue with Raillore’s narrative in the
form of narrative event happening for the sake of the plot rather
than being driven by the characters. A majority of the time when
something important or dramatic happens it is done solely to push the plot rather than being caused by character action or the
consequences of it. In the first half of the game this is not as
present an issue since it can rely on the novelty of the world and
growing escalation of stakes work to conceal this plot centric
attitude. However, in the second half a lot of events and actions
just happen to make for a dramatic moment only to never be brought up
again or otherwise just swept under the rug in favour of the shiny
new twist or battle it has put in front of the player. Without going
into too much detail for the sake of spoilers, there are a series of
plot twists towards the end of the game which almost appear to come
out of nowhere and be disconnected from everything else, all for the
sake of having a final superpowered fight which feel out of place
against the otherwise human and emotional story before this point.
 |
| This pair have great chemistry when they actually get to talk properly |
Another
more minor issue is the way it handles its erotic scenes and how they
feel slapped into the main plot out of obligation. They all begin out
of nowhere, one moment everything is normal and then suddenly
everything is erotic. It is odd to say the least since the
justifications for them are weak at best and almost all of them are not
mentioned ever again once the deed is done. Then there is the
non-consensual undertone to all of the main story scenes on the part
of the male characters. Reno cannot give consent since he is
incapable of saying no to anything people ask of him so it becomes
very uncomfortable when the women who know this fact proceed to
engage in erotic activities with him as they exercise this control.
While Graydric is a normal person and can consent, he somehow ends up
with even more non-consensual scenes, one of which even has him being
tied up while he was unconscious. These are never directly presented
as non-consensual since the game does not seem to care enough to
consider the context or content of them. Yet it is not a great time
for the player to be thrust suddenly into something so awkward to
witness.
Interlocking Lives – Characters
Surrounding
each protagonist is a separate ensemble of characters and while some
do cross over between the pair, the majority stick to their lanes. As
such they are highly focused on being connected to their
protagonist’s story and intertwined with the themes of their side. The character arcs of these groups also tend to mirror
their protagonist's own by taking their core ideas and tackling them from a
different angle. Reno and Tilt both have to grapple with what it
means to choose a path for themselves. While Reno must escape an
unwillingness to do so, Tilt has to confront the truth that the
choices she been making have not adhered to the ideals she thought
they held. Having such a dynamics spread of character conflicts which
push in the same direction allows for the cast to clash and support
each other in an organic manner and sells them as a cohesive and
caring group. It also makes playing as each protagonist feel distinct
since the cast they interact with is so vastly different in feel
to see interact and displays the variety of people
who live in Raillore. This is all extremely important since the game
relies heavily on its character moments to fill the space between
major plot beats and this down time is frequent enough to the point
weak characterisation could have severely undermined the whole
experience. Banter between these characters is entertaining since
they are more than willing to push back against their protagonist and
the emotional tension of the arcs keeps it feeling fresh.
 |
| Ollstatt is perhaps the only good antagonist |
By
far the weakest group of characters are the villains who range from
comically evil to poorly developed. They seem to solely exit for the
sake of introducing conflict rather than having justifiable reason
for their actions. Flat is the simplest way of expressing this lack of substance, they
lack any sense of existing beyond their presence on screen which
stand out in stark contrast to the main cast’s strong identities.
This is a massive issue because the second half of the game is
primarily driven forward through their actions so this absence of
proper characterisation gets pushed in the player’s face. The
weakness of these characters can be seen through one of the recurring
antagonist’s Ellikate who is Graydric primarily opposition. Outside
of being generally sadistic and obsessed with Graydric, there is
nothing to his character and he pops up whenever the plot needs
something evil to happen in order to motivate the cast. His
connection with Graydric is weak at best and is only loosely expanded
upon throughout the entire game so their final confrontation feels
unearned and an emotionally hollow. This is not helped by the fact
the game has to stop the finale briefly so he and Graydric can have
their final fight since he has nothing to do with the main plot at
this point. Unfortunately this acting in the service of introducing
conflict is not solely confined to villains as some of the main cast
will act completely nonsensically in order to create drama. The
character who suffers the most from these twists is Rurunia. She has a plot
twist late in the game which is designed to recontextualise her
actions but actually just makes her look stupid since her plan is so
contrived and relied on a lot of things going right for it to work.
This also leads to her wildly jumping around what role in the
narrative she occupies depending on what the plot needs from her at
that moment and is a symptom of the poor executed nature of the
finale. No other main cast member has it quite as bad as Rurunia, but
many do have moments of stupidity which feel similarly
detached from what would be reasonable for them.
Jumping Into The Action – Visual, Audio And Technical
It
should come as no surprise that the action scenes in a game focused
around big action set pieces are extremely well put together. There
is an extensive use of movement through all aspects of the visual
presentation in order to communicate a battle’s impact and position
of each participant. This is achieved through a clever use of cuts
between images, moving the camera around and a rapid swapping of
character sprites. Cutting between images is used as a means to show
the position of the currently speaking or acting character and often
changes mid sentence to match their continued momentum within the
fight. Meanwhile the camera is zooming and out while shifting around
to match what the protagonist is looking at or show how much they are
being knocked about. What draws all of this together is the wide
variety of character portraits Raillore has specifically for these
action scenes which show the cast in action poses perfect for using
in a lot of different contexts. The soundtrack does an excellent job
at selling the tension and energy needed for these scenes to work and
it immediately tells the player exactly what is about to go down.
Having a generally vibrate fantasy aesthetic to the visuals also
reinforces this energy and pushes the potentially lethal nature of
these conflicts as the magical powers shoot off in all directions.
3rdEye’s expertise really shines here and everything they have
learned from their previous titles has been refined into a smooth and
engaging dramatic clash.
 |
| It is very clear from one look what her outfit aims to present |
If
there is one aspect which brings the visuals down it is the game’s
failure to understand when it is appropriate to display its ‘sexy’
parts. In particular the shoving of panty shots into the face of the
player during actions scenes where they receive a face full of
underwear when they should be focused on the tension and danger of
the situation. These are sudden flashes rather than a prolonged
exposure but the damage they do to the intended feel of an action
scene cannot be overstated. It creates a weird whiplash between male
and female battles with the former being complete consistent in tone
while the later can feel like watching a strip tease. This leads into
how aggressively sexy some of the character’s outfits can be. The
majority are of the mild variety such as Fi and Tilt with the
customary chest hole which is silly look, but well within
what is expected of an eroge and it is easy to put aside. However,
there are character’s like Easla Eilain who the game treats like a
sex object at times. Her outfit barely constitutes clothing with
how much skin it shows and the impossible way it is held together. If
it where only this then it would barely be worth noting but what
makes this uncomfortable is the way everyone ogles her and her sexiness is a constant thought in Greydric’s mind over any
thoughts about her as a person. She does not use this attractiveness
as a weapon or even seem aware of it and it is only through a male
gaze that she is considered this way so making her a victim of it
rather than it empowering her. What makes this worse is the fact she
is a main character in Greydric’s story so is constantly on screen
and regularly subject to this treatment by the game and it is detracts
from her strong personal arc. Coupled with the previously mentioned
sudden erotic scenes, it is clear Raillore has no idea how to handle
its status as an eroge and flails around desperately trying to met
its obligations to the genre.
Conclusion
Creating
a compelling superpower action narrative in a visual novel is no
small feat and the creativity 3rdEye put into Raillore cannot be
overstated. The strong focus on a pair of protagonists allows for
emotional moments to naturally arise around which the combat can take
place and helps give it a greater punch. Clever use of movement and a
larger pool of character sprites provides a reliable sense of what is
happening on screen and where each character is in relation to one
another while also offering quite a spectacle. Surrounding each
protagonist are a cast of characters who’s struggles give context
to the conflicts and invest the player in the outcome so they are on
the edge of their seats at every clash of blades. This is not a game
without issues from its uncomfortable relationship with its sexual
content to the messy way characters serve the plot and these do drag
down the experience in a distracting manner. This brings us to the
elephant in the room, 3rdEye has released another game called Sorcery
Jokers which is extremely similar to Raillore in terms of the plot
structure, overall tone and content and it does not suffer from
the major problems of Raillore. While it does have issues of its own,
they are relatively minor compared to Raillore’s to the point at
which it would be a struggle to recommend Raillore when Sorcery
Jokers is just a better version of it. Raillore is more for a player
who has already finished Sorcery Jokers and wants more of the same
but does not mind the drop in quality.
Verdict –
Dynamic action is supported by a duel protagonist set up to
create a heart pumping and high stakes fantasy narrative. Yet its
many flaws and the existence of a better version of the experience in
Sorcery Jokers make it difficult to recommend.
Pros-
+
Engaging stories for each protagonist with strong arcs and an interesting world to back it up and justify their actions.
+
Lovable cast surrounding each protagonist who have their own stories
and reasons to grow and change.
+
Excellent action scenes which use a smart mix of movement and asset
positioning to great effect while being backed up by a suitably
dramatic soundtrack.
Cons-
-
The duel protagonist structure results in the narrative constantly
starting and stopping due to the disconnected nature of the two
character’s stories.
-
At the end of the first half there is a perfectly good ending point,
but the game just continues on despite all narrative momentum having
come to a stop.
-
Villains are weak and exist just to have something for the cast to
battle.
-
Cast serve the plot rather than themselves and perform all kinds of
nonsensical and contrived actions as a result.
-
Does not understand how to appropriately use its sexual element
leading to distracting panty shots in serious battles and jarring
erotic scenes starting out of nowhere.
Best Visual Novel Releases – January 2026
Now
we are well and truly into the new year, it is time to look to all the
new releases and see how the visual novel space has started the year.
This is month defined by passionate fans as much as official studios
with modern murder mysteries and romances existing alongside new
translations of DS and PS2 games from memorable series and
developers. Let’s dive in and find out what you should be playing
from the past month.
Official Releases
Ren'ai 0 Kilometer
This
one is an earlier title from ASa Project, the developer behind all the Ren'ai
titles, which originally came out in 2011 and has now received an
English release. As with all their games this is comedy first and
focus on the messy antics of family life with all the hilarious
situations it brings. It follows the protagonist who has been swapped from a
family with only sons into one with only daughters in a kind of
absurd child exchange. Naturally the inserting of man into an all
female environment is accompanied by the expected misunderstandings
between them and this is combined with the studio’s typical over the top style to
prevent it from coming across as too familiar. There is certain lack
of the polish when compared to the studio's later games in terms of its art
and the consistency of its vision, but these wrinkles help set it
apart from their other output. It makes for a well put together
comedy which should meet player’s expectations while giving them a
glimpse into how the developer’s identity has been shaped over the
years.
DUSK INDEX: GION
A
detective mystery spanning 100 years drives DUSK INDEX’s core
conflict when a murder in the present is found to heavily resemble an
unsolved one from the Meiji era. Through the use of a state of the art
AR system Katsuki Daiki and Quinn Rio recreate the past and set about
unravelling the threads connecting these deaths. The blurring of the
lines between this AR recreation and the present day is one of the
game’s most interesting additions to the murder mystery formula and
helps keep the player guessing about how exactly the two are
connected. The contrast between the culture of the two times also
makes for an amusing gateway into the changes which began in the
Meiji era. For those looking for a dose of that detective fantasy
this will be an excellent ride with enough unique spice to keep you
engaged until the credits roll.
Temirana: The Lucky Princess and the Tragic Knights
Nintendo Eshop VNDB Genre
– Otome, Fantasy, Political Intrigue Play Time – 60 hours
Leaning
heavily into the medieval fantasy setting, Temirana puts an emphasis
on the knights and royalty aspects of the setting and pushes the
ensuing drama to the forefront. It follows the ‘cursed’ princess
as she forms her band of knights from some less than likely
candidates and together they must face the machinations
surrounding them. This is a game very focused around its suitors and
understands how make the heroine occupy a place in their life which
fosters the pair’s mutual growth while serving up a good dose of
twists and turns. Each knight comes from a different part of the
social structure of the kingdom leading to a rounded sense of its
people and the politics which the heroine rubs up against. This
allows for a further distinguishing of the suitors from one another
as they pull the heroine into their world. Overall, this is an otome
with strong understanding of what makes the fantasy of a princess and
her knights so appealing.
Dark Auction
Mixing
3D adventure game mechanics with a story set in 1980’s Germany is
one way to make a game stand out. Noah Crawford finds himself trapped
in a castle with a motley group of other guests who all attended the
auction for items related to ‘Dictator X’ and must engage in this
strange event in order to escape. Each part of the auction revolves
around using memories to uncover the truth about the items and the
other participants in a high stakes environment. The distinctive
aesthetic and odd ball characters in this real world setting do a lot
of the heavy lifting when it comes to keeping the player engaged and the
resulting picture is one where cast drama and the plot beats come
together seamlessly. If you want something trying to break the mould
then you will have a good time with this period mystery.
Fan Translations
Mabino×Style
Patch Download VNDB Genre
- Dating/Raising Simulator, Fantasy
From
the strange and experimental era that is the PS2, this fan
translation brings a classic KID title to the English speaking
audience and it is certainly an odd one. It merges the twin
simulation mechanics of dating and raising into a tale about love at
a school for magic. Selecting which girl to train with, going on
dates with them and choosing the correct responses to their dialogue
is the bread and butter of how the player will get to know them.
Since this game came out in 2005 it has all the standard ecchi and
romcom troupes of its time and it makes
for an interesting time-capsule for all the good and bad aspect of
this era. This blast from the past is a well constructed and worth
your time if this style of simulation appeals to you.
The Series of Haruhi Suzumiya
Patch Download VNDB Genre
– Anime Spin off, Puzzle, Mini Games Play Time – 7 hours
It
has been quite a long time since the last Haruhi anime which should
indicate the age of this game and sure enough it is a DS title with
all the touch screen antics this entails. One day Kyon receives a
mysterious message about the seven school mysteries and Haruhi
immediately jumps on this as a reason to investigate them. Of course
the mysteries turn out to be more real than Haruhi knows so it is up
to the club members to deal with them while concealing the truth from
their ever curious leader. Mechanically there is a large puzzle
element where the player must remove a number of singularities within
a time limit and offers enough engagement to keep the player invested
in the cast’s struggles. Given its spin off nature, this is a game
for fans of the series and performs to their expectations, but it
will just fly over the head of everyone else.
Comedy For The Soul: Humour, Empathy And Pathos – An Anatomy Of Visual Novels
A Moment Of Happiness
When
a story chooses to include a joke or comedy situation it is done with
the aim of directing the watcher’s attention to a specific element and add
impact to it. Visual novels follow this convention and, outside of
dedicated comedy titles, use it as a means of highlighting characters
or cues for later pathos. The standard way this often
presents itself is as a pacing mechanism to create empathy through
the funny events or misunderstandings happening to the characters and
acts as a quick and easy way to build a connection. In games aiming
for a serious tone, comedy is valued for what it offers through
contrast and to sharpen the knife of sadness so driving it in can be all the more powerful. Of course these uses of humour are highly
reliant on the developer knowing when to correctly place them and
there is nothing which can do greater damage than a joke which breaks
the delicate tension of a scene. Let’s crack a smile and see what
these uses of comedy bring to visual novels.
Empathy Of Humour
Comedy
is a favourite method of visual novels for quickly creating a
connection between the player and the cast. Games focused on
other elements for their core themes and tone have comedy as a
short lived means of blending empathy and pacing. Its levity adds a
means of humanising the strong and dramatic emotions portrayed
elsewhere and showcase the cast as existing beyond the story’s
twists and turns. Making mistakes is part of being human and lending
into this fallibility within a harmless context gives a character a
feeling of life without undermining them by presenting an unwanted
harmful weakness. Looking at Ever 17 can help define what this use of
humour actually looks like to the player. Fundamentally its story is
a serious one about a group of people trapped underwater with the
spectre of death hanging over them, but the game understands this
tone on its own is not conducive to establishing and building nuanced
and likeable characters. As such it regularly breaks up the building
of mystery and drama with moments of comedy. These are of various
lengths depending on the space available and offers some small piece
of characterisation for those involved. The eclectic nature of the
cast’s identities in terms of age, personality and even their
status as human assists in creating a diversity to these situations
to prevent them from becoming stale and losing the player’s
interest, thus reinforcing the empathy which is key to their success.
It is important to note the gradual phasing out of these comedy
sections over the course of the narrative to match the shift into the
climax where such humour would clash with the stakes.
 |
| Humour can make you feel for something which is not human |
There is a risk
when using this type of fast humour for the laughter to be directed
at the characters rather than the situation resulting in distance from them being created. If the jokes are at the cast’s expense then
it can be off putting since it comes across as the game hitting them
with a big stick and asking the player to laugh. This may not be the
title’s intent, but the result is a feeling of not wanting to
emotionally invest in characters which the game itself does not seem
to care about. For these games the jokes are less important then
their impact and as such there is a tendency to lean into cliché for
efficiency both in terms of how much time has to dedicate to it and
the way it can be expected to be understood by the player. This is not
necessarily a negative inside a visual novel which has leaned into
genre clichés more broadly since it meets the player’s
expectations and it can smooth out rough edges. Of course written large here is the risk of boring
the player with scenarios or jokes they have heard or experienced
countless times before. This boredom is going to cause them to tune
out the events on screen and miss the attempts to build
empathy.
We Laugh So We Can Cry
Division
and contrast can be formed through how comedy is placed within
relation to serious narrative elements. The common way visual novels
like to use this trait is by splitting the story into two sections, a
humour filled light opening which then transitions into the conflict
driven march towards the climax. Providing such a clear divide
invites to player to compare the two extremes of emotion and so
heighten the impact of each side through this contrast. It also
establishes a state the characters can desire go back to and this can
form their core motivation, directly or indirectly shown in their
actions, while synchronising their intent with the player’s own
fond memories of those times. Such an obvious shift can run the risk
of feeling artificial if done to abruptly and relies of on an almost
insidious transition that seeps the serious elements in until they
overcome the cast’s happiness. When skilfully executed this
approach can be flexibly included in a variety of genres with the
only caveat being the need for a heavy character focus. This
requirement is due to contrast being related to the treatment of the
cast by the story and as such the more time it spends on them the
greater the eventual change will be.
 |
| Key understand how to use comedy as a means to drive the emotional knife in |
Let us compare a couple of
prominent examples to see their common set up and execution despite being from different genres. These two are Clannad, a slice of life and
romance, and Steins;Gate, a sci-fi thriller. Perhaps the first thing
the player will notice when booting up these games is the way they
lean heavily into comedy in their opening hours centred around each
member of the cast in turn and then in various groups so as to create
both a base emotional framework for them as individuals and their
relationships to one another. Here the exact execution of the tone
surrounding the comedy showcases the differences in genre with
Clannad being far more sentimental and introspective while
Steins;Gate is slowly turning up danger with its time travel. They
both spend a long time in this initial comedy infused stage where
very little plot movement is actually happening and instead the games
are reliant on the antics of their cast to keep the player amused. It
is notable that Steins;Gate has received criticism for how long it
spends in this space before the action ramps up which does highlight
how much of a delicate balancing act its inclusion can be and the way
it can cause of loss of interest over the long term. Eventually the
good times have to end and this pair have different ways of going
about achieving the switch. For Clannad the process is slow and involves
a narrowing of the focus onto a single heroine and then landing a gut
punch to seal the deal. On the other hand Steins;Gate’s cut off is
far more immediate and dramatic as the jokes end with a sudden and
unforgiving dose of reality for the cast. These fit the genres each
title belongs to and makes sure the contrast created serves the
greater narrative while keeping the early sections in the player’s
mind. Deep inside the serious sections both of these games sometimes
invoke what has been lost from the happier times of the comedy
and morns them while inviting the player to do the same in order to
create a release of emotion or a build up for the eventual return of those smiles.
Knowing When To Crack A Joke
The
death of tension is at the pointy end of a joke. Inserting comedy in
the wrong moment can ruin the tone a story has been trying so hard to
build up. Keeping it to appropriate moments might seem like an easy
task but knowing when to hold back can be difficult if a visual
novel is on the lighter end of the spectrum. This is caused by the
blending of smaller jokes and situations into the narrative not being
smooth enough or mistimed and the player can interpreted these in a
way the developer never intended. Should the developer just be sloppy
with their implementation of comedy then the results will be even
more damaging due to inconsistent tones making for a constant feeling
of whiplash against what would be expected from the story. The
presence of humour has to undergo a process of careful consideration
when implemented where the surrounding material is looked at to see
how compatible it is with the intended humour or situation. Being too
surgical can cause a separate problem of giving the pacing an
artificial feeling so a natural flow has to be given precedence here.
 |
| Raillore's jokes mostly keep to their lane but sometimes they put their foot in their mouth |
Finding the perfect balance is a challenging task so it is
unsurprising to see the occasional hiccup every now and then
especially when characters make jokes as a means of coping or hiding
their feelings where it becomes easier for this mistake to seep in. This can be seen in The Pillagers of Raillore with Graydric and his
surrounding cast members. In order to contrast him against the other
protagonist, the ever serious Reno, the game has him present a front
of jokes and a lack of self seriousness and his companions all
broadly follow this lighter style of interaction. This works well for
its intended purpose but when it runs alongside the moments where the
cast are in genuine danger an issue forms. Here the game often continues to make
jokes or place the characters in silly situations even when it should
be selling the stakes of the battle. Part of how it manifests stems for the title’s status as an eroge and the use of ecchi
humour around Graydric’s interactions with woman which is often the
way it oversteps its role. This clash is not a consistent problem so
it is clear the developers had some understanding of the issue and it
is instead an accident brought about through an underestimating of
the damage this comedy can do.
Conclusion
Knowing
how and when to use bits of comedy allows visual novels to gain a
means of expressing humanity and pathos while not contradicting its
main identity. Levity is something humans engage with as a means of
social expression and so we naturally latch onto it which makes it
easier to have a player form a bond and allows for better pacing.
This humour must not overstep its bounds or the result is a messy
presentation where the player is confused by the mixed messages and
taken out of the experience. Through creating a clear divide between
the earlier comedy sections and the later serious ones a title can
contrast them to remind the player of the good times and morn what
has been lost. Jokes are far from a blunt instrument and you should
carefully consider their use in your own projects to gain these
benefits without harming the story you want to tell.
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