Sunday, September 3, 2023
Genre – Urban Fantasy, Suspense, Horror, Action Play Time – 30 hours Developer – Type Moon VNDB
Will It Disappear At Dawn?
The
remake of Tsukihime was once considered a dead project by the fanbase
due to how long it took to show any results to the point of being a running joke. Even when it finally did
produce something the resulting visual novel only covered the first
half of the original with the second half coming later. This release
was subtitled A Piece of Blue Glass Moon and is the subject this
review. The game covers the Near Side routes, these being Arcueid and
Ciel, which focus around the greater world of Tsukihime with its
supernatural forces on full display. In the original this was
arguably the weaker half of the game given its role to act as set up for the other routes and in particular how much Ciel’s route retreads a lot of Arcueid’s
route. Through this remake Type Moon tried to address these
shortcomings of the original 2000s title and create a definitive
version of their first work with the bells and whistles provided by
modern techniques and a vastly bigger budget. Was the wait worth it
or does this vampiric tale burn in the light of day? Let’s skulk
under moonlight and find out.
Once Again Walking With Death – Narrative and Themes
As
a remake there are certain expectations the game inherits from the
original when it comes to content, characters and overall theming.
This is a strong and well defined legacy to inherit and there are
times when you can feel the game struggle under its weight as it can
occasionally give certain moments more emphasis then they deserve.
However, overall the title is a broad success in terms of preserving
and enhancing the elements which made the Near Side so distinctive,
these being a commitment to psychological and vampiric horror, a leaning
towards action and world building. For Arcueid’s route this hold
especially true since the game copies much of that route verbatim
with the only real alterations being made on the moment to moment
interactions between characters, otherwise this revision is faithful
to a fault. Beyond the adhering to the original there is an
understanding of what the new technology can bring to older scene
that enhances them in a such a way that you know the original would
have done the same if it had the ability to do so. This includes the
proper use of movement, lighting and camera angles to sell the
emotion the text is trying to invoke in a subtle way so as not be as
unnoticeable as it is powerful. The effect these enhancements have in
making the remake seem more like you remember the original cannot be
overstated and is one of the game’s strongest aspects for returning
fans.
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| Ciel is by far the character who benefits the most from the remake |
On
the opposite side we have the many changes the remake has made in
order to rectify the flaws and limitations of the original work.
These includes range from minor things like the reordering of events
to make more sense and the expansion of certain character moments to
increase their prominence to the wholesale rewriting of Ciel’s
route. The original version of Ciel’s route suffered from borrowing
too much from Arcueid’s route and a general sense that it had been
rushed so it was a perfect candidate for a reimagining to bring out
the potential of Ciel’s character. However, rather than throwing out
the entire original route, the broad strokes have been preserved and
the new material fitted around them so as to maintain the identity of
Ciel’s route and offer a little subversion for returning players.
The new additions to the route revolve around exploring Ciel’s past
in a more expansive way which was a previously lacking area. It does
this through having more character’s related to the Church being
present for Ciel and Shiki to interact with and by drawing more
parallels between Shiki’s plight and the experiences that have
shaped Ciel into the person she is today. These touches do wonders to
improve upon Ciel’s characterisation and give the route a much
needed identity distinct from Arcueid’s route. The revitalisation
of Ciel’s route is by far the game’s greatest success and the
main reason to play it if you have already played the original.
This
reimagining is accompanied by a need to be bigger and better than the
original, even more so when it is only half of the overall narrative
of that first game. Due to this need to fill space the remake can
often extend scenes beyond their natural ending and adding in fluff
events that are cute but do nothing to progress any part of the game
forward. This is most noticeable in Arcueid’s route where the
changes to what was a tightly paced experience are more obvious due
to the way they temporarily grind events to a halt to accommodate
them. While downtime is necessary to keep the player from burning out
from all the tension and high stakes, there is a difference between
having these moments further character dynamics and just repeating
the same basic jokes or adding in long-winded monologues that do
nothing to engage the player. Throughout other parts of the game
you can feel similar occasional hiccups in pacing and they
temporarily bring you out of the story as they put on the breaks in a
highly unnatural manner. However, they are overall uncommon enough as
to not destroy the game’s core narrative and are instead a series
of minor nuisances.
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| Umm... are you okay Shiki? |
Power
level might seem like an odd thing to bring up as a criticism of a
game which has always had its fair share of action, but it is in the
inconsistency of that power level where the biggest issue with this
remake lies. The problems manifest at two distinct points, fights
related to the vampire Vlov and the final battle at the end of Ciel’s
route. These conflicts are almost apocalyptic in scale and feel so
detached from the rest of the game which deals in relatively down to
earth and deadly threats. This is especially strange when considering
our protagonist Shiki is presented as fragile and human outside of
these battles but inside them he displays an ability to fight and
survive damage he never uses outside of these moments. Vlov is the
bigger offender since he is in the middle of the narrative meaning
that the power level spikes when he appears and afterwards drops like
a stone back down to its original levels. This causes a strong
sense of whiplash and a feeling that Vlov does not belong with the rest
of the game making it obvious he is a new addition. The final fight
in Ciel’s route at least attempts to justify why the power level
spikes, but its problem is the jump is just so ridiculously large with
the strength of the characters involved moving from vaguely realistic
to completely over the moon in a short space of time. It seems to be
this way so as to have a big finale for the game since it now lacks
the second half and must end on some kind of resolution to provide
catharsis for the player. Since these two examples constitute a very
small amount of the overall play time it would be misleading to say
they ruined the game, but the poor way they were handled as part of
the whole narrative does leave a sour taste in your mouth as it kicks
you out from enjoying what are in isolation very impressive fights.
However, they feel like the belong more in Fate Grand Order than they
do in Tsukihime.
Of Vampires And Mortals – Characters
The
majority of the remake’s cast is inherited from the original
Tsukihime and they are as distinctive here as they have always been.
Time has been kind to the main characters, they have remained
relatively unmolested by imitators or an obsession with moe and feel
as fresh as they did back when the original was released. Having a
protagonist like Shiki at the helm helps a lot since his mixture of
kindness, violent urges, supernatural powers and physical weakness
makes for a soup from which a variety of character arcs are possible
and provides things for the heroine’s to bounce off to create
engaging dialogue. He is at once likeable and interestingly flawed
which makes seeing events through his eyes an entertaining journey
and his mortality adds stakes to every confrontation with the world
of vampires. The two main heroine’s of the game, Arcueid and Ciel,
strike the right balance between being proactive driving forces for
the narrative and being vulnerable enough that it is believable for
them to need Shiki both emotionally and as backup in battle. Beyond
this the rest of the returning cast have mostly background roles in
this game but even here they showcase a degree of complexity while
hinting at what is yet to come. Together they are as memorable as
always and the remake captures why they entranced so many people over
the years.
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| Noel is an... interesting character |
As
for the new cast members introduced in the remake, those which are
directly involved in the plot work to expand the horizons of the
narrative and provide a more well rounded character experience. They
are mostly related to the Church and thus shine in Ciel’s
route, but make enough of an appearance in Arcueid’s route so as to
not appear out of nowhere when it is their time on screen. Their
existence is an effort to give Ciel and Shiki some characters to
interact with who relate to the side of the world Ciel exists on
which the original was sorely lacking. For example Noel acts as
Ciel’s work partner and is a complete contrast to Ciel’s
personality being a strange mix of cowardice and adult, almost
predatory, charm. This makes her an excellent character for Shiki to
interact with and receive information that Ciel would not be willing
to give up and allow Shiki to express feeling through an outlet
beyond the main heroines. All the Church related cast broadly act in
a similar manner and allow for a richer understanding of the world,
past and beliefs of Ciel that were not properly explored before. It is in the new content that they shine their
brightest and showcase the wonders well constructed additions can do
to breath life into existing stories.
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| Oh boy is this guy creepy |
Not
all the new additions are used quite as effectively as those related
to the Church and these are the characters who are in the waiting
room for their important role in the next game. They mostly relate in
some way to the Tohno household which is the subject of the Far Side
routes but is only loosely touched upon in this game. As
such they appear repeatedly in the common route before mostly
dropping off the face of the earth as soon as a heroine route starts.
Saiki Gouto is a good example of this as he is introduced early on
with a unique antagonist relationship with Shiki and his abandonment
of the Toono family. After this he appears a couple more times to
deliver cryptic messages and veiled threats and then he is never
heard from again. He is probably the most blatant set up for next
game character in the entire visual novel and this makes he come off as a
distraction which is wasting the player’s time since there is no
pay off to his presence. On top of this it gives a general sense of
the game being only half finished which is not something you should
be regularly remaining the player of while they are trying to enjoy
what is here.
A Revitalised Full Moon – Visual, Audio and Technical
Visuals
and audio were never the strong points of the original Tsukihime so
any improvement to them would make the remake stand out against it.
However, rather than simply replacing the identity of the original’s
visuals and audio, the remake takes them as a basis to improve upon
and regularly invokes these elements of the original through subtle
nods or complete recreations. Above all else it brings these aspects
of Tsukihime in line with the standard of modern Type Moon and makes
them more accessible to a modern audience. There is a surprising
amount of movement on display as the characters display a dynamic
suite of positions and expression for their portaits to sell
everything from the power of a blow to their hidden feelings. This
move towards the unifying of the game’s style with the rest of the
developer’s catalogue does come with an occasional hiccup where
certain characters can look very similar to character from other
games they have developed. Arcueid and Shiki suffer from this when
they drift into looking like Saber and Shiro respectively and this is
very distracting when you are trying to be invested in these
characters. On the musical front, the majority of the tracks are
entirely new since the original only had a handful of songs, but some
of that old catalogue is maintained here in the form of remixes and
bringing in motifs from them. In combination they make for delightful
soundtrack perfect from enrapturing both new and old fans.
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| Flowcharts are important for a more complicated visual novel |
On
a broader technical perspective, the remake makes use of a variety of
presentation and accessibility elements to create an experience that
is both tense and flows well. The choice of NVL as the game’s
formatting style carries over from the original and is as good here
at building atmosphere as it was before. There have been a few
touches to make the potential walls of text more intelligible through
having only the most recent line of text be bright and all the
previous ones take on a darker hue to ensure clarity. In line with
this move towards lucidity, a flowchart has been included in the game
which allows for the player to see their progress, the consequences
of their actions and jump to any unlocked scene at will. This lets
the player navigate through the game without having to worry about
constantly saving at every choice and wondering what action caused
what outcome and, with the return of the helpful Teach Me Ciel
Sensei, every effort has been made to ensure the player is never
lost.
Conclusion
Tsukihime
is certainly a game that needed a remake, but it is also a game with a
lot of exceptions and baggage attached to it and for the most part
the remake does a good job of capturing the essence of the sections
it adapts. It is at once faithful to the original while taking on
board new ideas to improve the weaker elements of the base game. In
doing so it does run into some issues with how it handles the power
level of the game which leads to a feeling of inconsistency at times.
The old characters continue to be as charming as ever and the new
additions who stand out here share a similar level of quality. There
are some new characters that exist as set up for the next game and
they feel really out of place here given they have no real role to
play in the narrative. From a visual and audio stand point the game
is a dramatic improvement over the original and breaths some much
needed life into it. Modern conveniences have also been included in
the remake with things like a flowchart making for a more streamlined
and smooth experience. This is about as good a remake of Tsukihime as
could be expected and with the second half coming at some point it
will be interesting to see what the complete title will look like.
Verdict –
A gold standard for visual novel remakes which captures the essence of the original while not being afraid to improve upon its weaknesses, even if it does stumble under the weight of these changes.
Pros -
+
Faithful to the narrative and themes of the original visual novel.
+
Adds additional content where needed to expand upon the weaker elements
of the narrative, in particular with Ciel’s route.
+
The old cast is as memorable as ever and they are joined by a set of
new characters who wonderfully fill holes present in the original
game.
+
Having a modern coat of visual and audio paint does wonders for the
effectiveness of the emotional beats.
+
Modern accessibility features such a flowchart allow for a smoother
recovery from any potential bad endings.
Cons -
-
The inconsistent power level of the battles can draw you out the
experience and make it difficult to suspend your disbelief.
-
Not all of the new cast are utilised in this game and many of them
exist as set up for the next title.
-
Having a modern Type Moon art style can sometimes lead to characters
looking eerily similar to ones from their other games.
-
The new content can make the game feel bloated at times.
