Sunday, June 30, 2024
Now
that the blazing heat of the summer sun is beating down upon us with
the force of its cosmic rays, there is no better time to reach for
the a refreshing visual novel to cool down. This month we have the
release of some highly anticipated titles in the romance and urban
fantasy genres alongside indie games focused around bar sims and
yaoi. Let’s dive in and find out what visual novels you should be
playing.
Official Releases
Tavern Talk
Following
in the footsteps of VA-11 Hall-A and Coffee Talk, Tavern Talk emerges
as the latest in the interesting niche of drinks serving sims. As its
name suggests the game is set in a tavern within a medieval fantasy
style world filled with everything from elves to monsters and each of
them having an interesting story to tell as your serve them their
favourite beverages. There is a playfulness to its engagement with
the tropes of the genre and it often makes humours jabs at them by
pointing out their absurdity, but this is done in a way where it is clear the
game loves these elements of the genre as much as the player. It
takes full advantage of its fantasy setting to give the personal
stories of its characters extra impact through providing a meaningful
connection to the world around them and acting as the player’s
window into it. If you have been hungering to mix up some more drinks
then you cannot go wrong with Tavern Talk.
Kanon
It
came as quite a surprise to find out that this classic Key title was
finally seeing an official release with upgraded visuals and full
voices. Yet here we are and a new generation of players will get to
experience one of the formative games of this renowned developer. We
follow our protagonist, Aizawa Yuuichi, as he moves in with his aunt
who lives in a snow covered town where his hazy childhood memories
still linger. As with most Key visual novels the biggest selling
point it its characters and the dramatic stories they become
involved with that aim to craft an experience where the player will
be left in tears. There is something incredibly interesting about
seeing the ideas and themes which would evolve to define their future
games here in their primordial form where it is easy to see what they
would become. Kannon is a must buy for any fan of Key’s work both
as an excellent title and a historical document of their changes as a
developer. For everyone else this is a strong romance visual novel
with the ability to pull on your heart strings in all the right ways.
All Scars and Starlight
Itch.io(Warning for Adult Content) VNDB Genre
– Yaoi, Romance Play Time – 5 hours
Once
more Ebi-hime has chosen to revisit the Yaoi genre with another tale
set in a middle eastern kingdom. We follow Yuel as he is
overthrown after a rebellion and thrown in the palace prison where he
is left to rot until his older cousin Tavi begins to treat him with
kindness and keeps him hidden from the world. The changes the game
makes to the setup between the two characters completely alters the
power dynamics and allows for the growth of their relationship to
take a new and exciting look at their motivations. Overall this is a
strong title for the Yaoi genre which showcases the masculine angle
on the emotions of interpersonal interaction while demonstrating how they
interact with the world around them. If you have ever been interested
in the genre then All Scars and Starlight is a good demonstration of
what it can offer.
Radiant Tale ~Fanfare!~
Nintendo Eshop VNDB Genre
– Otome, Fantasy, Fandisc Play Time – 20 hours
As
the fandisc to the original colourful and magical circus themed
title, Radiant Tale ~Fanfare!~ has some difficult shoes to fill. Its
chosen method of appealing to fans of the base game is to split
itself into three distinct types of content to give them a little bit
of everything. Firstly there are the expected after stories for the
various heroes about their peaceful lives with the protagonist and each
helps sell the characters' loving relationship in a way that shows the dynamics
which made them so fun to engage with in the first place. Alongside
this is an IF style story in the form of a route following Jinnia and
Liyan which aims to give them an extra bit of depth the main game
could not provide them. To top it all off there are a series of
smaller interludes set during the original game’s common route
designed to capture the essence of what make the title so special,
but in bite sized form. In their entirety they make a must play
fandisc for anyone who enjoyed Radiant Tale and wants to return to
that world with some fresh content to dig their teeth into.
Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon-
Nintendo Eshop VNDB Genre
– Urban Fantasy, Action, Suspense, Horror Play Time – 30 hours
At
long last the remake of the first Type Moon visual novel is available
officially for the first time in English. This release is for PS4 and
Switch with a PC version coming at some later date and it opens the
title up to a wide audience who might have some interest in Tsukihime
from their exposure to other Type Moon games. If you want my opinion
of the remake you can look to my review for a detailed overview of
its strengths and weaknesses. In short, it is an adaption of the
first two routes of the original Tsukihime which is not afraid to
make changes to the material to improve upon the weaker elements of
that title. It also boasts a dramatic upgrade in quality across the
board from visual to music in order to sell the tension and action in
a palpable way. The biggest issue with the adaption is the way it
often buckles under the weight of having to spread out half of game’s
worth of content out over a long visual novel. This is still very
much a game which anyone interested in Type Moon should play as if
offers a uniquely compelling urban fantasy story.
