Archive for December 2025
Lupercalia of the Silent Accord Review – All The World’s A Stage
Genre - Drama, Supernatural Play Time - 30 hours Developer - Rupekari Patch Download VNDB
Theatre Will Make You Good
In
a city famed for its theatre, a group of students find themselves
drawn into the amateur Lampyris Troupe and their new play, Philia.
This is a story of loss, acceptance and love told through the cast’s
struggles to perform and the friction which forms between them. Its lavish use of theatre visuals and metaphor give the game a
distinctive feel and helps support the impact of each major
revelation or character moment. The cast is a colourful bunch who all
bounce off each other in a fun and believable manner while having
interesting scars that make for strong character arcs. Keeping each
one of them relevant throughout their screen time is one of the
titles biggest achievements as it helps foster a sense community to
the group and allowing their development to occupy a larger amount of
the narrative space. However, it is plagued by a litany of minor issues
from an overuse of flashbacks to romances which feel out of place and
this often distracts from the core themes and ideas the game clearly
wants to communicate. Are these niggles enough to make the audience
leave the theatre? Let’s step into the lead role and find out.
Dance Upon The Stage – Narrative and Themes
Committing
completely to a core metaphor through which all aspects of the
narrative are passed has a transformative effect on how a game
engages with its material. For Lupercalia this central element is the
theatre and it shapes everything from the city the characters live in
to the supernatural powers influencing their actions. Through this
lens the personal and human are delivered in the same common formula
as the greater narrative in order to make them easy to understand
while blurring the barrier between them to heighten their emotional
impact. Having the entire city be so focused around theatre helps
provide a legitimate reason for the game’s use of it since every
character is in some way connected to it and had their lives shaped
by it. As the troupe set about preparing for the performance of
Philia it is their trails and tribulations on this journey which
define their arcs and allows them to shine individually and as a
whole capable of putting on a compelling performance. Dealing with
the practical realities of how a theatre production works gives the
player a glimpse behind the scenes in a way that invites a feeling of
wonder at the skills involved to make it all come together. When the
supernatural elements creep in they treat the fabric of reality like
it was a stage with props and backdrops to be swapped out on a scene
change or having the people be unwilling actors to be pushed on and
off it. No matter how the narrative is framed it remains a distinctly
personal one where each character has to grapple with their past and
try to unpick the trauma eating away at them. This helps prevent the
metaphors from feel too abstract or overly focused on an existing
understanding of how theatre works and acts a reference point for the
player to invest themselves into this story. The inherently dramatic
nature of theatre is played up to make the emotions of the cast and
the events of the narrative appear grander and more impactful than
they might otherwise. Assisting this is the way the troupe all remain
important even when the focus is on one specific member which sells
the idea of them as a dynamic group while preventing secondary
characters from being forgotten. All these uses of the theatre contribute
to a visual novel with an extremely memorable overall identity unlike
any other of its peers in the way it and deftly weave them together
so naturally.
 |
| The stage is front and centre from the moment the game begins |
Before
covering the story’s issues, let us begin with the conclusion since
it is worth keeping in mind for this section. None of the problems
listed bellow fundamentally compromise what the game achieves with
its use of theatre to craft a compelling narrative, but they do add
up and any one of them might be straw that broke the camel’s back
for you so keep that in mind. By far the biggest among these issues
is the over use of flashbacks to a frankly hilarious degree. This
humour is not intentional as the game presents them in complete
seriousness, yet there are so many of them that more of the game is
spent in the past than the present to the point that it almost comes
across as parody. There are few scenes which do not include, or are
entirely, flashbacks and this is due to the focus on the cast
overcoming their traumas rather than on any present danger. Even the
overarching forces at play are firmly connected to the past so this
narrative choice is understandable but there is little doubt it
becomes tedious when it regularly grinds forward progression to a
halt. A more minor issue is the way the title likes to jump between
characters and sometimes fails to establish the jump in perspective
happened and the player will only realise it after they have been
playing the scene for a while. There is a pop up in one corner that
appears when swapping perspectives but it is small, easy to miss and
nowhere near the text box which is focus of the player’s attention.
It is just an unnecessary layer of confusion and brings the player
out of the experience. The romances often feel at odds with the
themes of overcoming trauma and forgiving other and yourself since
they are framed as a form of escapism. All romance routes are made
artificial through the way that they only occur due to the
supernatural meddling and the correct choices which lead to the true
ending all involve rejecting that easy out. Lupercalia feels like it
has been saddled with the exceptions of having a romance inherited
from it choice of genre and does not know what to do with it and so
is only including it out of obligation. This is not helped by the
fact the routes to not have any meaning content exclusive to them
outside of a vague and fast romance which does little to expand on
either party involved and feels hollow overall. The supernatural
aspects have a similar uneven use and presentation. They are merely a
background element in the first half of the game to the point of
characters having oddly dismissing attitudes towards the abnormal
things happening around them since it is not currently plot relevant.
Once it is in full swing the rules of these powers are nebulous and
seem to be whatever the developers want at any given time
which makes them feel contrived and somewhat out of place. To top it all off the supernatural is
never given a proper explanation for its origin and the game try to
hand wave it away by quickly moving on to the dramatic finale and
hoping the player will not notice.
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| Well excuse me... |
Something
else which can be held against Lupercalia is implicit view that the
only type of theatre worth engaging with is tragedy. Not once is
comedy ever mentioned or considered even in passing. This is a fairly
common attitude throughout history with even the ancient Greeks
suffering from this prejudice, but in Lupercalia it stands out due to
how it is regularly willing to use humour yet does not want to
address this contradiction between its views and actions. For another
example of its strange aversion to comedy is its name dropping of
Shakespeare tragedies such as Hamlet but its complete failure to
acknowledge the other half of the man’s works like Much Ado About
Nothing. A real actor would never turn their nose up at good work and would love a chance to test different acting muscles so it comes across as
odd that characters obsessed with expanding their acting abilities
never consider comedy. Lupercalia is a victim of this historical
disdain for what has been seen as lesser form of the art of theare.
Always remember for every Aeschylus there is an Aristophanes and for
every Macbeth there is A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Theatre Kids – Characters
The
Lampyris Troupe are the heart and soul of the game and each of its
members has a distinct personality which are interacted with in
interesting ways. Rather than a harmonious group they are instead a
boiling pot of strong egos and this naturally leads to a lot of
friction between their competing visions for their roles within the
performance. This constant parade of minor conflicts allows the
characters to define themselves in a way that builds up organically
as the clashes reveal little bits about them. As such when the major
conflicts roll round the player has a good sense of how the cast are
going to react to them and the game is willing to both play into or
against what has been established in order to create well rounded
characters. Beyond their disagreements this is a troupe who care for
one another and this is shown through their small actions to accommodate and support
one another or to defend them from outsiders. Each character shines
brightly when they are centre stage and they are a delightful mixture
of flaming ambition and crippling trauma which makes them easy to root for while also being entertaining to watch. When they
are not the focus of attention they still contribute to other
character’s arcs and generally make their presence felt to push the
idea of this being the story of the troupe in its entirety rather
than just a few important people.
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| And so the troupe grows larger |
Stepping Into The Spotlight – Visuals, Audio and Technical
Continuing
the game’s fixation on the theatre are the visuals which play on the theatrical motifs and colours of the stage to present the narrative’s
themes and ideas. This comes across both in the ways the physical
structure of the theatre always finds its way into many scenes and
the costume of the performers who step into new clothes to embody
their roles. As the lines dividing the theatre and the outside world
blur through the characters conflicts and the supernatural elements
so to does the visual presence of the physical structure finds its
way increasingly into the wider story. Once the supernatural is in
full swing the theatre becomes a more abstract sight with the
architectural motifs reduced to their most symbol nature where the
patterns adorning the old buildings manifest an otherworldly power.
Beyond its use of the theatre, there is a strong understanding of how
colour and mood are linked to one another and this is subtly used to
direct the player’s emotions at every turn. Making these visual
aspects so upfront means the game can keep stimulating the player
with new and exciting iterations on these core elements while having
a gentle transition between them so as to not overwhelm the player
with so much they become desensitised to it.
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| The plays are a highlight of the game |
From
a visual and technical stand point there are two notable issues. The
first being the rather loose relationship the character art has with
anatomy. This is not the standard strangeness like the large breasts
common to certain anime styles but instead a broader inability to
maintain a consistent sense of the physical proportions in general
from eyes to limbs. Nothing is immune as the whole spectrum is
effected from CGs to portraits and it is distracting to have people
who look like shapeshifting aliens that do not quite understand the
appearance of a real human. How much this will bother the player is
going to influence whether they find this funny or a deal breaker.
The other issue stems from this being a fan translation and this is
the sometimes iffy nature of the grammar chosen by the translator.
Every so often the player will have to re-read a section of text out
of confusion where it is unclear what it is try to convey. While this
is rare enough to not be a deal breaker it is still worth adjusting
expectations when coming into this game.
Conclusion
As
the curtain falls Lupercalia of the Silent Accord’s commitment to
its core identity allows it to craft an experience which can stand
out among a sea of similar titles. Its story of theatre and stage
makes for a compelling centre piece for the struggles and drama
unfolding around it. The visuals continue the theatrical motif in a
bold fashion making for a feast for the eyes where reality and the
play blend together. Backing this up is a cast of large egos and
memorable motives alongside the friction they brings to the troupe as
a whole. However, the numerous minor problems with the execution of
its story coupled with the some stumbles in the quality of its
visuals and translation hamper it. Yet what it does is not something
the player can find anywhere else and make pushing through these
issues worth it to play such a powerful title.
Verdict –
Theatrical visuals and metaphors provide the foundation for a
deeply person tale of overcoming loss and finding hope in the things we
love. Even if it does stumble at times when telling it through some
odd choices.
Pros -
+
Its complete commitment to the imagery and metaphors of theatre
creates a memorable and gripping story which sticks with the player.
+
A cast with large egos and deep seated traumas makes for a perfect
mix of tension and camaraderie.
+
Has a visual identity which pops off the screen and makes for a
constantly stimulating display to match the drama of the text.
Cons -
-
Plagued a lot of minor narrative issues that distract from the core
experience.
- Character designs have a very loose relationship with real
anatomy and their physical proportions shift from pose to pose and CG
to CG.
