Best Visual Novel Releases – April 2025
The
month of storms and sunshine has once again lived up to its
reputation, but things have been significantly less turbulent in the
world of visual novels. There have been a number of high quality
releases with one particular standout and a selection of others
covering everything from idol spin off to murder mystery. Let’s
dive in and find out what new games you should be playing from the
past month.
Official Releases
Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club: TOKIMEKI Roadmap to Future
Given
TOKIMEKI Roadmap to Future’s nature as a spin-off title, it is easy
to guess what type of experience you will be in for. This is a game
firmly aimed at its fans with a story focused on the established cast
of the Nijigasaki series and it never strays far from its source
material. Despite its somewhat rigid narrative space, there is a lot
of fun to be had as this strong cast of personalities interact and
for such a character centric series this is key to holding the
player’s attention. Each of the twelve members of the idol club
gets their turn in the spotlight to showcase themselves in a way
which feels natural while still maintain a brisk pace. Some effort
has been made to try and accommodate any players new to the franchise
since it mostly exists in its own bubble and does not reference
events outside itself in order to not confuse them. This definitely
would not be the recommended place to enter the series from but it if
you choose to play it then it is still entertaining. Overall, this
is a solid idol visual novel which leverages its existing characters
to appeal to existing fans and for them it is a must play.
The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy-
Being
from the creators behind Danganronpa and the Zero Escape series
places a certain level of expectations upon this title and you can
feel its awareness of this fact. The influence of the developer’s
previous games is etched into how Hundred Line presents and engages
with its narrative and themes. Large visual and stylistic cues have
been directly adapted from Danganronpa into this new context and the
game is aware of how apparent this feature is and even makes in-jokes
about it. This is not to say Hundred Line is a clone but rather it
uses a common narrative presentation and takes it in a vastly
different direction. Instead of a murder mystery, the core mechanical
element manifests as an SRPG with its own distinctive tactical flare
which captures its somewhat macabre sense of humour. If you liked the
creators previous work then this is an easy recommendation, but it
probably will not convert anyone into a fan since it feels decidedly
familiar even with the significant change in genre.
Battlefield Waltz
Nintendo Eshop VNDB Genre
– Otome, Military School Play Time – 40 hours
A
good way to spice up the school setting so common in the medium is to
attach something extra to it and for Battlefield Waltz this is its
miliary background. The game uses this addition to add stakes to
events while providing a legitimate reason for drama and action to
occur naturally rather than from a plot contrivance. Its story
follows a young girl named Lan who through the whims of fate ends up
as the wielder of a cursed sword and is pushed into a life on the
battlefield where she eventually ends up at Nirvana, a military
school, where she rubs shoulders with the various suitors. Over the
course of her time there she must balance training to bring the
sword’s power under her control with blossoming feeling of love.
Battlefield Waltz is a solid otome with a good spread of suitors and
enough drama to keep fans of the genre satisfied from its duration.
Kindaichi Mystery Series: The Honjin Murders
Delivering
a complete murder mystery experience was clearly the focus for The
Honjin Murders and everything rotates around this core pillar. Its
main mechanical element is the pulling apart of evidence and
testimonies in order to pick out key truths and organising them into
a picture of what really happened. This is almost like arranging
newspaper clipping and has the same catharsis to it as it
synchronises with the characters’ growing understanding of events
and helps provide the game with a sense of momentum. Narratively it
is tense murder mystery which puts emphasis on keeping a keen feeling
of personal danger to the cast while still allowing the puzzle box
nature of the mystery to be the focus. The investigation around which
every part of the game revolves is a locked room murder and it
constantly invites the player to reevaluate with each new piece of
evidence. Overall if you are
looking for a well put together detective story then The Honjin
Murders will scratch that itch.
Love Curse: Find Your Soulmate
One
look at the promotional art for this game will immediately make it apparent
what kind of story it is interested in telling. Pastel colours and
beautiful woman surround Yan Wang Shu as her life takes an unexpected
turn when she finds herself under a curse which can only be broken by
finding her soulmate. There are plenty of women for her to choose
from with a good range of personalities which bounce of her and each
other for a lot heartfelt scenes. They range from the strict yet kind
general manager Qi Yi to the upbeat childhood friend Xia Chi Mei. It
is nice to see a yuri title where the protagonist and the heroines
are all mature and have responsibilities with an office being one of
the primary locations in which the story takes place. This lends it a
refreshing air as it stands in contrast to the common early teens
normally found in the medium and allows for an engagement with more
adult issues. A sweet and wholesome girl x girl romance with enough
drama to keep you engaged.
Exchanging Messages – An Anatomy Of Visual Novels
Fiddling With Your Phone
Almost
everyone in the modern world uses some kind of messaging service each
day from texting to email to old fashioned letters. Of course it
was only a matter of time until this method of communication found
its way into storytelling techniques and visual novels have started
to experiment with this avenue. It trends a line between being
distant yet deeply personal to great effect. The almost trivial
nature of these messaging systems makes even a heart felt emotional
plea come across as distant and cold text rather than seeing the living
person behind it. At the same time it has unique elements of comic
timing and connection to the mundane world which lend it a
believability and flexibility to be able to fit a variety of
narrative needs. When it takes centre stage it can craft a visual
novel which utilises the contrasting feelings of distance and
humanity to deal with strong and emotive themes. It can also be
second fiddle to the main means of story presentation in order to add
an in-universe excuses for extra character nuggets. Let’s check our
phones and find out how messages can tell their own stories.
So Close Yet So Distant
Every
form of message based communication has some restriction on their
length be that an artificial limit such as with a social media
platform like Twitter, their conversational nature or simply the space on
the piece of paper. This feature means they can never fully express
the complex emotions and intent present in a face to face
conversation and it inherently lends them a slightly detached feeling. Of course humans naturally fill in this gap with what they
think the other party is trying to express through their words, yet
language is a tricky thing filled with double meanings or vague
insinuations so it is hard to know for certain what the writer is
thinking. Visual novels can take advantage of this ambiguity when
using such messages as part of their narrative in order to tread a
line between the personal and abstract which would not be possible in
a traditional structure. Using them allows the game to shape an
experience where the player unknowingly distances themselves from
either their actions or surrounding events through a mixture of their
assumptions based on what they believe the character is saying and a
general sense of watching something from afar provided by the lack of
a standard personal presentation. Resulting from this basis can be a
variety of different thematic and narrative tricks depending on what
the developer is aiming for. It can be anything from pulling the rug
from under the player by undermining the assumptions they made
throughout the game to encouraging an almost archaeological
examination of the actions of people from the distant past.
 |
| A lot of this game comes down to messages and they hold a lot of power over how things turn out |
Take
NEEDY GIRL OVERDOSE as an example, here the player's interactions with
the main character Ame-chan takes place over a pseudo-LINE messaging app and
they see more of her feelings through her multiple social media
feeds. The player is tasked with managing her life and streaming
career and this stat based gameplay helps the messages distance the
player from their own actions. As a result they will experiment with activities which are evidently self destructive since they have
unknowingly reduced Ame-chan to the sum of her texts so when things go
wrong it comes as a shock. Despite these repeated disasters, the
message system will lure them back into a daze where they will
continue to dive into other problematic situations. Later the game
makes more direct use of this distance to address the nature of the
player’s relationship with Ame-chan and how it might not be healthy
for either participant. This is a style of storytelling which NEEDY
GIRL OVERDOSE could not have effectively achieved through a more
traditional narrative presentation as it helps Ame-chan be someone
the player is familiar with yet also someone they make do
damaging things to in the name of curiosity.
Messages As Secondary Narrative
When
the messages are not in the spotlight, their role gains a
flexibility which makes them perfect to slot alongside the ongoing
story. In most cases this takes the form of some supplementary
messaging system, such a mobile phone or email inbox, which regularly
shows communications from characters not present in a scene. These
have no plot importance and instead aim to flesh out the cast while
providing a few laughs and humanising them. It is the space where all
the smaller events go so they will not interfere with the pacing of
the overall narrative and this makes them an excellent place to
explore their character quirks while keeping the player firmly in
control of the experience. Over the long term they can still have
their own minor plot threads covering a series of incidents from the
character’s everyday lives crafted in such a way as to provide a
sense of them not simply disappearing from existence the moment they
are off screen. An approach like this one places an emphasis on the
messages’ personal qualities since their distant feeling nature
merges into their role as background elements which helps highlight the
contrasting aspect. They are chatty and low stakes back and forths
between two or more friends who are not expecting their words to be
considered in depth and are just having a good time.
 |
| Each character has a distinct style of messaging which makes them more memorable |
Perhaps the most
well know example of such a system is the text messages from Steins
Gate. At regular intervals the player will receive texts from the
cast and they can choose to reply to them by selecting a highlighted
word from the text. These are
entirely optional and filled with jokes and easter eggs for the
player to discover alongside the various outcomes to the
conversations. None of them have any form of tension and they are
instead a catalogue of their everyday lives as each intersects with
Okabe’s own. This gives the game a sense of the greater world outside
of all of the time travelling drama and how the mundane continues to
march on. Due to the importance of the phone to the plot, this message
system occasionally gets hijacked by the story which feels like an
invasion of a private space and helps underscore its significance.
Telling A Story Through Snippets
Encouraging
an archaeological approach to engaging with the narrative is another
way message systems can be used to engineer a unique visual novel
experience. Through giving the player a series of written items covering a span of time for the fictional setting, the game can
create the feeling of having uncovered the truth about what is going
on as the player reads between the lines, even if in reality they are being
lead by the nose. Promoting a sense of narrative exploration is
important for games which aim to get the player to see a bigger
picture where there is no clear cut person to mark as an antagonist
and instead the problem is more inherent to the world they inhabit. The feeling of distance
offered from these messages is put next to their often deeply
personal perspectives on what is happening around them in order to
form a patchwork of clashing facts and beliefs alongside the results
of their interactions. It can also exist alongside more direct storytelling with characters
on screen so long as they react in time with the player and promote
the same overall themes as the messages.
 |
| If a game gives you a family tree then you know what you are in for |
Analogue: A Hate Story perfectly embodies this
use of messages as an archaeological expedition into a selection of
themes and ideas. It puts the player into the role of someone sent to
investigate the fate of the generation ship Mugunghwa and they must
examine the dead crew’s logs to determine how things went wrong.
These logs are the most intimate thoughts and recordings of these
people which they never imagined anyone else would view. As such they
contain snippets of their lives without context since the person who
wrote it would not have needed it to understand what was going on at the
time since they were there. This is cleverly used by the game to control the player’s
perspective on events and quietly guide them through this tragic
journey. Having a setting which is vaguely historical in the way it
resembles classical Korea helps sell this feeling of the messages
as a form of archaeology by placing it within a sense of the past
despite the sci-fi setting. Accompanying the player on this
expedition are a pair of AIs *Hyun-ae and *Mute who offer their
contrasting opinions on what the player uncovers. *Hyun-ae has a
modern perspective on the world and one the player is likely going to
immediately identify with while *Mute is much more traditional in her
sentiment, in particular when it comes to a woman’s role, yet still
displays a sympathetic angle to the suffering of others even if she
disagrees with them. They are a living manifestation of the themes
presented through the dead’s messages and work to coherently
present the core ideas of the work.
Conclusion
Adopting
a message system as a means of presenting the narrative offers visual
novels a great deal of flexibility with how they play with feelings
of distance and intimacy. It can contort the player’s perspective
on people and lead them to perform actions they might not otherwise
only to be confronted with the consequence of their disasters. An
archaeological approach to the messages can be encouraged in order to
give the player the thrill of uncovering something new under their
own steam while witnessing events from different angles. When the
messages are a side element they can be a fun distraction which feeds
the player all kinds of entertaining nuggets and character moments.
Overall if you are looking for a strong and immediately
understandable framework to add some distinctive avenues for
expression which naturally flow into a visual novel then a message
system might well be what you are looking for.
Crime – Genre Deep Dive
Go Do A Crime
What
exists beyond the borders of acceptable society has a taboo allure to
it and Crime is a genre of fiction which loves to take advantage of
this tendency. The Crime genre cover anything from organised crime, in
the form of groups like the mafia, to personal and violent acts such
as murder. What joins this genre together is how the acts are
specifically framed through their relationship to the normal world
and their legality. Visual novels offer a way for the genre to
leverage these feelings from a more direct and personal angle than is possible in other mediums. In its most basic form it can exist as a simple
source of thrills to help provide stakes. When dealing with complex networks of criminal activity
there is a focus on how it effects the people involved as the
machinations around them threaten their lives. Exploring the darker
parts of human nature commonly finds its way into the genre and rubs
up against a world afraid yet mesmerised by it. Let’s see what lies
bellow the surface and explore this genre’s relationship with
visual novels.
Thrill Of Danger
Fiction
offers a means of injecting a little excitement into our lives and
the Crime genre is happy to use its illegal acts to deliver the
desired shot of adrenaline. Rather than a realistic depiction of criminal activities and their consequences, these kind of titles aim for an
exaggerated rendition of them where the threat is so outside the
realm of the player’s own experiences they will not feeling
uncomfortable about the acts involved. The worlds these games
take place in are still familiar and modern enough to make it easy
for people to place themselves into the shoes of the protagonist and
enjoy this thrilling ride. Balancing these feelings requires visual
novels to contrast the personal and intimate nature of its characters
with their over the top actions in a way where the forward momentum
prevents their absurdity from being the focus as it keeps moving and does not stop until the end. They also attempt to avoid
any themes or ideas related to the illegal acts beyond a simple good
guy/ bad guy dynamic in order to not distract from the high octane
and tense tale they are weaving.
 |
| Dangerous and hot? |
One particular other genre of visual
novel loves to make use of this version of Crime and this is otome.
The genre is used as an easy means of adding a sense of danger to the
suitors and, by extension, stakes to personal conflicts. Since there are so many good examples of this type of Crime visual novel let’s
look at a couple of them to see it in action. Collar X Malice over
the top setting, where a terrorist group have essentially forced the
government out of Shinjuku, immediately sets the tone for the
level of believability the game is aiming for. With this established
it proceeds to have the terrorists slap a poison filled collar on the
heroine to provide a constant sense of tension. If it were not obvious this depiction of terrorists is
not remotely close to reality and ends up closer to a conspiracy
thriller, but they hold on to just enough of the associations of
their real life counterparts to not be alien to the player. Their
actions are the driving force of the plot and each suitor has a
different relationship to them in order to make their routes feel
different while forcing the heroine into new and exciting situations.
The constant threat of the collar keeps the game moving at all times
since it acts as a reminder of the terrorist’s presence
and the danger they pose. Setting expectations and controlling them
over the long term is why Crime makes for a good pairing with the
normally slower genre of romance. A slightly different angle on the use
of the Crime genre in otome can be seen in BUSTAFELLOWS. Here it has
the additional function of giving the suitors a sense of danger to
them through their close proximity to the criminal world. Take Shu
who is a bounty hunter and walks a bloodstained path which intersects
with the darker half of human dealings and this makes his
interactions carry the spectre of violence even if it never actual
comes to anything substantial. It is worth noting that in this style
of the Crime genre the protagonist rarely comes from a criminal
background themselves and instead hold a set of conventionally
correct moral values to make them easy for the player to empathise
with.
Organised Crime
The
institutions which form around long term and profitable criminal
activities are another element the Crime genre loves to bring in as
one of its core pillars. These stories place groups such as
the Mafia or Yakuza at the centre of events and follows the chaos of their complex and violent inner workings. For visual novels this often
means games about navigating its messy web of families
and alliances or being trapped within its tendrils and forced to do
its bidding. Here the host of personalities already in various
positions of power and the way they are all
stained with blood creates a perfect playground for tense tales of
secret pacts and betrayals. The fact the characters all come from
morally questionable backgrounds makes their constant backstabbing
feel more natural since this is the only world they have even been a
part of and so it is the only way they understand how to do things.
It is presented as a mire they have been dragged down into and have
no way of getting out. As you might have noticed this is essentially
a more evolved version of the basic thriller from before which trades
its simple to understand narratives for one closer to reality with
less clear-cut good and bad guys. It is still exaggerated but tries
to balance the thrills with a sense of how dangerous the criminal
world is for those involved.
 |
| The dark underbelly is filled with over the top characters |
Placing the protagonist inside an
organised crime group can provide a constant sense of danger as they
attempt to avoid angering those in charge such as can be seen in
G-senjou no Maou. In this game the yakuza group Azai Kyousuke is a
part of plays a large role in the lives of those he interacts with
both because he is the adopted son of its boss and through their own
connection to the underworld, willing or not. He is a person deeply
influenced by his experiences as part of the yakuza which has made
him cynical and calculated and it is only by interacting with
the heroines that he rediscovers the other parts of himself. This
change often puts him in opposition to the criminal world he is a
part of and this clash is the core of story’s dramatic
tension. It is a group wearing the mask of civilisation to conceal
its violent nature and having the characters engage with it in a
deadly dance is a large part of its appeal. In order for organised
crime to function it needs a lot of people to do its work and Rose
Guns Days takes advantage of this feature to play off its character
centric qualities. Rather than making the criminal groups vague
dangerous entities, the title instead breaks them into the thousands
of people which make the group up and showcases the myriad of
personalities within it. Each has their own aims and ambitions which
converge and clash in equal measure to compliment the game’s
overall focus on the battles of individuals amongst a bigger picture.
The criminal activity is downplayed with little time being given to
the actual work of those within it and it is more a flavourful
element since it does not want to in the way of the colourful
characters and their distinctive web of conflicts.
Our Most Violent Impulses
So
far the criminal activities discussed have all presented some kind of
greater aim, be the monetary or idealogical, but what about the ones
which stem from the darker part of human nature, how do Crime visual
novels engage with them? One of the common ways they choose to do so
is through the lens of a murder mystery where the protagonist and
player are slowly exposed to what can be graphic content. The
protagonist in these games is often either a police or private
detective so as to have a justifiable reason to be involved in
investigating a murder and not immediately run at the first sign of
blood or gore. It also gives them a similar moral position to the
player when it comes to the actions of the killer and they provide an
easy to understand angle on an uncomfortable subject. When it comes
to the perpetrator they are often right in front of the player for most
of the game without the player realising it. This serves the double
purpose of being a big reveal and highlighting how the darker
elements of human nature hide just bellow the civilised facade we all
wear. Kara No Shoujo plays on this duality to great effect while it
presents each horrific murder and there consequences in detail. Since
this is a serial killer story the killings are a bit more dramatic
than a simple crime of passion which gives the game room to explore
around the circumstances which led to this outcome as the spectre of
the inevitable next victim hanging over events. Through doing this it
can tap into a simpler thriller dynamic to keep the player invested
and cast the whole thing through the lens of how distant it is from
our normal world.
 |
| Violence is often swift sudden and unexpected |
Conclusion
Crime
is as horrific as it is mesmerising and visual novels know exactly
how to get the most out of this ride of the wild side of humanity.
These games can use the genre as a simple source of thrills which
does not explore its subject matter in detail and instead wants the
player to enjoy the ride. When a title wants a web of personalities
and violence to entangle its cast within, it can call upon organised
crime as a means to tell compelling and tense stories of backhand
dealings and betrayals. The genre can even tackle the darkest aspects
of human nature in the horrific murders done for purely personal reasons
and address it head on while still being an edge of the seat
experience. Overall this is a wide genre filled with possibilities
for visual novels and offers fertile ground for you to engage with a
variety of subjects.
Stories From Sol: The Gun-Dog Review - After The War Is Over The Adventure Begins
Genre – Sci-fi, Mecha Play Time – 7 hours Developer – Space Colony Studios Steam VNDB
Into The Depths Of Space
Drawing
from 80s sci-fi stories and anime aesthetics creates a powerful first
impression and opens up a wide array of genre ideas to play off.
This foundational choice of direction defines much of Stories From
Sol’s narrative and mechanical features for both good and ill. It
fully embraces the pulpy spaceship fantasy of the era with a suitably
dramatic roller-coaster which sees its cast face all kinds of
shipwide calamities. Each one of the crew has their own distinct and
conflicting personalities and these lead to a variety of entertaining
tensions and clashes from minor headbutting to those endangering
everyone. Focusing on a PC-9800 artistic style results in an
imaginative exaggeration of the period that plays into its best
elements in everything from mecha design to classy
chiptune tracks. However, in embracing the period it has
inadvertently brought onboard some of the issues of game design from
the period in is adventure game sections. They suffer from the obtuse
nature of the genre and this impacts what is otherwise a well paced
experience. Then there are the problems with the writing in terms of
consistency and resolution which rear their heads in the later
sections of the story. Is the strong design direction enough to
overcome these weaknesses? Let’s jump into our mech and find out.
Captain I Think We Have A Problem – Narrative and Themes
From
the moment the player steps into the Gun-Dog, the game does
everything it can to sell the ship as a lived in place worth caring
about while still being just another run-of-the-mill military vessel.
Each location has a specific member of the crew associated with it
and they can be visited at any point for short conversations about
the current situation or just some small talk. In doing this the game
provides each space an identity and functionality through how its
cast interact with it from the Chief's tinkering in
engineering to Vanessa’s constant power plays on the bridge. The
ship gains a collective character despite its regular lines and metal
panels and it is a pleasant place just to exist within and invests the
player in its safety to mirror the protagonist’s role as head of
ship security. Later in the title when you visit another ship of
the same class this familiarity is cleverly turned on its head as the
spaces once filled with personality assume their natural cold metic
nature to make it clear this is not home. This build up of the ship is
important since once events start to be put in motion the player will
be strapped into a roller-coaster ride which will not stop until the
credits roll. There is a good variety of types to the drama and
action from high octane fights in mechs to tense sleuthing with
enemies breathing down your neck. It never rests on any one of these
for too long as each are given the exact amount of time needed for it
to feel complete before being replaced by the next narrative beat.
The results is a pulpy feeling story which plays into all the right
notes from the period it draws its inspiration and it
understands what made the peroid appealing while avoiding all of the
elements that have not aged so well. In many ways its is a rose
tinted glasses version of a story from the time, but it does not ever
come across as self-indulgent and instead feels like an honouring of an older
kind of sci-fi.
 |
| New sitations are constantly pushing the player forwards |
It
is disappointing then when this roller-coaster comes to a juddering
halt as the game enters its finale. The factors which make this
conclusion feel weak stem from the way it neither offers proper
resolution nor sets up anything concrete for the future. By far the
biggest sin the game commits is the way it tosses aside the crew
of the Gun-Dog who are given a moment or two of screen time before
being unceremoniously shoved into a metaphorical bin. They were the
heart of the experience up until this point so not having a proper
send off makes for a hollow note to end on. Then there is the way it
hurriedly resolves the main conflict while not actually providing any
solid answers about what is going on. Coupled with the fate of a number
of characters being uncertain by the end and the result is an
unpleasant taste in the mouth of a player hoping for some kind of
resolution. It does not even function as a cliffhanger since it is
too vague to feel dramatic while also lacking any sense of where this
will lead or what it means for the future of the cast. Overall, it
feels like the ending was rushed out of the door either because of
budget or time constraints and big chunks of it were cut so what is
left has holes in it which sour the experience.
 |
| Having a clear vision helps sell the experience in a way few other things can |
A
more minor criticism is game’s inconsistent presentation and
understanding of how space works and in particular how deadly it is
for humans. For example, at one point the protagonist enters a ship which has had
its atmosphere removed and yet all this does is cause the crew to
asphyxiate with no mention of how the change in pressure and
temperature might influence the bodies. In and of itself this is not
an issue, since this work is clearly not aiming to be grounded
sci-fi, but rather how it is inconsistent with its established rules.
One moment you will have characters wearing spacesuits and another
you will have characters jumping through the vacuum of space in their
normal clothes. This is a bit of nit pick, but the game is filled
with these kinds of inconsistencies and they build up to be
distracting from the core experience.
A Motley Crew – Characters
Any
story focused around a ship needs a crew with good spread of
interesting personalities and Stories From Sol
truly delivers on this for the Gun-Dog. The breadth of characters on
offer serve a series of important functions in such an isolated
setting where they occupy the majority of what the game’s narrative
has to work with. On their most basic level they provide a sense of
the wider universe which the game does not otherwise address since
their different viewpoints speak to where they came from. The brusque
Chief clearly comes from a vastly different background to the bubbly
Cassandra and they both contrast with the laser focused Dylan. While no
specifics are ever given to their lives before being assigned to the
Gun-Dog, outside of crumbs here and there, the player can easily
draw conclusions about what the world beyond is like. Their strong
identities make them easy to remember and recall which is
important given how quickly the game moves in its later parts. As
events spiral to their conclusion it is good to have a simple frame
of reference so the player immediately knows how each event is going
to impact the characters. Crucially their personalities constantly
clash against one another in dramatic and entertaining ways
reinforcing the idea of them as individuals with their own aims and
values. Their interpersonal interactions form the backbone of a lot
of what makes the game’s moment to moment so engaging as they
bounce off each other in fun and sometimes dangerous ways. The
Gun-Dog’s crew have just the right amount of depth while also being
memorable to make them the most enjoyable part of the entire game.
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| Every character has their own lovable personality even those who can be antagonistic |
Retro Is The New Future – Visual, Audio and Technical
Style
appears to have been at the top of Space Colony Studios’ list of
priorities and it oozes from every inch of the game’s presentation.
Its artistic vision is one which emulates the limitations of
classical hardware through the flexibility of modern technology to
create a larger than life version of this era of games. What this
means in practice is intricate pixel art images which lean into the
PC-9800 sci-fi aesthetics to form a space where their angled nature
can feel right at home. There are lots of nice touches that help sell
the spaceship and characters with the most prominent being the motion
on constant display. Each portrait has their own selection of emotive
movements matching the character's personality while backgrounds and CGs have
dynamic elements that change to reflect what is going on in the
story. Character portraits even have three different versions
which change their colour and the complexity of their designs to more
directly resemble their inspiration. The soundtrack follows a similar
philosophy with its chiptune music embodying an upbeat and energetic
tone. While it is not without its darker and serious tracks, the
general feel of the music is one focused on the idea of a big space
adventure and how cool all of this is as it looks longingly at the
giant mechs and fantastical ships. All-together this style creates a
consistency to the experience and further pushes the core identity present in the narrative.
 |
| From the moment you start the game it makes its artistic choices clear |
As
for the gameplay which lives alongside the narrative, it is a solidly
built adventure game with little beyond what you would expect from
the genre. It offers the player the option of one of several
commands, such as look and use, to interact with the environment and
progress. The visual novel narrative is the focus here and the
adventure game parts are a means of pacing the player while giving
them something to do with their hands in between key plot moments.
However, it does suffer from one of the common pitfalls of the genre,
unclear progression. What this means is the course of actions
required to progress operates on a logic which is not immediately
apparent and this leads to confusion and a stalling of the
experience. Stories From Sol does not have the esoteric solutions
present in many of its peers, but it does have moments where the
player is required to perform actions on things seemly unrelated to
the matter at hand. None of these are going to stall a player’s
progress for any extended period of time and yet their repeated
presence does lead to some frustration.
Conclusion
When
a game knows exactly what it wants to be and directs everything into
it, the result is a vivid and memorable title as it is with Stories
From Sol. Focusing solely on selling this 80s style spaceship fantasy
gives it the ability to craft a roller-coaster ride of drama and emotions
with a strong sense of direction. Its characters are large and
contrasting, allowing for all sorts of interesting interactions and
conflicts to naturally arise. The retro mix of pixel art and chiptune emulate period styles while using the advances in technology
helps create striking locations and emotive characters. While the
ending does feel rushed and there are issues with its adventure game
parts, none of these overshadow the game’s wholehearted commitment
to its vision.
Verdict –
Vivid 80s style and a strong vision craft an unforgettable sci-fi
story with lovable characters and suitably pulpy drama. However, the
lacklustre ending and the pitfalls it inherits from adventure games
do bring down the title’s overall quality.
Pros -
+
Knows exactly what kind of experience it is and firmly sticks to the
best elements of 80’s sci-fi while avoiding the parts which have
not aged well.
+
A roller-coaster of a story which sells the spaceship fantasy in a
suitably dramatic manner.
+
Its characters are an endearing spread of personalities who
constantly rub against each other in this boiling pot of a ship.
+
Having a strong retro aesthetic and musical direction makes each
moment a feast for the senses.
Cons -
-
The ending feels rushed and has neither the conclusiveness to
satisfying nor the impact and set up needed for an engaging
cliffhanger.
-
Suffers from some of the classic issues with adventure games relating
to their sometimes obtuse requirements for progression.
Best Visual Novel Releases – March 2025
Spring
is truly underway and just as the natural world has shown a sudden
burst of vitality so too has the visual novel space. This month has
been a deluge of major titles from classics finally receiving
official translations to exciting new games across the whole
spectrums of genres from sci-fi mysteries to romance to crime drama.
Let’s dive in and see what visual novels you should be playing from
the latest releases.
Official Releases
Love, Elections, & Chocolate
There
are few visual novels which leverage character drama quite as
successful as Love, Elections and Chocolate. The story follows Oojima
Yuuki as he attempts to prevent the closure of his club by standing
for student council president and becomes increasingly intertwined
with the girls in his life. Everything rotates around the core
pillars of the student council elections and love in order to create
an environment ripe for heightened emotions. Conflicts are grounded
yet exaggerated with the game playing off this contrast to help each
character have their own memorable arcs while using the same basic
material framed from their specific angle. Overall this is one of the
strongest cases for the value of the romantic drama style of visual
novel and if you enjoyed this studio's other work, Aokana - Four
Rhythms Across the Blue, then you will have a good time.
Ever 17 / Never 7
Steam - Ever 17 Never 7 VNDB - Ever 17 Never 7 Genre
– Mystery, Thriller, Sci-Fi Play Time – 20 – 30 hours each
Few
series can claim the level of influence attributed to the Infinity
games and this month saw the release of two of their most memorable
titles, Ever 17 and Never 7. These sci-fi classics each offer a
vastly different take on the mystery and thriller genres which keep
the player engaged with twists and a constant stream of new
questions. Ever
17 is about a group of people who find themselves trapped in the
underwater theme park LeMU and follows their struggle for survival as
odd happening begin to plague them. Meanwhile in Ever 7 we join
Makoto who
has been forced to attend a seminar on a remote island with some of
his classmates and everything seems normal until he finds a dead girl and
becomes trapped in a time loop.
Before I recommend these games to you there are a few things you
should know about this release. Firstly,
the
upscaling which was used on the artwork is of a mixed quality and
sometimes it smudges details into a blur or pushes colour over the
original lines making for a poor looking image. Secondly and more
importantly, the version of Ever 17 which has been released is not
the original but instead a modified version of the later remake. This
is important since some story changes were made to this remake that
have had a mixed reception so you should be aware of what you are
buying. Despite these issues these games are still worth picking up,
especially if this is your first time playing them since they still
stand up all these years later.
AIR
With
the release of AIR, all of the older Key titles have been officially
localised into English. Being their second major visual novel it
marked the beginning of the process of refining their identity as a
studio. AIR does not quite have all the features which would come to
define Key's later games and still has many of the rougher edges of its
predecessor Kanon. It focuses around the young traveller Kunisaki
Yukito who is trying to find the meaning behind the story left by his
deceased mother. As he interacts with the main heroines more of its
meaning becomes clear while he deepening his relationship with them
as they push through his cynical exterior. For those looking for a
strong tale of romance or like Key’s output, this is an easy visual
novel to recommend since its charms hold up well even alongside more
modern titles.
DesperaDrops
Nintendo Eshop VNDB Genre
– Otome, Crime, Mystery Play Time - 40 hours
Crime
stories and otome appear to be a powerful mixture with DesperaDrops
being the latest title to use this blend of genres. There is a
certain thrill added to the romance as the characters’ world is
turned upside-down and they must adapt to this rapid change in
circumstances. Naturally this leads to heightened emotions and it is
this specific part of mixture DesperaDrops prominently utilises to
push its variety of suitors into being open with the protagonist. It
helps that the available options cover a good spread of
personalities, appearances and ages to make, each one stand out in
order to capture your imagination and encourage you to pursue them. There is also a
very minor supernatural element in the form of the protagonist’s
power to read emotions and memories through touch. This is mostly
just a justification for the protagonist to be the centre of the
suitor’s attention and feels strangely disconnected from everything
else at times. However, despite this minor hiccup, DesperaDrops will
still scratch the otome itch and makes for an enjoyable time.
KAMITSUBAKI CITY REGENERATE
Styling
itself as a dark fantasy sci-fi visual novel, KAMITSUBAKI CITY REGENERATE immediately catches your
attention with its mash-up of normally distinct genres and ideas. It
is an isekai story where the player character is pulled into the parallel
universe city of Kamitsubaki which is on the brink of destruction.
They must interact with the various inhabitants of the city and work
together to steer this sinking ship into safer waters. Music is a
strong thematic element in KAMITSUBAKI and its role in bringing
people together despite their contrasting backgrounds and beliefs.
This makes the large amount of original vocal tracks hold additional
power over key narrative moments when they harmonize with what is
happening on screen. Overall this is a fun and well produced tale
which focuses on its core identity to great effect.
Trials of Innocence
It
is clear from the moment Trials of Innocence starts that its main
inspiration is the Ace Attorney series. Everything from the narrative
structure to the court room and investigation mechanics are extremely
close to its inspiration. Rather than feeling like a direct copy of
those games, it instead understands their core appeal and crafts its
own original story in their image. It follows a rookie layer called
Luna Ray as she comes to grips with the tumultuous legal world and
defends her clients. All the while she slowly uncovers the tendrils of
a conspiracy which deeply effects her and the lives of many. Trials of
Innocence is hardly a fountain of originality but it is upfront about
what it is and in this purpose it performs admirably.
Text Presentation – An Anatomy Of Visual Novels
Showing Is Telling
At
almost all points in a visual novel there will be some kind of text
on screen describing what is happening in the scene or showcasing dialogue. How the
characters of this text are presented deeply impacts the perception
of the game’s cast and their actions in a way that is often
incredibly subtle. Good text flows through the player’s mind
without much resistance so when alterations are made to the
established style they stand out. These changes can often be of the standard kind, things
like italics or bold text, and they are a common feature many
developers use for varying effects. Then there is the use of colour,
be it extensive or sparingly, to establish a mood, idea or person in
a way which immediately identifies it and sets it apart. On the
extreme end of the spectrum sits the special characters which stand
out from the normal text due to the fact they are often not words at
all and instead act as symbols. Let’s dip our pen and uncover how
small changes to the text can have a profound impact.
Standard Text Features
Almost
all visual novels use at least the most basic alterations during
their play time since it spices up what might otherwise be line after
line of repetitive black text. Even the smallest change can help
break the monotony and inject some much needed life into moments
where the writing has to do all the heavy lifting. It is subtle and does not draw an unnecessary amount of attention to any
additions yet offers enough flexibility to be worth using despite
their low overall impact on the player’s experience. The two forms
of this basic alteration which appear often are italics and bold
text and they share a similar function with key differences in how
they are perceived. Italics is used to emphasise certain words or
phrases and is often associated with the internal thoughts of the
protagonist or a character adding a texture to their spoken words.
The soft curves of italic text lend it a gentler and more implicit
nature almost as if it was a whisper in text form hence why its uses
tends towards those which favour indirect ideas. Nothing is more
indirect than when people say one thing and imply another and so
italics can underscore what might not come across in simple text form
in order to capture the subtleties of speech. This idea of being a
hidden element is played on when italics are used for a protagonist’s
internal thoughts. They are showing their most intimate and immediate
feelings, ones they will never voice out loud but are key to
understanding them and what makes them act the way they do. Placing
them in italics frames the words as almost being whispered to the player
from inside the character’s mind in a deeply intimate fashion.
 |
| Muv-Luv's text on background approach does influence its presenation choices |
On
the other hand bold text is the visual equivalent of shouting at the
reader. There is no subtly at all to its appearance and it is
impossible for it to be ignored given how striking it is when
compared to the thin characters surrounding it. It generally
indicates key information which the game wants to ensure the player
is aware of and for it to have an immediate presence and impact. This
means that the highlighted information often has relevance to what is
currently going on rather than dropping hits for some future event.
Bold text can also be used to convey the strong emotions by making
the emotive words in the descriptions bold so they are understood as
the key experiences of the characters in that moment. When used in speech
it can underscore just how loudly a character is shouting and what
words carry the most weight providing important context for their emotional state. Through small additions like these a wall of text can
be given additional meaning without having to waste space spelling it out in the text itself.
Colour And Text
Adding
a splash of colour to what would otherwise be lines of black text is
a far more of dramatic change than just making something italics and
as such the possibilities for it are also larger. This
flexibility comes from the way colours have a variety of associations
they can lend the text. Having red characters brings to mind power
and aggression while blue carries the idea of flowing and calm and
depending on what words are coloured this can be complimented or
contrasted against what is happening in the story. Some of this
depends on the culture since much of the connections related to
colour are taught, such as red being positive in relation to money in
China while the opposite is true in the west, so this makes colour a
less universal tool than the basic alterations if a developer is
aiming for a worldwide release. However, there is generally enough
commonality to make colour a useful method of adding interesting
texture to the text. For example Muv-Luv assigns each of its
characters a colour unique to them and their spoken words appear in
this colour. This serves two purposes, making it clear at a glance
who is talking and giving sense of identity to those words. Being
able to instantly know who is speaking without even reading their
name means the player is spending less time engaging with system elements
and this allows for a smooth flow from one line of text to another in
a game so focused around character dialogue and interactions. Coupled
with this change is how the character’s assigned colour reflects an
outline of what a character is like which the player is reminded of
every time they see it and it works as a way of remembering the
basic outline of who they are. Given the relatively simple and light
hearted nature of the game its cast adhere closely to their basic shape and this makes their colours a useful shorthand of their role
in the story.
 |
| Even the truth can be deceptive when framed correctly |
Colour does not need to be a continuos feature and it
can instead be its rarity which can hold its influence on the player.
Umineko is a prime example of this power with its red text. It
appears infrequently and represents an absolute truth about the
mystery which often overturns both the Battler and the player’s
understanding of everything beforehand. Its vivid colour and the
violent swings accompanying it make it memorable so even before
the words have been read there is a sense of dread and anticipation
in the player’s stomach. If another colour had been chosen for this
text is would not have had the same impact due to its striking nature
when placed next to the walls of black which forms the rest of the
story. Umineko does not does not use the existing associations of red
and creates its own new ones to match its narrative needs.
Unusual Characters
Beyond
the familiar letters which make up the majority of text on screen over
the course of a title, there are some special characters and
symbols designed not to be read but instead to communicate a visual
language to the player. It allows the developer to express a vocal
trait or underlying concept without a clearly defined written form
and also it is repeatable while being self contained so can be used
whenever it is needed. Here the symbol’s shape and structure do a
lot of the heavy lifting as it can rely on the player’s established
emotional and cultural understanding of them to create the desired
effect. Probably the most well known implementations of this use of
symbols is the speech text of Berserker in Fate/Stay Night. Rather than
words his vocalisation are various types of roars and so instead of
just saying he is roaring in a description or simply writing ‘roar’
in speech marks, Type Moon instead chose to use blocky shapes. The
primal nature of his roars is reflected in the way the shapes do not
have an even or consistent layout and their power is shown in the way they break
the conventions of what the player has come to expect from dialogue.
When Berserker is present these special characters make sure you
immediately understand what kind of person you are dealing with in
order to perfectly sell the mad warrior idea which the class is meant
to embody. This is not a feature many visual novels use due to it
being overly elaborate for the kind of stories they are trying to
tell and even those who do use it do so only in relation to specific
people or ideas in order to prevent any form of confusion about their
meaning.
 |
| Fate/Stay Night also likes to mix in colour alongside its unique symbols |
Conclusion
Given
the way visual novels tend to keep their text in standard formatting,
is it any wonder that breaking these rules has such a noticeable
impact? Even basic choices like bold and italics offer a means of
communicating simple changes in tone and adding texture to a character’s
speech due to the emphasis they provide. Utilising symbols in place
of the expected letters can push this distinctive feeling to new
heights and show a concept which would be difficult to express in
traditional words. Changing the colour of the text allows for an
expansion of what can be implied to the player in order to make
characters easily identifiable at a glance which does a lot to speed
up the flow in lighter titles. Overall, careful consideration on how
text is presented should always be at the front of a developer’s
mind and they should ask themselves if they can break away from the
monotony of textual expectations.
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