The fate of humanity is at stake. Use your gift of clairvoyance to see into the future and stop an apocalypse that threatens the balance between your world and the deities'.
In the very near future... When Polly returns home, after a few years abroad, to look for her missing mother, she quickly realizes that her hometown has drastically changed. A megacorporation named MK is using its power to control the population, and her community is in danger. She soon discovers that she has a gift of clairvoyance that connects her to Reverie, the realm of the Aspirations of Humanity: Glory, Bliss, Power, Chaos, Bond, and Truth. In this world, Polly becomes Harmony, a goddess who has the power to choose the Aspiration that will ultimately rule over Reverie and restore the delicate balance between the deities’ world and ours. The fate of humanity is at stake. To which destiny do you aspire?
Mostly Positive
269 Steam reviews
| LANGUAGE | AUDIO | SUBTITLES | INTERFACE |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Y | Y | Y |
| French | — | Y | Y |
| German | — | Y | Y |
| Spanish (Spain) | — | Y | Y |
mt massa, podia ter mais cutscenes animadas
Good Story telling, great depiction of Depression by the end of Act 3. Overall story telling and emotional tell-tale was beautiful. Act 5 was a little bit of a streatch. But overall a great narrative.
Remember how "Detroit: Become Human" begins by saying "this isn,'t just a story, it's our future".
Well, Harmony: The Fall of Reverie is a story about fighting against a company that has grown so big they can ensalve God himself (kinda literally), oppress people at their will and just do whatever they want with no consequences because unchecked capitalism creates heartless monsters and eternal growth is a cancer.
One of the best VNs I've played, and definitely want to play again to see other routes.
This game is okay, but it's not one I'd recommend.
I loved the voice acting and some of the characters. (Chaos is are a lot of fun.)
The art is pretty good. The backgrounds make Atina look like a colorful and eclectic place to live.
Unfortunately, I get the feeling that the reason they made this game a visual novel was that they didn't have the resources to make it into an adventure game like Life is Strange. And they don't know what makes visual novels good. Instead, they just rush the plot along and gloss over events that could be exciting, suspenseful or climactic. You hear about protests and violence in the streets secondhand through dialogue. You hear about major characters in harrowing situations and the story doesn't even focus on them until after it's over. It's like the game is trying to make its story moments as boring and watered down as possible.
The pacing is all over the place. You go from rushing through the villain's grand plan all in one act to taking two entire acts to grieve the death of a character.
Having multiple routes through a chapter means that there's never a wrong answer to how to solve the main problem. There are no bad endings, and you can see where every path leads in the flow chart. Unfortunately, this means that you learn early on that there are no stakes to your choices. I just ended up focusing on the few characters I liked and didn't bother caring about outcomes.
And let's get back to the characters. The voice actors carry a lot of the game with what they're given, because unfortunately, the writing is not there for many of them. Some of the characters are gods of specific ideals (Aspirations) who have only one character trait by design, and they still manage to be more developed than some of the human characters. The protagonist's step sister in particular is given quite a lot of screen time to never have anything useful to say. Abigail Thorn is a wonderful voice actor, but there's only so much she can do to polish a turd.
Ok, j'ai fini de jouer à "Harmony : the fall of reverie", et en fait il est super intéressant pour les gens qui s'intéressent à la narration ou se demandent comment on fabrique un jeu vidéo narratif à choix multiples : car le gameplay fait qu'on voit en permanence l'arbre de décision, et donc, si tous les choix ne sont pas possibles, on peut quand même voir les choix bloqués et ce qu'on aurait du faire par le passé pour qu'ils soient ouverts (et réciproquement jusqu'à un certain point on peut regarder les choix futurs pour mieux choisir ceux qu'on a envie de faire maintenant, mais bon, on voit avec quelque coups d'avance seulement, le jeu ne s'auto-spoile pas dans sa totalité, ne serait-ce que parce que ça ferait trop d'info d'un coup).
C'est vraiment la force du jeu, mais aussi sa faiblesse : ça fait un gameplay qui, pour rester lisible en dévoilant tout l'arbre, doit rester relativement linéaire (et on voit très bien quels passages étaient obligés, ce qui casse un peu l'effet de "t'es sensé te sentir coupable parce que tu penses que tel truc est de ta faute" alors que le jeu te montre que le truc en question serait advenu quels que soient tes choix) et avec pas tant de choix que ça (on lance des scènes entières sur lesquels on agit pas).
Aussi, quand on arrive au dernier chapitre, y'a en fait plus vraiment de choix à faire : toutes les options sont fermées sauf une (sans même possibilité, quitte à ce que le sort soit scellé à ce stade, de décider comment on se sent vis à vis de l'unique dénouement qu'il nous reste).
Je trouve ca donne envie de faire son propre jeu (et en même temps on en voit beaucoup la difficulté car j'trouve y'a plein de truc qui marchent pas en terme d’enchaînement logique. Le plus flagrant : t'as plusieurs Aspirations, et elles te disent toutes qu'elles vont t'aider, mais à la fin quand tous les choix sont bouchés ils le sont avec un commentaire de l'une ou l'autre des Aspirations en mode "bah non tu m'as pas écouté alors démerde toi". Ou alors tu décides de laisser tel perso faire un truc et ça t’empêche de laisser tel autre entreprendre une autre action pourtant parfaitement indépendante).
I don't like that it makes relationships analytical. I don't want to be a master manipulator, I want to craft an emotional story that will resonated with me. I also don't like how it constantly breaks immersion by moving between the story and the graph where you make choices.
The voice actors absolutely killed it! The art and the acting make the story all the more impactful. This game absolutely understands grief, and I felt grateful for that. It was also refreshing how this story centered so many women of different ages, has queer and trans characters, and has a hard-hitting and morally complex take on capitalism and colonialism. This game isn't perfect, but it's an incredible choose-your-own-adventure visual novel.
Strengths:
Lot’s of narrative games that allows the player to make choices focuses on the narrative. This game truly focuses on the CHOICES and you get to make a mountain of them. These choices also genuinely impact the story.
You can see the “shape” of the impact of a given decision a a decision graph and plan far ahead into the future. Great for people who enjoy planning and being analytical.
Weaknesses:
The main game play loop inherently breaks immersion in the narrative.
The game constantly switches you back and forth between the decision graph and the dialog every few minutes. You cannot lose yourself in the story because you’re constantly interrupted.
Even worse, due to how far ahead you must plan to avoid getting locked out of the paths you want, you end up treating choices as simply collecting the right combination of gems instead of thinking about how each decision personally impacts each character and the overall plot. The very act of making players count gems and looking at complex graphs activates the analytical parts of their brain and turns off the emotional part. This dehumanize the characters and encourages the player to see the characters as means to the ending they want instead of feeling emotionally attached to them.
I struggled to care about the characters. I cared about the Reverie plane and I have my favorite Aspirations but the story didn’t make me care about the people that lived in Brittle (Name of the human plane).
The narrative underdelivers the consequences of your choices. I applaud the game for having major consequences across chapters and even acts. However, they are presented on the decision graph as a grayed out graphs. Not exciting. It would have been far more impactful to explain the chain of causation that led to the current consequence in a short summary inside the narrative.
Length:
I finished one playthrough in 15 hours.
Verdict:
I still had a decent amount of fun but would ONLY recommend this to people who enjoy being analytical, planning ahead, and value the act of making decisions over lovable characters.
Una novela visual con mucho detalle y mimo en los dibujos y diálogos. Solo por eso vale la pena.
I tried to give this game a chance, due to its visuals and interesting way of progressing through the story in the Augural. It's not really giving us many choices to make (dialogue or action wise), except which next chapter you want to read next. The characters are a bit odd and the dialogue is very weird, it's almost like they don't know how to talk like real people do, all conversations seem forced, mechanic and they lack context and emotion. I also don't like how they try to normalize stuff like open relationships and a lot of they them characters. That is way too much, in my opinion.
Harmony: The Fall of Reverie is an ambitious narrative experiment that sees DON’T NOD stepping away from their more traditional, exploration-driven storytelling in favor of a dense, choice-centric visual novel structure. Developed and published by the studio, the game places narrative design and thematic intention at the very center of the experience, asking players not only to make decisions, but to actively study, anticipate, and shape the consequences of those decisions. It is a title that feels deeply reflective of DON’T NOD’s long-standing fascination with choice, identity, and social responsibility, while also pushing those ideas into unfamiliar mechanical territory.
The story follows Polly, a young woman returning to her hometown of Atina after years abroad, only to find that her mother has vanished and the city she once knew is on the brink of societal collapse. Political unrest, corporate overreach, and public distrust form the backdrop of her personal search, grounding the narrative in contemporary anxieties. Polly’s journey quickly expands beyond the mundane when she discovers a mystical amulet that allows her to access Reverie, a parallel realm inhabited by personifications of human ideals known as Aspirations. Through this connection, Polly becomes Harmony, an oracle capable of glimpsing possible futures and influencing the fate of both worlds.
The Aspirations—entities representing concepts such as Power, Glory, Truth, Bliss, Bond, and Chaos—are central to the game’s thematic weight. Each one advocates a different vision for the future, and aligning with them is not framed as a simple moral choice. Instead, the game consistently challenges players to consider the trade-offs inherent in every ideology. Supporting one Aspiration may bring stability at the cost of freedom, or innovation at the expense of compassion. These tensions are mirrored in the real-world narrative threads, where personal relationships, political movements, and corporate interests intersect in messy, often uncomfortable ways.
Gameplay in Harmony revolves almost entirely around dialogue and decision-making, but it introduces a distinctive system called the Augural, which visualizes branching futures before choices are locked in. Rather than hiding consequences until much later, the game allows players to preview potential paths several steps ahead, turning narrative choice into a form of strategic planning. This system fundamentally changes how decisions are approached, encouraging experimentation and foresight rather than emotional impulse. For some players, this transparency feels empowering, making agency more concrete and intentional. For others, it can reduce narrative tension, as the mystery of “what will happen next” is partially replaced by calculated optimization.
Structurally, the game is dense and deliberately paced. Long stretches of dialogue, internal monologue, and philosophical discussion are common, and the story frequently shifts between intimate personal moments and high-concept metaphysical debates. While this breadth allows Harmony to tackle large ideas about governance, identity, and destiny, it can also lead to uneven pacing. Certain sections feel richly layered and emotionally resonant, while others risk overwhelming the player with exposition or abstract concepts. The experience rewards patience and attention, but it does not always accommodate players looking for a tightly streamlined narrative flow.
Visually, Harmony adopts a polished, illustrated aesthetic well-suited to its visual novel format. Character designs are expressive, with subtle animation and framing that emphasize emotional nuance over spectacle. The contrast between the grounded environments of Atina and the surreal, symbolic landscapes of Reverie helps reinforce the duality at the heart of the story. The soundtrack, composed by Lena Raine, plays a significant role in maintaining atmosphere, blending soft, introspective themes with more dramatic motifs that underscore pivotal moments. Voice acting across the cast is consistently strong, lending credibility and emotional depth to even the most abstract conversations.
What ultimately defines Harmony: The Fall of Reverie is its willingness to prioritize ideas over immediacy. This is not a game driven by action or constant plot twists, but by reflection and consequence. It asks players to think critically about the systems that shape society and the values they are willing to elevate, even when those values conflict with personal desires or emotional comfort. The game does not present clean answers, and many of its endings feel less like resolutions and more like statements about compromise and responsibility.
As a result, Harmony: The Fall of Reverie is likely to resonate most strongly with players who appreciate complex storytelling, philosophical themes, and experimental narrative mechanics. It may frustrate those who prefer emotionally reactive choices or cinematic pacing, but for players willing to engage with its systems and ideas on their own terms, it offers a thoughtful and distinctive experience. Harmony stands as a bold, sometimes uneven, but undeniably sincere exploration of what it means to see the future—and still have to choose.
Rating: 7/10
Enjoyed the art and the interesting "other world where you hang out with the archetypes of the human psyche" thing, but the cast of the game was so utterly insufferable that the stakes meant nothing to me, with some of your "friends" doing nothing except whining and complaining and crying 95% of the time they're on screen.
I also have to question the "My grandpa is so emotionally healthy that he just loves getting cucked and explicitly loved less than someone else by grandma. Doesn't bother him at all. What a truly healthy man." That's not healthy brother, that's called deep self-loathing.
The story is heavily railroaded, with most of your decisions leading to really no meaningful differences in how the story ultimately plays out, and the "true" ending was particularly lazy with how to resolves the conflict.
Prose was alright, but nothing special, and soundtrack was forgettable.
Clearly needed another editing pass to weed out gems like
"Sometimes the right thing to do is unethical."
and
"It's hard to go missing on an island like this."
"How many people go missing?"
"Who knows, they go missing all the time."
MIXED (LEANING NEGATIVE)
i pushed through for the very engaging augural (~future vision~) mechanic, great visuals and music + decent writing for aspirations. but writing for the real world characters unfortunately feels very performative. the prose somehow reminds me of chatgpt's levels of vagueness with no substance, skimming over the important details in favor of repeating 'poetic' metaphors ad-nauseam, while also constantly telling instead of showing and having every real world character speak as if they're on their 100th therapy session. (e.g, a rational, but fiery activist with a team of loyal supporters says it's 'soothing' to have someone agree with them) the most intriguing real world character doesn't get too much time to shine, sadly. The dystopian narrative fails to engage compassion, because aforementioned issues make everything feel kind of fake
still, I cautiously recommend this if you're interested in unique narrative mechanics
Jeu plein de poésie et de beauté.
Après avoir adorée dispatch, je me suis dis qu'un autre jeu roman graphique pourrait me plaire.
J'ai été attiré par ce jeu, très mauvaise idée, je m'emmerde devant au point de mettre endormie ( oui endormie ) et d'avoir dépassé les 2 heures pour demander le remboursement.
Oui je n'ai pas fini le jeu et il est conseillé de finir un jeu avant de donner son avis et je n'ai fini que le chapitre 1, mais quand un jeu ne nous plait pas il faut le dire avant que cela nous dégoute des jeux vidéo et on est là pour s'amuser pas pour s'embêter.
On a 6 truc divin que l'on doit choisir les dialogues pour plaire tel ou tel truc divin.
On nous sort des discussions en cour pour voir le système divin mais cela rend l'histoire moins intéressante.
De plus l'introduction du monde divin est très mal introduit et j'ai dû mal avec le principe de cet univers.
De plus on est en face du pire du roman graphique qui est le dialogue en face à face.
Peut être un jour j'aurais nouveau envie de donner une nouvelle chance à ce jeu mais bon il y a tellement de jeu non fini, de jeu que j'aurais envie de jouer, de jeu que j'aurais en envie de rejouer que même si j'ai dépensé de l'argent j'ai un doute sur ce point.
Je ne recommande pas ce jeu.
For a Dont Nod game, I think the fact that it has sub 500 reviews should be enough to say that it Harmony is hardly a smash hit. In truth, a lot of these reviews argue about the story or the writing, but beyond that is the poor pacing and quality of life features that any modern game (especially visual novels and Dont Nod themselves) were solved a long time ago. At the time of writing this review, the game is only 2 years old but feels far older.
Pros:
- Some of the character designs are cool
- Early choices siding with certain characters has interesting consequences
Cons:
- The artwork is horrible
- The music is a single soundtrack that sounds like they bought it off some free website. It never matches the tone of whats going on at all
- They pull you in and out of scenes to drag you back to the big choice map even though some of the scenes are literally 3 sentences long
- It overstays its welcome
- You are often forced into specific paths whether you like it or not
- Story is cliche and generic
- No fast forward button
- No skip previously seen scenes button
- No save slots, it's all autosaved
- The main core mechanic of the game, the Augural (aka plot map) actually ruins and takes you out of the game itself. It's like really bad meta gaming that mostly feels awkward
- Nothing is titled or conveyed well so you have no idea what kind of choices you are making
- Most of the characters motivations make no sense
- Queer characters are shoe-horned into it
I guess it's on me, but I don't get this. I gave it the first chapter and the beter part of an hour, but I'm just not getting into it, and for a visual novel I don't feel like I should have to bargain with myself as to why I should continue.
I don't feel any sympathy for any characters and I don't feel like I'm made aware of why anything that happends is happening or what the dilemma I'm apparently so traumatized by is supposed to be. It feels like I need to read a wikipedia page about what the setup for this story is even supposed to be about, but sorry, that's not happening.
This game is absolutely amazinhg!
Una completa obra maestra, me ha atrapado de principio a fin, ojalá conviertan este juego en una saga. Muy original e innovador.
First of all, Harmony is a visual novel : you're presented with a web of nodes, you select which one you want to pursue next, and go from there. Some might unlock or reveal future nodes in advance, some give or take the currencies of the game, different kinds of crystals. The same currencies are needed to be able to select some of the nodes, and therefore choices. Don't expect gameplay here - and that's fine: it's a visual novel after all.
Harmony does a lot of things right, and then falls down badly on the one that does truly matter : storytelling.
The art style, characters, voice acting, music are all excellent. The world described feels alive, and interesting. You'll want to learn more about the characters and follow their subplots, including romance (with really good LGBT+ representations, to boot).
Then the "Choices matter" part completely falls apart : main plot points are forced no matter what, the big bad guys (a corporation) never feels real or represented in game properly, and simply vanishes at some point.
There's a fantastic part about going through grief - and personal pain plus a social commentary on capitalist autocracies seemed like great ingredients for a story that talked about family and community, tying it all together.
Except that story isn't there, and the ending feels hollow of meaning.
In the end, my choices didn't matter all that much - and in a game where that's all there is, I treat this as a cardinal sin.
Came for the visuals yet stayed for the plot. Very cozy and casual, love unwinding to this x 💗
Very touching story encompassing more of the world and current goings on than you would expect. Enjoyable and thought provoking
Úžasná hra s nádherným vizuálem a vcelku dost hezkou hudbou. Možnosti mají význam což málo kdy u hry stane. Až na jednu kapitolu kterou jsou vždycky musel vcelku rychle proklikat je to vážně skvělá hra. Ohledně konce o kterém tu jsou většinou debaty ...... měli byste si trošku nad tím popřemýšlet a pak vám to začne dávat smysl. Je to hra která si zaslouží víckrát abyste jí dohráli k tomu aby jste jí pochopili .
9/10
- ta jedna kapitola
+ hudba
+vizuál
+ story
+ možnosti
+ 8/9 konců mají hlavu a patu a ten 9 je trošku moc filozofický.
제 취향은 아니었지만 그래도 게임은 잘 만든것 같아요. 비주얼노벨 좋아하시는분들 할인때 사면 가성비 좋을것 같습니다!
The art style is good as well as the soundtrack.
But unfortunately, especially for a visual novel, I found the story to be boring and not saying much.
4/10
I really enjoyed the characters, the art, and the themes. The game mechanics are a little confusing at first but they eventually click. The story feels easy to follow almost all the way up untie the end. It ends abruptly and it feels like it's missing at least another chapter. But I still enjoyed the journey.
i really wanted to like this game but its sadly so boring. maybe ill give it another go i a bit.
Compared to other visual novel like games, this one is unique in its approach to decision making. I like that instead of picking worded responses, you can analyze the cause and effect of choices and guide your decisions that way.
A few notes on the things I like most -- strong female characters; cut scenes are beautiful; voice acting is good; and the political commentary around surveillance and government/corporate power dynamics used to oppress citizens is relevant
I played the game as a "let's see what Don't Nod Has more to offer" and I was not disappointed! I liked to relax with the game every now and then and see how my choices turn out in the long term! I was VERY surprised when the new Heart happened to be [spoiler]Glory[/spoiler] in my game play, since I've been rooting for [spoiler]Bond[/spoiler]. However, on the end, I thought it was a very good choice!
I wish there were more special scenes in the bonding moments between the characters rather than just descriptions. We had a few "special scenes" and it was way too little! I would love to see those special moments shared between [spoiler]Harmony and Yana[/spoiler] as well as [spoiler]Nora and Jade[/spoiler]!
I also very loved the representation in the game!
🌟 A Masterpiece of Narrative Choice and Emotional Resonance 🌟
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (10/10)
Harmony: The Fall of Reverie is a breathtakingly beautiful narrative experience that feels both deeply personal and grand in scope. From the moment I stepped into the world of Reverie, I was hooked by its stunning art direction, evocative music, and thought-provoking story.
The Augural choice system is truly one of the most innovative mechanics I’ve seen in a visual novel. Being able to glimpse the outcomes of my choices while still feeling the weight of each decision added layers of depth to every scene. It felt less like "choosing a path" and more like weaving a personal destiny.
What really stands out is the emotional storytelling. Each character is well-developed, with motives, flaws, and humanity. The game doesn’t shy away from tough themes like identity, power, and family, and it does so with sensitivity and grace.
🎨 Visuals – The hand-drawn art is vibrant and expressive, bringing both the modern world and the dreamy realm of Reverie to life.
🎧 Soundtrack – Lena Raine's music is magical. It underscores the story's emotional beats perfectly.
🎙️ Voice Acting – Stellar cast. Each performance adds authenticity and richness to the dialogue.
This isn’t just a story about saving a world — it’s about understanding your place in it, making peace with your past, and choosing what kind of future you want to shape.
Highly recommended for fans of Life is Strange, narrative-heavy games, and anyone looking for something emotionally impactful and unique. 💜
Il m'aura fallu une petite dizaine d'heure pour finir ce jeu assez unique. Imaginez une histoire d'on vous êtes le héros, mais d'on vous disposez d'une partie du script, c'est Harmony.
Si au début on fait ses choix par conviction, on prend petit à petit l'habitude d'anticiper, de prévoir (quand c'est possible) les conséquence de nos décisions. Et c'est se qui rend unique ce jeu, les choix ne seront pas motivé uniquement par des convictions personnels.
Côté interface, la mantique demande un peu de temps avant d'être maîtrisé, mais est assez bien faîte et clair dans son fonctionnement. On comprend bien les implications entres les événements et lesquels ne peuvent pas être éviter, c'est vraiment une autre manière d'aborder ce type de gameplay.
Un énorme bon point vient de l'aspect graphique, d'un côté les vues fixe sont suffisamment varié pour qu'on ne s’ennuie pas mais pas trop pour qu'on arrive à se retrouver dans les décors. En bonus, quelques scènes clés animé sont vraiment magnifiques.
L'ambiance du jeu aurais pu être étoffé, les musique sont correct bien que peu mémorable, j'aurais aimer avoir plus de son d'ambiance relatif aux situations (voies des foules notamment).
Pour les personnages, Polly la protagoniste est vraiment bien écrit, j'aime aussi beaucoup les aspirations, avec leurs mimique et leurs doublage. On comprend vraiment chaque point de vue et les défaut et qualité de chacune d'elle.
Par contre du côté des personnages secondaires, si Omar, Lazlo et Ursula sont bien écrit, j'ai vraiment été déçu par Jade et Nora. Jade est une activiste contre l'idée de mettre en danger les vies de certaines personnes, mais pour organiser une manif qui risque de dégénérer. Nora est décrite comme une fille au rire facile et communicatif mais on l'a découvre timide et très réservé dans les dialogues.
J'en sort avec un bon souvenir, même si la fin est déroutante et peu sembler impersonnel, je pense que c'est une expérience assez unique et une manière de raconter une histoire qui mérite d'être vue.
Un jeu sympa mais avec un début de jeu un peu lent qui a failli me faire lâcher.
Mais en lui laissant sa chance, il s'avère qu'à partir de l'acte 2, l'histoire s'accélère et devient vraiment intéressante.
Les personnages sont bien écrits et on finit par s'attacher à chacun d'entre-eux.
Le scénario est bien construit et tous les actes sont bien intriqués entre-eux donc faites bien attention aux choix que vous faites ! Ils peuvent tout changer !
C'était mon premier visual novel et je n'en suis pas déçu.
13/20
This game was divine, it was inspirational and it was burdening you with the weight of never being able to choose right for everyone at the same time. It was about love, it was about loss, it was abut community and strength in the collective, it was about being the kindle of inspiration and it was about finding the balance within your own choices.
This is a visual novel with some of the worst writing I’ve ever experienced in the genre. And I still thoroughly enjoyed it.
Let me explain.
Harmony: The Fall of Reverie offers mesmerizing music, a stunning visual style, vibrant and emotional voice acting, and, most importantly, a core philosophical concept that is surprisingly deep. The real star, however, is Augural, the branching narrative system that turns what could’ve been a typical visual novel into a kind of cosmological puzzle, where the player isn’t just a decision-maker, but a visionary of the future. For that concept alone, I’m willing to forgive nearly everything else.
Now, the writing…
It’s incredibly naive. Sometimes even outright dumb. Often boring, repetitive, forgetful, and it frequently feels like it’s leading you nowhere. The narration? Sounds like an old philosopher-grandpa drifting into senility, forgetting what he was talking about every two lines. It’s… weird.
And that’s what hurts the most. Such a brilliant instrument, this whole framework, executed at maybe 10% of its potential. But even that 10% was enough for me to spend some genuinely wonderful hours with this game.
8 glue bazookas out of 10.
Lamentablemente no lo puedo recomendar. Es un juego que, si bien se ve hermoso, las voces son geniales, y el desarrollo de personajes parece ser bastante decente, la mecánica de volver constantemente al augural - y con constantemente me refiero a CONSTANTEMENTE - resulta bastante frustrante; te corta el flujo de la mayoria de las conversaciones entre personajes, y un poco te hace perder el hilo.
Es una pena, realmente queria que me guste este juego, la verdad
Très bon jeu à faire, le rythme et les musiques sont vraiment bien, dommage que la publicité ne soit pas si élevé.
Es una novela visual de hacer click, tomas decisiones algo complicadas que afectan a la vida real y la vida ensueño. Las elecciones importan mucho y tienes que tener x cristalitos de un dios para poder seguir por ese camino. Yo recomiendo que si quieres un posible suceso miralo con cabeza y no vayas al tun tún ya que hay bastantes variaciones. Lo disfruté y es muy rejugable, eso si al principio es dificil de entender la mecanica.
I really wanted to like this game - and I was able to overlook some of the clunkier aspects other reviews have noted (no skip for the intros to new places, scenes being disrupted by constantly being pulled back to the augury, info-dumping exposition/showing not telling) in the first few acts. The beautiful visuals, excellent voice acting, and interesting (if shallow) mythology couldn't make up for ultimately disappointing storytelling.
By the end of act 3, it became apparent that this game is much less "choices matter" than I wanted it to be. The climax of act 3 felt railroaded [spoiler] and the death of Lazlo seemed inevitable, [/spoiler] which feels bad in a game that was marketed as "choices matter". Even the parts where it seemed like momentum and tension were building in the fourth act were poorly paid off [spoiler] by the totally inexplicable collapse of the BBEG corporation (not as a result of my beloved characters hard work, but as an unexplained choice on the part of the corp itself???)[/spoiler] in Act 5. Whole characters got swallowed by plot holes in the final act ([spoiler] the two queer relationships that provided the emotional heft of the middle game? half of one pair gets arrested and then forgotten about, the main character's love interest is just straight up ignored save for a mention in the list of characters the main character remembers fondly at the end - this is not the queer romance I was looking for! [/spoiler] ). At times it seemed like this game had important and life-affirming things to say about community, about love, and about carrying each other through the hard times, but ultimately the themes rung hollow and the storytelling left me unsatisfied.
Really enjoy the story and characters
C'est un mauvais visual novel. Il veut parler d'un tas de truc, mélanger SF et fantasy, lutte contre une entreprise tentaculaire, deuil , amour, et intrigues d'entitée divines. Sauf que le jeu veut faire ça en 6heures.
Et l'écriture se casse la gueule méchamment sur ça, surtout sur les fins.
Le voicing est top , la musique un banger, mais manque de diversité sur les environments.
Pour ce qui est des personnage, on va passer sur les chouineries "ouin² woke" ça fait bizarre que tout les persos soient LGBT, mais a la limite osef ; le problème c'est qu'ils sont a peine developpés (normal, on a qu'une poignée d'heure et 7 trames narratives) et c'est plus des fonctions que des personnages.
Le systeme de "voir dans le futur" avec les embranchement est vraiment fait, on en apprend trop peu; et il pousse a juste faire des choix par cynisme pour arriver peut etre a une fin. Sauf que ça force aussi a repasser par l'abre de décisions a chaque foutu decisions, meme si cette dernière c'est de savoir si on se leve du lit a l'heure ou pas. Ca détruit totalement le rythme.
Ya vraiment 100X mieux en terme de VN, pas besoin de jouer a celui-la ; a la limite j'imagine qu'avec une promo pride-month ou jsp quoi ; ça peut faire kiffer certaines personnes d'avoir un jeu avec autant de (mauvais) personnages LGBT+ ; mais a ce stade j'suis sur que ya des indés qui font ça avec une histoire solide.
Very good quality visual novel with recognizible plot of a studio and interesting mechanics of jumping thought nodes in scenario graph, what is worthy to memorize.
Looks like thig mage is really underrated and not popular as it should to be.
The plot is rather soft fantasy metaphorical, amount of character is rather low, what is typical for the author, so i would not apply plot evaluation how you would do for hard- fantasy plot like rationality checking, antagonists characters - this is absent in the story, but it is NOT about that.
A beautifully animated game with a somewhat complicated, yet satisfying, mechanic! At its heart (ha) this is a game ALL about characters, choices, and consequences (the three Cs of narrative games perhaps?) and I think it does admirally. Sometimes characters or relationships feel they get left behind but that's what other playthroughs are for I suppose.
We really need more games like this.
timeline gimmick is more interesting than the story contained within each chapter.
It's a nice story, great art, great voice acting. On that basis, I very much recommend it
I have very mixed feelings about the choice node system, because sitting and counting to make sure you can get the outcome you want is kind of a steep price for small payoffs. Occasionally, it made for interesting compound choices that make sense for the main character's role as a kind of oracle--I can see what they were going for, and it was at least functional. Other times, however, I sat in paralysis of choice for ten minutes only to find I got locked out of what I wanted in an unrelated way. Of course, that can happen in any choice based game, but in this one it was uniquely frustrating when the choices and locked out choices are laid out before you--especially because there's no going back to play things differently. Not even if you're willing to replay a chapter for it, as far as I could tell
I know, choices are supposed to matter in these types of games, but when I intend and plan for a specific thing, I also want to be able to make it happen. Also, I accidentally skipped nodes twice while just selecting and reading nodes (if you hit one twice in a row, you're locked in) and could do nothing about it
(Oh and my playtime isn't indicative of the length of the game, it was just open in the background for days)
J'abandonne au début de l'acte 4 parce que spammer A pour passer les dialogues n'a pour moi rien de divertissant, or c'est le principe d'un jeu.
Je pense que le jeu se tire une balle dans le pied en interrompant les dialogues toutes les deux ou trois répliques avec une interface tentant de cacher sa linéarité sous une apparence bordélique et quasi-illisible censée donner l'illusion d'une multitude de possibilités et conséquences.
La seule chose que j'apprécie sont les graphismes que je trouve originaux et très beaux.
C'était super ! J'ai adoré !
Vive Chaos <3
This is an unfortunate review to write, because this game does everything right *except* the story, which is the backbone of the genre.
The premise itself is convincing, the story chart system seems to be intuitive as it exposes the framework of the entire game, but the story itself just doesn't feel as convincing or even well thought out because there are no true branching paths in major plot points, which is quite shocking considering how the chart system is presented. Every choice you make will affect your currency to unlock different nodes, and the gist is for the player to carefully plan a progression path to the outcome they intent to.
I stumbled upon the golden ending of the game in complete confusion, because the game itself kept telling me that I somehow screwed up until the very end. And no, the game wasn't trying to trick me into thinking that I failed, it's simply because the choice currency system is in complete odds at the narrative itself.
The A/V art direction is quite good, I cannot but help that it's wasted here.
A nuanced and engaging story about the choices we make and how the consequences affect us and those around us, well-written and well-voiced.
Mechanically frustrating at times. The constant returning to the Augural when choices (and there are so many) are made pads the playtime significantly, and the lack of a manual save feature is simply a negative. For a game about choices and consequences, being unable to reload a certain point to see the path not taken is vexing, especially when the game's alternative is to force you to replay the entire chapter (and, given how many of the consequences of your choices don't appear until you're past the chapter, it can frequently result in you being straight out of luck).
I liked it a lot! The artstyle is absolutely gorgeous, especially during the animated cutscenes. The story has some very interesting themes about activism. I see that there are some reviewers that feel like there isn't a lot of wiggle room in choices and I can see that, but all in all I didn't mind that so much.
If you like choose you own adventure stories, this is a good one.
not the best story from dont nod. very compelling visuals kept me playing when the story was painful to get through.
I'm kinda mixed on this. It's just a choose nodes and see the consequences of them type of game. The lore and world is interesting but you feel a little detached from it with the gameplay. I only went through it once so don't know how other choices might impact the story but I felt my choices only nudged the story in directions instead of guiding it. I'd get this on a pretty decent sized sale, if you're into narrative and node based games.
I had to give up at this. Besides the gorgeous animations and overall style as well as the superb voice acting this game didn't deliever what it promised me in the demo. And that's bothering me most: I PLAYED the demo! I took my sweet time with it, decided to buy it anyway and yet it.. disappointed me anyway.
Pros:
Great animations and music. Memorable and exciting. Loved the diversity and character designs.
Backgrounds are beautiful and subtly animated to feel alive.
Cons:
- Story is very confusing and slow. To make this even more bothersome the transitions between the scenes and your choices interrupted the flow of the story again and again
- to choose between the different paths you have a complex userinterface that shows you your possible decisions - and the ones you can't do because you missed a specific collectable gem somewhere. Of course, you can't rewind or save somewhere. To get it (and have a different outcome) you have to replay everything. Neat!
- to make this even more complicated the story also shifts between two worlds, the one where Polly (our main character) is a special chosen being, and the one from the real world.
- Unfortunately I found the story to be too confusing and not engaging at all. I just never found my way into Polly's world and problems, I didn't understand why she was so committed to a mother who didn't even really like or understand her.
- Even after a few hours ingame the characters didn't appeal to me even. Not a single one - they all looked great but somehow I couldn't sympathize with anyone and I didn't really care about them all.. probably because I couldn't put myself in Polly's shoes and was constantly struggling with the interface of the gameplay.
Some dialogues felt superfluous and bland, they didn't gave my anything.
- The game is a prime example of "telling instead of showing" because white every character in the real life world is absolutely frightened of the organisation "MK". At one point in the game we engage with the organisation and get into one of their buildings.. we also find an old ruin and explore that but do I get to see ANYTHING? no.. This kind of thing happened all the time and I think that's one reason while I couldn't connect with the world.
Summary: As a visual novel "Harmony - the fall of reverie" simply fails. It doesn't give me much of a choice of paths, because once I decided to go in one direction I cann't step back from it.
And while that might be okay if the game simply wants to tell me a good story it also disappoints with that - the story is confusing and the characters are somehow superficial and not very authentic, sometimes even just unsympathetic. The great drawings and animations don't help much.
To make everything worse the whole narration is constantly disrupted by the user interface I have to "chose a path" from.
Can't recommend it, even in sale.
It's just boring
Jeu narratif dans un univers original. Je n ai pas vu ce gameplay nulle part ailleurs avec un parcours sur un arbre narratif conditionnel. Tres bon jeu
It's been a while since I've been this surprised and captivated by a title.
I usually take quite some time to warm up to a visual novel, sometimes I grow bored - here? none of that happened.
I enjoyed the visual design, the music!, the voice acting and the characters and also the themes present in the story - it all pulled me in. I don't think, I ever finished a novel this quickly.
A well-written sci-fantasy story about individuals, their emotions and society, in an expertly crafted visual novel. Some interesting choices and a seriously diverse bunch of different endings! All of that with fascinating visuals, likeable voices and endearing characters.
If you need a comparison for the set-up and the vibes of the whole thing: Gaiman's Sandman meets The Longest Journey.
Downsides are a slow start, a lack of clarity at times and somewhat confusing gameplay mechnisms (even if that kind of fits the story) ... And also, it didn't exactly rock my world. It was "only" genuinely good.
Recommended if you like progressively minded visual novels!
A tip: If you want the game to end with a specific ending/aspiration, focus on this aspiration without exception!
This game is a beautiful mandala of cause and effect. Actions will have reaction you can't plan for. I would say it plays like a hybrid of a visual novel and a choose your own adventure. You're actions have weight and cause real, fundamental changes to the world and story, but it is difficult to see how they play out. Without looking up guides, I don't think you can really truly feel how your actions play out in the long run. It's a beautifully serendipitous experience I can't really explain until you've played the game. The voice acting is incredible, the art and UI beautiful and satisfying, the characters complex and resonate, and the story is one of deep emotional connection to the self, to others, and to the world. Do yourself a favour and play this game. I promise you won't regret it.
El juego es muy bello, el arte impresionante, y como siempre feliz de que me dejen elegir el camino :D
I REALLY wanted to like this game.
Wonderful voice acting, charming character designs, beautiful backgrounds. It had all so many aspects that are right up my alley -- a choice-based visual novel, paths based on your affinity with particular characters, a mother-daughter emotional conflict, a politically driven narrative about revolution, the list goes on.
Unfortunately, it just... didn't really justify itself.
None of the gameplay or story elements mesh well with each other, leaving the direction confused and underdeveloped. In the end, I was left feeling mostly apathetic. There's nothing truly egregious about the game, just a bunch of mildly confusing and aimless writing and design choices. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone unless they're truly captivated by the art direction or something.
Preciosa novela visual con un gran argumento, grandes personajes e interesante gestión de decisiones para con los poderes de Harmony.
I love this game, the characters are endearing, the story is really interesting, and the story tree mechanic is fun. It does get a bit frustrating about halfway through because there's a choice you make that truly doesn't matter, no matter what you choose the same thing happens. I didn't like that, but the rest of the game is great. I came to the page to see if I could get suggested another game that looks like this one! 8.9/10
٩(^‿^)۶
Well made. Relevant. Fun. Absorbing
很明顯沒有中文，放棄吧
I can't believe that Jusant and Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden aren't selling enough and they pause or cancel upcomming projects... We want these kinds of games(+Vampyr), so let's support Dont Not – don't let them go unnoticed!
i really freaking enjoyed this, i was pretty depressed at the time and it gave me something to get lost in and enjoy. The choose your option scene is pretty gorg. fun world as :) <<(((º>,
An interesting premise both in plot and in gameplay. It's mostly a visual novel but you do get branching trees to decide what to do next and can even see vague details about what those branching paths might lead to, so sometimes it's wise to stop and calculate what you might need to do to reach a final goal you want rather than only thinking about what the next step is. The voice acting is excellent, the art is very nice as well. The actual plot is very metaphysical and I was turned off by it initially but it grew on me over time. I think there may have wanted to be a bit more time warming the player up, and at the mid point there's a crisis that happens that also went on for too long without much gameplay input besides clicking "next scene". Otherwise, if you don't mind a visual novel experience it's very good.
Bonita novela visual donde las elecciones importan. A medida que juegas puedes ver qué te depara el futuro y en base a lo que sabes puedes elegir el más adecuado.
TL:DR: Truly don't know how to feel about this one. While I loved the concept of the story, the navigating of the many trees of possibility wasn't executed as well as I had hoped. As a visual novel? It's incredibly beautiful, well voice-acted, and the dialogue is well written. Worth a look for fans of that genre, hence my thumbs up review.
I love DONTNOD.
This kind of game where choices matter is so hard to develop when there are so many variants; players can get frustrated easily when they don't have a satisfying outcome. With Harmony, I felt like many of the choices I made did have meaningful effects, but in ways that didn't always feel satisfying, and the feedback and design on the UI/UX for the augary was frustrating. Some of the pathways presented also felt disingenuous to the game's premise [spoiler] (such as Polly potentially choosing to just abandon ship entirely) [/spoiler]. Overall, I felt really locked into pathways, and would often get annoyed with how little wiggle room there was.
I feel like I immediately want to go through and see what other situations could have played out, which is definitely part of the fun of a game like this. However, I feel like I want to go look it up rather than actually play through the game again, which is disappointing.
Also... I genuinely would love to get data shown to me on what other players have experienced! I want to know how rare my ending choice was, and see if I have a similar experience to others, or if I had a more unique take on the choices. That feedback to players in this kind of game feels quite important to me, and it's just missing as far as I can see.
as a visual novel, the art is gorgeous and the premise and setting was great, but marred with confusion overall. This mashup of novel and choice-trees was just overwhelming.
Une histoire intéressante du début à la fin, peuplée de personnages attachants. Un univers également très original servi par des graphismes colorés et chatoyants. Une bande son en parfaite harmonie avec l'ensemble (mention spéciale au thème principal que j'écoute régulièrement). J'ai adoré le temps passé en compagnie de Polly et les choix parfois cornéliens qu'il a fallu faire pour arriver au terme de l'aventure. Encore un sans faute pour Dontnod, un de plus.
Normally I love choices matter games, but the time I spent on this one was more stressful than it was intriguing. I found myself excited to get to a certain point, only to realize I chose a node chapters ago that locked the progression I wanted. The concept of the augural is great, execution not so much.
Pros: This gave me American Gods vibe. (the original book version, not the tv show version which got totally sidetracked)
Cons: Clunky interfaces, way too wordy storytelling.
Harmony is a weird game for me. It one of those rare games that manages to let you experience its theme rather than spectate it. A a prescient character, you'll be going through the story using a partially revealed flowchart of actions and consequences. This does disconnect you with the plot and the characters, which is maybe one of the worst part of the game. However, it's how you get to "feel" what prescience would be: you can be callous in a scene, because you know it will work out in the next one; you "game" your interactions to reach specific points in the timeline to reach a distant future you can only glimpse, short term consequences be damned.
If you saw or read Dune, [spoiler] it made me feel very similar to what is described of Paul experience with precognition in Dune and Dune Messiah[/spoiler].
It's not the best narrative game I played, but it's an interesting one !
The game is all right. Has quite a slow start but I'd say I got hooked around two hours into the game. The plot was quite interesting and I liked its main ideas (and characters), yet some parts of it were undeveloped. The whole system where you see the future and select your actions was disappointing. On many occasions there is only one choice you can make because of some previous requirements, so it doesn't really feel like there's a choice at all (this especially applies to the final act). Other than that, the game has nice visuals and music.
One of the best visual novels out there. Unique concept and storytelling mechanic. The developers are really turning out some amazing games.
No es una mala idea, incluso podría decir que la jugabilidad es interesante y única, pero siento que te explican las cosas como si tu ya supieras de las mismas, se siente como si a ti como jugador te faltara información para entender como funciona ese universo, y las explicaciones de algunos sucesos resultan muy ambiguas o que no explican nada de su mundo. Dan por echo que sabemos como funciona su universo o los sucesos importantes del mismo. En concluir, la idea y mecánicas del juego son buenas, pero no se toman el tiempo de explicar los datos que deverias saber para seguir el ritmo de la historia.
I tried for a while, but the story just isn't captivating. What's more, the story tree mechanism doesn't add any value; worse, it breaks immersion.
Choose Your Own Path in the way that the Star Wars hotel did it...
One of the few games I regret buying. Harmony is a visual novel that let's you 'see into the future' to shape the story and the outcomes that you like. However, the abundance of choices and diverting paths are more often than not a lie. This game will HARDLOCK you at EVERY TURN. For my first playthrough, I decided I was going to work towards a specific outcome, but no matter how much I sided with one person or followed their advice, I still got locked out of the scenes and outcomes that I wanted just because I did something three chapters ago. Also, this game does NOT come with a SKIP BUTTON, which is a crime against visual novels that are specifically designed to make you replay them over and over to get different outcomes. I restarted certain chapters so many times, because I unexpectedly got locked out of the path I wanted only to spend 15 minutes manually clicking through dialogue. It's a disservice to the voice acting.
There are some beautiful aspects to the game like the voice acting and the cut scenes (the regular sprites are hit or miss), and the world is interesting and well thought out, but it's too much of a slog to really enjoy and I can't see myself every replaying it without a mod or something that allows skipping.
Très beau jeux. Le doublage donne un rythme qui sans aurait peut être manqué. Histoire prennente et mécanique qui donne envie de refaire une partie malgrés quelques longeurs. Je recommande!
Weak as both a visual novel and a choice-centric game. I played through twice to see if there was a more coherent story I was missing, but no, the disjointed and arbitrary story seems to be intended. This feels like a huge step backward for Don't Nod.
As a visual novel:
There's no skip function. Anything billing itself as a VN that should be replayed several times but that doesn't have a skip function (not even for the cutscenes!) was pretty clearly made by people who don't play or understand the genre. You can't save or replay from checkpoints either, since as soon as you finish a chapter its choices are locked in and can't be changed except by restarting the whole game.
As a choice-centric game:
Outcomes feel arbitrary. I usually felt more at the mercy of the augural than in control of it, but the most frustrating part was that the scenes I unlocked often had little or no impact on the storyline. This is especially egregious in the final act.
[spoiler]I sent a bunch of dreams that bolstered everyone's spirits and had MK on the ropes, but no matter what you have to play a node that hope feels lost and MK is doing just fine. Shortly afterward, MK folds inexplicably. There's even a node with the human characters talking about how MK's sudden pullout makes no sense, and there's never an explanation as to why the company suddenly gave up or even why they were so adamant about controlling access to all Oxion sites in the first place.[/spoiler]
The overall result is that the game makes it very clear that nothing you did in that section actually mattered and the outcome had nothing to do with you. It just happened, and so you get to react.
The Aspirations later praise Harmony for bending reality to her will, but... you mostly just play out the nodes you're required to in that section of the game, and the optional ones have [i]no lasting impact[/i]. You actually have less ability to affect the story in that chapter than you do in earlier ones. It's just bizarre design and writing.
I guess I should've known not to trust Don't Nod to give me a satisfying final chapter. I enjoyed the character interactions throughout the game, only for the end to mostly be the game TELLING you what happens without any actual conversations. I also feel like every choice locks you out of too many paths. I can appreciate having choices that matter, but I would've liked a little more freedom with the little choices.
The game is decent good
A nice visual novel with an interesting story, exploring complex topics that are rarely explored.
I like the choice mechanics that proved more complex that I thought. It shows by example that having a glimpse into the future does not always help making choices in the present.
A story about grief, freedom and revolt
Definitely gets better the longer you play, also good replayability
interesting story
真是浪费了这么好的美术。
讲故事的能力负分，真的极差，特别特别差，所有本该是剧情爆点或者转折点的事件都让人无法调动一丝情绪。
无法调动情绪一笔带过其实也好，你本来就讲的差，但它会反复出现，反复强调，你，这事件很重要，你该要伤心/愤怒/激动了，你配合一下。
整个游戏流程下来，可能只有刚开始半个小时一个小时熟悉游戏世界有能感受到乐趣，之后的时间全是煎熬。
Beautiful animation, music, and voice work with some great characters and moments. However, the frustrating, limited choice system locks you into, or hides, 75% of the choices. My ending was so quick (less than a minute) and made no sense. I spent my whole time revolting against MK and the ending was... Neo-MK establishing itself and Nora conked out on the sofa in VR? Yikes.
Es un juego increíble donde abordas la multidimensionalidad de las relaciones que tienes con otros; así como las constantes presiones (internas/externas) que conlleva la convivencia humana :).
Gutes Spiel! Toll gestaltet und eine nette Geschichte!
Leider ist die Mantik unübersichtlich gestaltet. Desweiteren gibt es (wie zu erwarten) recht wenige wirkliche Entscheidungen, das Gute ist aber das sich einige auf den späteren Spielverlauf auswirken.
Für Fans von Visual Novel Spielen sicher nett, für "DON'T NOD Fans" absolut ungeeignet.
Ich persönlich würde es mir aber Nichtmal im Sale (10€) nochmal für das Geld holen.
The graphics are nice especially the characters. There is some beautiful animated sequences but unfortunately not enough. The backgrounds mostly felt a bit static.
The story was interesting but seems a bit derivative of the longest journey/dream-fall (or maybe both games are getting inspiration from a common source.) I felt sometimes there wasn't really enough information behind particular story choices though; like what does it mean to pick this plan over this plan since you haven't really explained what either plan is. So a lot of the time it felt a bit 50/50 rather than making a conscious decision. Maybe this is by design. The descriptions on the story nodes don't help either, they are always pretty vague.
My biggest issue with the game is the UI
One minor gripe is that you have to play the whole game with a drop down at the top labeled "controls" Not sure why this had to be on screen at all times.
However by far the main issue with the UI relates to the story navigation mechanic which is basically the only game-play. Maybe it was just me but several times I would plan my path through the nodes of the story only to find out to my surprise that I couldn't proceed in the direction I wanted, by playing some particular node it locked my out of another or by playing some node it forced me to play another which then locked me out of another. I just found it confusing at times.
Overall I found it a bit more frustrating then relaxing.
Using plural instead of him/her?
Sadly, I've already bought this game, but this woke ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ does nothing for the story or the game but make it more confusing.
There is really no point for this in games where "non binary" isn't the story point. Which here it isnt.
This PC/Woke culture is really getting out of hand
This game not only has beautiful artwork, but also a very intriguing story thus far. I love all the work of the lore that has gone into this game and the storyline that is accompanying it. The voice acting has been ace as well. If you're on the fence about this one, buy it ASAP. You won't regret it.
Очень интересная игра в жанре визуальной новеллы. Есть моменты анимации (вставки, ролики) которые придают новеле необычность. Сама рисовка сделана в 2D стиле. Мир не делится на добро и зло, а га устремления и тем самым формируют героя, как личность, а вот что за личность у вас получится решать вам. Будите ли хаосом который все снесет или сильным дикторам, а может будет созидателем и тп.
пока 7 гароний из 10.
LOVED THE GAME
This might be one of the worst games I have ever played as far as story is concerned. Like yea, I don’t doubt there are overall worse games…but the writing in both dialogue and overall narrative is so monumentally bad in this game I was at times speechless as I went through this travesty of a narrative. It feels like the writing team literally never read a novel in their lives or if they did they only read Virginia Woolf’s “The Waves.” I want to be clear “The Waves” is a masterpiece, this game is like that without the writing skill of Virginia Woolf .
Maybe I wouldn’t care so much, but as far as visual novels go the production values here are mindblowing. The soundtrack is outstanding, although it is only like a 10 hour game, but still the soundtrack through those 10 hours borders on perfect. It attempts to convey the themes and the emotions these characters are feeling, which the writing doesn’t even come close to even hinting at. It’s also a fully voice acted game and the actors are exceedingly skilled, but when you work with trash there is only so much the voice actors can do, despite the dialogue bordering on nonsensical characters like Nora are still able to convey the tragedy of their life, while Poly’s conveys how constantly regretful she is. The game is also gorgeous. From environment backgrounds to character designs. Everything pops and conveys the beauty of this world, kind of reminds me of the art direction in Hades. The character designs especially for the Gods perfectly exemplifies each God’s specific emotion. For a visual novel it is also striking because characters and backgrounds also have movement to them in these scenes which few visual novels have.
The actual gameplay is handled rather poorly, but with a better narrative and writing would probably have been ok. The problem is this is a visual novel, the only gameplay is picking choices. This game attempted to do a bit more and your character gets to see the entire board of choices and where decisions can lead. However, in practice this is a disaster. Choices become meaningless because in game you don’t have enough narrative idea of why you should select a lot of these choices because not enough information is given to understand them. Meanwhile, looking at the decision tree board isn’t helpful either because it is exceedingly easy to accidently lock yourself out of decisions without even meaning to, because you will be making choices that have an affect later on in the board…but the board won’t tell you want choices are necessary to get to that point on the board. This game design simply does not work. This game should have taken a hint from all those Zero Escape games where you are able to jump around to any point on the board at anytime to go down a different path if you want to. This game foolishly doesn’t allow you to do that without replaying an entire chapter which you are not realistically going to do.
The main issue though is the horrifically bad writing. I got to say I’m literally baffled at what the story these people were trying to tell is. So I guess these developers hate Capitalism…like a lot…weird you charge $25 for your game when you hate Capitalism so much, by this games logic it 100% should be free. Your corporation has oppressed me by charging me money for this game! Which is actual dialogue the characters in this game would say if they lived in our world. It’s looney tunes level of crazy. The entire plot of this game revolves around a corporation called MK and the main character and her friends/family that wish to abolish it. There are a million ways you could tell a narrative about the oppressive nature of capitalistic systems…and sure this is I guess one of them…but it’s like the worst and most incompetent way. For instance why not make a straw man argument where your communist characters are all great people that go out of their way to help people and the corporation is literally oppressing these people and making things worse in this island nation. It’s a fictional story you could do that…the writing of this game leads me to think that’s what you thought you were doing. I would instead say you made like a Tin man argument. Instead of building up a faulty premise for you to knock over, you created a faulty premise which is literally stronger than your arguments against that system.
There is almost nothing about this MK company that comes across as problematic. The game starts and you tell the player that prior to MK’s rise this island nation was pretty much a garbage place where the water was literally polluted and people had to rely on Ursula’s commune for food and shelter because there were like no public services. Then when MK comes to power they go about closing the beaches to clean up the polluted water (which they didn’t cause) and your characters scream that they are oppressing them? You then talk about how MK went around buying up slums…but paying people for those slums so they could fix up the architectural integrity of the old city…and creating parks and other public work projects. When it’s revealed they are trying to dig up the ancient civilizations artifacts to commune with the gods…the characters flip out because MK won’t allow people access to archeological dig sites? What a shock that an archeological dig wouldn’t want random people who are untrained going into these dig sites…and sure they are doing this to find these artefacts but you then say their plans are to put a lot of this stuff in a museum for the public? Seriously whatttttttttt are you doing. Eventually, you say they kidnapped people and were using them…but honestly I don’t trust the characters telling me these things because those same characters are describing all the above acts as horrific oppression. All these main characters seem detached from reality.
Nothing is shown in this game. You could have had like characters find MK holding people against their will. You could have had interactions between your character and some high ups at MK that shows their motives are evil or their cruelty. You could have shown them shooting people or taking some horrific action…but you didn’t. Instead for the majority of the game you have delusional characters talking about how MK giving people jobs and employing 50% of this island nation as “oppression.” Then instead of having your characters have clear conversations with each other you are constantly forcing the player to go to the “choice board” and picking lines of dialogue and choices there instead of just having a constant conversation with characters with dialogue choices. The end result is I honestly barely know any of these characters as instead of talking to them I’m picking choices that I have no idea how they relate to what is going on in the story. The entire first half of the game you are searching for your mother and I didn’t even realize this for quite a while because you spend more time talking to Gods about their problems then what is even happening in the world.
This needed to be like a 30hr game with a ludicrous amount of more dialogue and character interaction and an actual villain instead of the villain being the overall oppression of capitalistic systems on society. Why didn’t you just make a God called “Capitalism” and have them embody that entire societal system which your character could actually talk to and interact with?!? You literally made a game where Gods represent different aspects of Humanity and you couldn’t just have done that? This game isn’t even half baked, it’s completely uncooked. Go play something like Disco Elysium or Teenage Excolonist instead, both games which make pretty clear what the problems of capitalistic systems are but in compelling narratives where characters actually can talk to each other instead of just shouting “CAPITALISM IS OPPRESSING US.” This game comes across as a parody of an anticapitalism game.
Wow, what a bad way to ruin a story! On the surface it looks like this VN has a lot of choice driven story moments, but in reality they are connected in such a way that you hardly have any wiggle-room.
The story tree seems like an awesome idea, at first, but it constantly takes you out of the story to focus on your next "choice". I find the lack of agency in this VN frustrating.
EPIC story, Graphics style and sound!!!! A MUST BUY!!!!
hate the forced romance u end up in but interesting story otherwise
