Needed a short read and since I’m a sucker to post-apocalyptic setting and such, I decided to give this newest “onion-cutting simulator” from Key a try. A brief and short post just like the VN itself because I’m a lazybum.
This is a story from a very, very distant era. The world has suffered from a great war. The contaminated atmosphere is turning ash gray, life on Earth almost came to a stop and water started vanishing. The world population has declined remarkably compared to the Golden Age. The people joined together to live in this world.
It was in these times that a “Phiroid”, a robot that can feel, woke up in a decayed facility. The fruit of science before the war: a humanoid, feeling robot. They were promised a new partner, one that could make their life easier. However, the awakened Phiroid finds out very quickly that he is emotionless. Perhaps he was not finished during the manufacturing process since his right hand is not covered with artificial skin, his mechanical parts visible. The Phiroid wanted to get closer to humans. He continued to wander through this devastated world, looking for the emotions he was missing. One day, a girl takes him in. She thinks of him as human and kindly looks after him. A little but warm town.
The Phiroid boy began learning what feelings are while living together with this girl. (summary taken from vndb)
- This is a kinetic novel.
- The game’s length itself is relatively short, and somehow packed with some… questionable translations, but I guess there’s nothing we can do about that. I don’t know whether it’s editing problem or what, but some texts sound certainly awkward in english; thus being really iffy(note that the one I played is the english version from steam). sighs, this is why we need good editors for our translated VNs…
- Most of the developments felt all over the place and terribly rushed, making it less impactful for me, TBH.
- And that includes some of the character developments as well. They’re certainly not bad – I know I’ve seen much worse, but they just kind of feel… distasteful, at least for me. I know Key was attempting some kind of in-depth developments, but sadly; with how rushed things are paced – it utterly failed to do so for me.
- Yes, pacing. The pacing is so bad I don’t even know where to begin. With how things happening so awfully fast, even the character developments would start to feel unrealistic at some certain points. This links back to my previous thought; the attempted “in-depth” developments rumbling down, thus leaving a bad aftertaste in the end.
- Romance felt quite weak, so I think it’s best to not expect too much from this “onion-cutting simulator” in regard to that subject. Heck, I even think that Shiona and Rei’s relationship feels more like a family-kind to me rather than a romantic one, TBH.
- Though thankfully! The musics and atmosphere were what saved it for me. The OSTs are some real musics to the ears, and as I’ve stated before, I’m a total sucker when it comes down to post-apocalyptic setting – thus the reason why the atmosphere really clicked it for me. And thankfully, they nailed down that aspect nicely. Though it may have no OP, Shimotsuki Haruka’s godly singing at the insert song was enough to do justice for me.
- The voice acting is decent, with Madd’s being particularly awesome. Though I did catch a few lines where Mizuhashi Kaori’s voice actings sounded kind of giddy, but it’s trivial so no need to nag on it that much. Kuno Misaki as Tipi was too qt for me to handle. Though honestly, I kinda think it’d actually be more impactful if only Rei were voiced. Such a shame…
- Hmm, nothing much to say about the art I guess. It’s the usual Key art, and I’ve become pretty used with it for a quite long time now. What’s worth to note is that at least I can see the improvement in Hinoue Itaru’s usual style in comparison with their previous works, though as usual – some anatomycal proportions and facial expressions are still kind of awkward and evidently off. Othet than that, it depends individually whether the artstyle is to your liking or not, I guess. Though for those used with Key’s works’ graphics, I think the distinct features won’t be that much of a problem to you. (Thus why these screenshots are here for you – in order to help you make up your mind. ;))
- Though despite all those flaws I pointed out, the epilogue was truly a nice touch to end this visual novel. It was especially memorable and touching.
Story: (7.5/10)
Characters: (6.8/10)
Artworks: (7.2/10)
Sounds: (9/10)
System: (8/10)
Enjoyment: (7.25/10)
Overall/Finalized Score: (7/10)
碑銘の素晴らしき混乱 