A soft yaoi 'choose your own adventure' game.
* A different style of gaming (visual novel)
* The soundtrack
* Easy interface to navigate with
The bad
* The main themes are a little too daunting (soft yaoi)
* Choices are very limited (I know - an oxymoron to the good 'visual novel')
* The momentum is too slow (too much gibberish)
Gameplay 4
Graphics 4
Sounds 8
Value 9
Tilt 2
I'm a type of person who would give pretty much any game of any genre a go. Like music, you are bound to find a hidden gem. So when I was in search for the next hidden gem, I came across this adventure game, Animamundi - Dark Alchemist. It promised a 'gothic horror game alive with decadence and sensuality' (whatever that means). As this game is a form of 'anime', I never got into this 'anime' thing as people with large eyes and purple hair just don't interest me at the slightest. However, temptation got the best of me as some of the people I work with swear on anime as the next best thing since sliced bread.
The entire style of this game is in a form of a visual interactive novel. To those who can remember way, way back when 'Choose your own adventures' was the talk of the town, Animamundi's game play is very similar however the story is much, much longer and more geared towards the adult population. That said, you will find that there are multiple endings (if my memory serves me correct, fifteen) and of course depending on your actions determines the outcome.
The story unfolds in the fictional country of Hardland, a fantastical version of medieval Eastern Europe, home to vampires, alchemists, homunculi, and the Devil Mephistopheles. You play Count Georik Zaberisk, who mades a contract with the devil Mephistopheles in order to save his sister Lillith Zaberisk as she was beheaded (and still managed to be alive) by the townsfolk as they claimed her to be a witch. When a choice is to be made, a super fast clock appears on the screen. I think within three seconds you have to make a decision otherwise the game will make one for you. If you 'step in the right direction' you have the opportunity to unlock drawings and collecting items so you can ultimately save your sister (and whatever else happens to be in your path).
Once thing that strikes a major concern (for me anyway) is the relationships between all the main characters. Georik (the main character - another words you, the player) has a very odd relationship with his twelve year old sister. It's a little too close for comfort, if you get my drift. What caused my eyebrow to raise further is the relationships between the males. Again, it's way too close (and in some parts you can forget about the idea of 'personal space'). Does 'soft yaoi' means anything to you? Well after the game I tend to get the idea what that means and Wikipedia comfirms this.
Considering it's a interactive visual novel, all the graphics are drawings of the events. I must admit it does look nice however a little over-the-top. Actually, way over the top. All the male characters look remarkably femine (and that includes the mighty devil himself Mephistopheles; he never looked better) as they all have eye shadows, pointly features and pretty locks in their hair. All the females are way too femine as they constantly play the 'poor maiden in distress'. I have not once seen this 'action' with my wife. It's probably this Japanese fantasy having always encountering maidens in distress. Take note that the game's resolution is locked at 640x480 however you can opt to view as the entire screen with warping effects.
The game high points has to be the musical scores. I thought the scores are so well compositioned that I felt the game would be better off selling just the musical pieces as a soundtrack than the game itself. Of course, like the graphical pictures, you need to unlock these as you make the 'correct' choice. The voice acting are in Japanese however the text is so well written in English that amazes me. I thought it going to be another re-run of 'Zero Wing' (does the term 'All your base are belong to us' rings a bell?) however the only thing I have spotted was the odd spelling mistake (I feel it's more of a typo than a spelling mistake). Apparently the voice actors are famous in their field (e.g. Yui Horie playing as Lillith...you see, I'm learning).
I really don't know how long I have 'played' (read) the game however it felt really long. To those who's into this 'novel' gaming, you'll have a blast as mentioned above, it has around fifteen different endings. The story for me took around fourteen hours and knocked off five endings in the process and one of them I was actually glad how it panned out...as you can see that I was very glad the game ended as it did and there's no way in hell I'm going to discover the other ten endings...remember 'soft yaoi'.
Visual novels never took off well enough in the market. I personally gave it a fair whack considering the number of hours I have invested playing this game. Apparently this game was marked as a 'driving force' and hoping to carve itself into this either young or dying genre. Maybe it was meant to be for the niche market (i.e. Japanese) and maybe I was meant to be the slave of the American ideas of gaming. Either way, tread carefully.