Kuniza

THIS REVIEW INCLUDES BOTH THE MAIN GAME AND THE TWO MINISODES "9/10 - This is a very good game, and you need to play it. Period." - Bruce Stracci Where do I begin to even describe this masterpiece of an RPG/Visual Novel? I guess I should start by giving some context: This game made an impact right away on my first playthrough a couple of years ago. Something in regards to the story, pace, humor, and how everything is perfectly crafted. I've recently re-played the entire saga, in light of the arrival of "Impostor Factory". The sheer amount of details that can easily be missed, may become important later on in future games. "To the Moon" is, in my opinion at least, the best game of this franchise so far. To even talk about the story in this review would be a disservice to how it was presented to me by Kan Gao and his amazing team, so I won't go into much detail over it. It's one of those games that needs to be played before you pass away. It's THAT GOOD. In regards to the minisodes: They are two isolated but very lore-important chapters that can be easily ignored by the player. I think it's MANDATORY to play them, before exploring both sequels "Finding Paradise" and "Impostor Factory" - But perhaps Minisode 2 spoils a LOT of the fun for the future installments of the series (This is especially noticeable in "IF"). I still will recommend playing them despite everything. Now, for the more technical part: Story: 9.5/10 - This is the strongest part of the game. To The Moon can be played in less than two hours if you are that focused, however, it's best to take the time and take it easy with this. Johnny and River's story is a tragic one, and the slower you take it, the further you understand the main conflict and motivation of his final wish. This is half a point away from the perfect score, however, as I feel the story at times can be too reliant on "comedic" moments where it kind of drives away the urgency of the plot. Gameplay: 6/10 - Oof, just OOF. Let me be clear: I'm familiar with RPGMaker games, and with similarly-created RPG titles. An RPG maker game can have both nice gameplay, and a visually stunning graphics, TODAY (titles like Omori, Lisa the Painful, Grimms Hollow came with a more powerful version of the engine) For the time this first title was created, gameplay wise is very similar to older games of it's era, considering titles such as Yume Nikki and Lisa the First, to name a few. If I were to judge with modern standarts, this score would be lower, but cosidering that this game is more than a decade old, and first came out in 2011, I think it's decent enough. The minimalistic style, lack of combat areas, difficult navigation at times, and certain bugs that I encountered during my second playthough didn't make it an enjoyable experience. The most FRUSTRATING aspect of this game are two moments that I can remember: The first being the frustrating "memento activation minigame" which I think adds nothing but extending unnecessarily the game and breaking the pace of this game - this mechanic was further improved in "FP", with the same problems, and outright removed in "IF", so I think it was really unnecessary. The second moment highlights one of the biggest flukes in terms of gameplay: This was SUCH A MISSING OPPORTUNITY, GAMEPLAY WISE! I still think that the game would greatly benefit from some sort of combat mechanics. Overall, It could be so much better, but it's understandable given the context. Characters: 10/10 - The main cast (Eva & Neil) have such chemistry together. Their back and forth, not only as playful banter, but also in the more "serious" moments of the story is such a delight to see, and the way they interact with both the patient and the world is what sold me from literally the opening scene. The supporting cast has also a lot of "believability" to them, and I could immerse myself right in the story. This also applies to the minisodes, where we get to meet some of their co-workers and see the relations from a different perspective. Nothing else to add, since that would ruin the fun of the first gameplay for the uninitiated ones. Original Sound Track (OST) - 10/10 - Also a perfect score. Not only the ambient music mind you, but the experience really compliments the experience - Fun fact: A couple of years ago, and 5-6 years after my first and only playthrough of this game, a friend of mine played "For River/To the Moon" (the main theme of this game) just for fun at the piano. I instantly recognized the song, despite not having any contact with the game in a long time. It's THAT GOOD. Accessibility: 9/10 - Yes, this is a very easy game to pick up, especially if you are new to videogames, or just a casual player. Since it can take you no more than 4 hours if you take your time to complete the main story, and right now is a very cheap game to get, it's very accessible. Overall review: 9/10 - This is a very good game, and you need to play it. Period.

I don't usually take my time to review games, but when I do, is because it left an impact on my. "Her Lie I Tried To Believe" is no exception, although sadly, this game left a bad taste in my mouth. I can't recommend this game to anyone who hasn't played a Visual Novel (VN from now on) in his life, because I feel that this might make them a certain bias towards the entire genre. Summary: On my thoughts towards this VN. For starters, it's free, so you would assume that it's worth it to try, since it's practically a "risk free" inversion. This may lead to most reviews to be far more "relaxed" and apologetic on their recommendations, but not this critic. This seems like a very rushed experience, not very visually appealing game, with lack of control over the story in any way, and sadly, it's more frustrating because this novel HAD the potential of becoming a great premise, however, all of their chances are wasted. The Plot - 4/10 - Actually, surprisingly this is both the best and worse aspect of the game. This VN actually avoids most of the regular cliches of the genre, such as the main action developing on a high school, or turning into a sort of "dating sim" where you pick one girl. The main protagonist's motivation is uncertain and unrealistic (without getting into spoilers, his motivation makes a 180 degree turn at several points in the history), which is a shame. Unlike most VN, the main character is not supposed to be a shallow shelf representing you, nor is he given those tropes, but in the very pure style of Steins;Gate, Fate;Stay Night and Chaos;Head, the protagonist has a very distinct personality. The story has the potential to be compelling, but the way it's presented, plus the choices made by both of them and once again, their unrealistic motivations overall, made me unfocused from the story, and by the end of it, I was happy... It was over. Visual Presentation - 5/10 The way information is presented towards us, it's really chunky, which luckily for new players got corrected at the later update releases (mostly spelling mistakes), sadly, they couldn't fix the history. From an aesthetically point of view, this runs short on many levels. The artwork for "Cassandra" and their animations it's fine, it's not as bad as say, other VN or dating Sims. However, it felt very generic. The backgrounds, albeit simple and somewhat repetitive at the beginning, they start to get more varied and detailed by the end of it. This, granted, might be achieved by some background rehashing Original Sound Track (OST) - 6/10 I must say, I was looking forward to the ambient of this game. Right away, the main menu gave me some false hope, and I got captivated by it. The main theme slowly devolves into a crazy rambling of a madman, which was also the first impression I got from the protagonist. Sadly, the themes while original and well orchestrated, feel indistinguishable from one another, although it manages to set the mood for certain scenes. To sum it up, I think it's just fine enough. Accessibility - 8/10 The fact that this VN is free, short and uses a very plain languages makes it a perfect candidate for new players with the genre. However, as I explained before, sadly the quality of the story is not worth it. Overall Score - 5.75/10 Sadly, despite having a very good potential, OK visuals, I can't really recommend this game on the plot alone. Being free isn't an excuse: DDLC and Katawa Shoujo are both free, albeit with a much better visual presentation and story quality.