Silverblood is a short demo of a much grander project. Its small length might not provide sufficient insight into the full vision that lies behind it, but it undoubtedly calls attention to what are some of its greatest strengths.
It is impossible to talk about this VN without mentioning the striking aesthetics of the art.
Both its style, what I feel is a retro-disney-esque inspired look quite unorthodox in OELVNs, and the way the art of the scenario and the characters blends together to look more like a ‘whole’ than the typical ‘sprites on a background’ composition we are used to in this type of narrative games.
In fact, if you remove the visual 'game' elements from a frame, an uniformed viewer could be forgiven by assuming they were looking at something other than a VN by judging the art alone. Maybe a point’n’click adventure game, or even a still from a cartoon series being broadcast on a cable channel.
Preference being in the eye of the beholder, liking or disliking the style will come down to subjective preference. But none can deny the care that has been put into it, or the ingineous peculiarities of its sprites.
A few of the characters are only seen from their backs, which is a technique I cannot recall seeing before in a VN. Other characters are not very varied in expression, but made to look archetypal.
One of the matrons beams ‘maternity’ and care, another almost always looks like she has swallowed a bottle of vinegar. While the Head Matron’s design couldn’t be faulted by being compared to certain poses of Buddhist statues, with the contrast between the color of her eyes and her phenotype giving her that extra element of otherworldliness.
This calls to attention (with great effect in my opinion) just how variably expressive the main characters are. The looks on their faces are used as an extra insight to their personalities, and the sheer range of them meant my favorite scene was almost disturbing to watch (in a good sense). During a spat, all masks thrown off, no words spared, you can see all the feelings of anger, resentment and shock emerge in the character’s faces. In other words, when these characters emote, they visually EMOTE.
There is a fair amount of expository material about the fantasy setting conveyed in the demo, but it is not told to the reader via exposition. Rather it’s conveyed in dialogues, the internal thoughts of the MC, and during the ritual scene which lies at the heart of this part of the story. By the end there are a lot of questions the reader will have about both characters and setting, maybe even some mistaken assumptions.
On counterbalance, the setting does come off as a place that is ‘alive’. Despite the demo taking place in a single location there is a feel of a much grander world laying beyond the walls of the witches’ monastery, and the complexity of their place and relationship with it. And this is all conveyed through writing.
What we can see in Silverblood gives clear hints it is (or appears to be) a ‘hero’s journey’ tale in the Campbellian tradition, with a few elements combining to give that premise more originality than the norm among a genre that, since Tolkien, has seen so many by-the-book iterations it has become a cliché.
E.g. The female main cast, the troubled relationship of the ‘party’ even before ‘the quest’ begins, the fact the main character isn’t a fish-out-of-water in these matters that must be drawn from a farm, but has trained for years to do it as a ‘job’, the ‘hero’s’ let’s-just-get-this-over-with attitude which foreshadows the ‘temptation to renounce the quest’ part of the Heroic Myth Cycle… am I channeling too much Campbell into this? :)
On the technical front the criticisms that can be made about Silverblood are all about the game’s interface and its lack of setting options. It is grating, but it can be excused seeing as this is a demo for a one-month Game Jam.
I did think its short length was a bit detrimental, as my interest in Silverblood only turned into true excitement about what is coming down the line after being privileged with some inside information.
But that, of course, will vary with each reader. Others surely will be hooked, line and sinker, even before finishing the demo.
In conclusion: Anyone who enjoys visual novels and fantasy tales can do no wrong by keeping an eye on this project. And doubly so if they are interested about what fairly unique OELVN takes on the genre will deliver.