Full and detailed review of the vn!
+ summary and analysis
SPOILERS BELOW THIS LINE
Disclaimer:
The information provided on this review is for general informational purposes only.
All information on the review is provided in good faith, however I make no representation
or warranty of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, adequacy, validity,
reliability, availability or completeness of any information on the review.
Review
VN review and score (score affects the amount of stars you get in the rating).
purpose: provide constructive criticism to help the developer improve.
Score Chart =========== [150-125] : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ [125-100] : ⭐⭐⭐⭐ [100-75] : ⭐⭐⭐ [75-50] : ⭐⭐ [50-0] : ⭐
VN Score: 135/150
Applies to version 1.3 [2017/05/04].
Score Breakdown:
-
『Visuals』 - 15/20
Images, videos, backgrounds, characters, drawings, animations, etc.
- Good:
- Image edition reinforces the dark atmosphere.
- Images are credited.
- Frequent background changes along the gameplay.
- Use of transitions and animations.
- Neutral:
- No original drawings (stock pictures used)
- Bad:
- (-5 points) No character sprites.
- (-5 points) No character sprites.
- Good:
-
『GUI』 - 20/20
Graphic user interface of the vn.
- Good:
- Text is legible 100% of the time.
- Correct font choice.
- Neutral:
- Default engine skin (minor modifications).
- Bad:
- N/A
- N/A
- Good:
-
『Sound』 - 20/20
Music and sound effects; quality and sound design.
- Good:
- Music used is adequate for the setting.
- Outstanding sound design, atmosphere focused, feels like listening an audio book.
- Music and sounds credited.
- Neutral:
- No original compositions or sound effects.
- Bad:
- N/A
- N/A
- Good:
-
『Story』 - 15/20
Spelling, grammar and syntax’s correctness, also, narrative flow and consistency.
- Good:
- Story is consistent and logical.
- Language complexity above average.
- Well written dialogues, characters have personality.
- All elements are related to the central argument.
- Good narrative flow.
- Good attention management. (constant clicks needed)
- Neutral:
- N/A
- Bad:
- (-5 points) Repeated words in the second half of the vn, at least in three different occasions.
- (-5 points) Repeated words in the second half of the vn, at least in three different occasions.
- Good:
-
『Setting』 - 20/20
Originality, ideas and worldbuilding in vn.
- Good:
- Original story.
- It is not just a sequence of events, a meaning can be inferred.
- Neutral:
- Alternative French Revolution. (XVII Century)
- Lovecraft based (public domain).
- Bad:
- N/A
- N/A
- Good:
-
『Gameplay』 - 20/20
About interactivity, e.g: kinetic, with choices, or higher.
- Good:
- N/A
- Neutral:
- Full kinetic novel in NVL mode.
- Bad:
- N/A
- N/A
- Good:
-
『Programming』 - 15/20
Builds released, correct vn execution, bugs, crashes, etc.
- Good:
- Flawless experience from start to end.
- Most operative systems supported by Renpy uploaded.
- Good filenames.
- Neutral:
- N/A
- Bad:
- (-5 points) No android version.
- (-5 points) No android version.
- Good:
-
『Promotion』 - 20/20
About the thumbnail, game page, metadata, tags, description, screenshots, etc.
- Description: Highly informative. (would add trigger warnings)
- Thumbnail: Attractive and accurate.
- Metadata: Fullfilled all important info.
- Tags: Multiple and accurate, game is easy to find. (would add “renpy” and “vn” tag)
- Screenshots: Multiple related images uploaded.
-
『Personal Opinion』 - 10/10
Is fun/cute/interesting/scary/etc? Did I like it? (subjective)
I’m biased here, I like books, libraries, old centuries, and horror. I obviously liked this story.
Summary
How to prove that a kinetic vn has been read and what the reader grasped? Only a summary comes to mind.
purpose: provide insight about what readers understood.
Alternative French Revolution in which large-scale demonic possession occurs among aristocrats. They were performing demonic acts and rituals for no reason, at least not one that science nor logic could find.
Serious crimes against humanity were committed, accelerating the revolution, which ended with the death sentences of many aristocrats.
A journalist saw one of these trials closely and decided to reveal the classified story of “Lord.D.”
Lord.D’s trial was on par with the trial of king of France himself, because Lord.D was the origin of all this madness, to be more specific, the origin was in a mysterious and popular library that he inherited.
VN goes to the past: (kid) Lord.D and his mother were peasants, but one day, a (real) Aristrocat of that had a mansion and library adopted Lord.D and his mother, just to have inheritors for all his assets.
Lord.D began the education to be an aristocrat, but one particular rainy night, when his parents were absent, he found that a book he was reading was covered in a sticky purple liquid. This was because all the books in the library were fake and their paper were actually entities!
The library does not like Lord.D’s presence, and the purple liquid turns into a total flood that drives him out of the place. The next morning he wakes up in his room, as if nothing had happened.
Time passes, Lord.D goes to a prestigious monastery where he suffers from impostor syndrome due to the lack of royal blood in his veins. Here he meets Henri and becomes best friends with him.
Now is Winter break, and Lord.D takes Henri to home with him. But disaster strikes Lord.D and Henri’s friendship: Henri becomes obsessed with the majestic library, perhaps VERY obsessed, even proving himself to be a worthy heir of the library.
Day passes, and the situation never improves.
Now it’s Henri’s last day in this house, and another rainy night and absent parents take over.
This time, Lord.D discovers that there is a big celebration at the library! However, as soon as he enters the library, all traces of celebration fade away and the place is immediately flooded in purple liquid again.
Next morning… as if nothing had happened again. But something actually happened, Lord.D feels jealous and betrayed, and he can’t recover from that night. He loses Henri’s friendship.
Years pass, the French Revolution takes control, Lord.D becomes depressed and escapes reality in a forest, writing and researching fairy tales. Three months later, Elliot (the mansion’s servant) summons him urgently… his parents had been executed.
Elliot reveals that the library is literally possessed to the brim, each book is an entity. Lord.D’s father was the master and kept everything under control at all times. However, with the death of the master and Lord.D’s incompetence in this matter, large-scale demonic possession takes over France.
Lord.D Trial Sentence: Died in the guillotine.
Plot Analysis
what did I understood, learnt, and thought after playing this vn. (subjective interpretation)
purpose: improve story clarity and reduce risk of misinterpretation.
Note: Rastagong included his own explanation of his vn and it’s unlocked after reading the vn. I highly recommend reading the Rastagong’s own explanation.
For the prior, I will use this section to answer some of the developer’s questions and concerns.
>> “I doubt it was much pleasant to read”
But it was. :)
>> “style and narrative of this story aren’t really suited to the visual novel format. (…) I hope that the absence of sprites wasn’t too unsettling!”
It’s what most people expect nowadays, that’s why you lost points in my review. However, it is only a minor problem. You still have 5 stars!
In my personal opinion, this is not a problem; after all, I am an avid reader.
And you should know that the first visual novels were like that. (see Otigirisu, 1992)
Your vn only has a strong text focus and that is quite valid.
>> “I’m not sure if that I succeed in making the flood appear as an horror”
Is not (for me)… at least not the flood itself, I was afraid of the nature of the library and the type of entities that were hiding beneath it. Being a “Lovecraftian” story, I was hoping for more descriptions about these entities, perhaps even a cosmic monstrous God.
If you want the flood to be terrifying, you have to describe it more, tell us how the character suffers and feels in the middle of this flood. Unfortunately, in this vn the story is cut abruptly when the flood occurs. If you do it this way, you will leave the reader only with questions and confusion.
>> “I’m slightly uncomfortable with the development of the third part of the story.”
Yeah is noticeable that the story is faster and least descriptive here, the Journalist and Henri arc is more extended in comparison. You already told us that this part was written in hurry.
>> “I hope that I succeed in conveying this unease in the story”
Lord.D self-hatred? That’s pretty clear to me, he is very afflicted for being a peasant, his relation with the revolution, and that his Father liked Henri more.
But is it really lovecraftian?
I have read Lovecraft myself. I can identify common elements, like a main character isolated from the world and educated in a library, and also the presence of extraordinary and unexplainable events.
However, Lovecraft never wrote anything about France or explored a relationship between two friends, this isn’t bad however, this is what makes the story original.
What about the style? It would be irresponsible of me to confirm or deny this, unfortunately I had only read translations of H.P Lovecraft.
Comments
Anything goes.
N/A
Hope this helps! ❤️