Utawarerumono: Prelude to the Fallen (PC)

This was quite the long ride. I’ve finished Utawarerumono: Prelude to the Fallen today, not only finished but decided to add some more hours of playtime to get all achievements on Steam. It was very satisfying to 100% complete the game, even though I don’t do it with all the games I play, due to lack of time and some residual sanity I may have.

Utawarerumono is part visual novel, part strategy game, where we control a big roster of characters in combat and get familiar with their stories in detail. It’s impossible to finish the game without knowing the names of everyone by heart because the game is that thorough with character development. It is, after all, a visual novel with a pacing very similar to others in the genre, although a bit more on the slow side. Things take time to develop across many arcs, and the events build up slowly for a reason. What was most unique and unexpected to me was the existence of turn-based tactical combat. Even though it lacked the complexity of a pure strategy game, it felt really familiar to me in terms of unit positioning, skills, equipment, levels, status ailments, maps, etc.

Meet Eruruu!

Utawarerumono tells the story of Hakuowlo, an unknown man, even to himself, who appeared in a small village, suffering from amnesia and severe injuries. After he’s found, a small family takes him in. Aruruu, Eruruu and Tuskur, their grandma, are Hakuowlo’s new family. But what’s with these people in the village? They have normal bodies and faces in addition to fluffy ears and tails. Hakuowlo doesn’t hide his surprise when he first sees them. He also couldn’t avoid an almost fatherly connection with both girls, Aruruu and Eruruu, even though almost everyone he touches is imbued with sexual undertones. Maybe Aruruu is the sole exception, but I digress.

The game transports us to a feudal Japan era, where tradition is queen, and many tribes and countries are at odds. Soon, Hakuowlo’s village is attacked and something terrible happens. He starts a revolution against the owlo of that territory. The rest of the story is a fantasy tale of wars, friendships, conquests and tragedy. There’s magic, beautiful white-winged angels, vengeful gods and greedy tyrants. The slice of life story events focus on the social dynamics in Hakuowlo’s castle, mostly about his women/friends and everything that happens between them. I’m being purposely vague because it’s very easy to spoil a visual novel. The dynamic between the women living with Hakuowlo, Benawi, Kuuro, Oboro and other men is nothing short of wholesome. This is first and foremost a tale about union, friendship, love and desire.

A road trip

It was all fine and dandy until I reached the last 5 hours of the game. Then, under the events that transpired in the country of Kunnekamun, the story shifted to crazy revelations to the point that I was left very overwhelmed and with many unanswered questions. The story didn’t end on a cliffhanger or anything, but my inquisitive nature prevented me from connecting the right dots at the right time maybe because I was so worried about the individual destinies of those I spent so many hours with. I won’t write more about this. Just expect a fierce last battle and maybe some tears afterwards. Those won’t be your first ones either.

The advantage of getting 100% achievements is, as with any visual novel, your collection. You will collect all CGs, items, OST, events and something else in the end. The early 2000s anime art is beautiful and very delicate. By the time you unlock all events in the game, you can read the story again like a print graphic novel, without battles or gameplay. This is one of the reasons I haven’t uninstalled the game yet. Prelude to the Fallen is the first game in a series of three, followed by Mask of Deception and the Mask of Truth.

Zzzz with Mukkuru (the big tiger)

Games I’m playing in January

I feel like I’m drowning in an ocean of games. This weekend has been prolific in terms of new additions to my backlog and new games I started to play. First, I tried Super Mario RPG. I’ve never played it before so I couldn’t take the nostalgia factor into account. There was an element which was a bit concerning to me about the combat mechanics. I heard that Sea of Stars got some inspiration from SMRPG by introducing timed inputs and other elements in combat. When I tried the game I didn’t vibe with the combat at all. Moreover, everything in a fight took far too long and my brain was starting to decay with the pacing of combat animations. I was killing all enemies that could heal themselves and their party first, not because it was strategically relevant, but because it was faster to finish the encounter. I eventually decided I didn’t want more hours of something that was clearly getting into my nerves, despite being remarkable in everything else.

I eventually tried SMRPG and my experience was something else altogether. First, attack and defense inputs weren’t a problem. I felt like I was very in tune with the attack rhythm and I still rarely fail a critical. I can read my party’s movements and react accordingly. At defending I’m not as fast at reading the variety of enemy attacks but I’ve been doing fine. Attack, buffs or defense animations flow seamlessly. I’m really enjoying the game and I see myself engaging more with the combat system instead of going to great lengths to avoid it. Even though I feel that Super Mario was funnier when I was younger, I often find myself chuckling at some dialogues and scenes.

Super Mario RPG: A fight against King Calamari

A few days later I tried a visual novel recommended by a YouTuber I enjoy very much. Her channel is called Milla’s Game Room and she absolutely deserves more followers. One of the visual novels she recommended was Virche Evermore. She created an excellent video about it. I enjoyed the atmosphere a lot and the character art is very pretty. I don’t know how I’ll fare with an otome though. In visual novels I like to immerse myself and reach for some connection with the romanceable characters. There’s no same-sex relationships going on, although I think the story has punch and that shouldn’t be a problem. I want to know the stories of our main character and her love interests all the same, and I think I have enough curiosity to dive into it. The fact that the setting is not in high school is also very refreshing.

Virche Evermore: Our main character in a very dramatic scene right at the start

I’m continuing my playthrough of Utawarerumono: Prelude to the Fallen with many breaks in between. I adore the combat, Aruruu (especially when she says Gachatara!) and Karulau! The story is gripping and the art is beautiful to look at. I already have a collection of screenshots I intend to keep. Every time there’s a new CG I grab it for my collection. I also spend my time repeating some battles in hopes of unlocking achievements.

This weekend I played Cocoon, a game created by Jeppe Carlsen (Limbo/Inside) and published by Annapurna Interactive. I’ve tried a good amount of games published by Annapurna and all gave me unique experiences. Cocoon wasn’t an exception. The puzzle design is god-tier and I can only warmly recommend it. I found it available on PC Game Pass, installed it, and only stopped at the credits. The art is clean and the game plays and runs so well with no issues whatsoever. The puzzle difficulty was balanced with some late sections a bit trickier than others. No boss encounter was approached the same way, but the action perfectly communicated the strategy.

Cocoon: Carrying orbs back and forth between dimensions

After playing Cocoon, I decided to try Sword and Fairy Together Forever. I’ve never played a game in the series and still need to read a bit more about it. The graphics left a strong impression in me, as they are sharp and detailed. With the settings I was running the game at, I got extreme lag in the equipment menu, but only there. I’ve played the first and second chapter until I saved a child from a giant eagle. I’ll continue the playthrough but things are getting a bit out of hand with so many games. I can’t complain!

Games on Christmas break

During this Christmas break I’ve been catching up with some titles I had to finish before I started playing new ones. Those were The Letter and Dragon Quest XI S. The former I explored to a certain degree. I didn’t get 100% achievements because I already had 30h of playtime and a considerable amount of branches to explore. Since they were all interconnected I wouldn’t know how a certain choice at the start of the game would land in the subsequent chapters. I believe there’s guides available but I didn’t want to check them. What I did to get the feel of dread was to kill almost every character in the game, and either continue the story or reload a previous save. We don’t really get that sense of horror until our beloved characters start dying left and right. Then we have the romance endings, where at least the pair we want to join needs to be alive. Things can get a bit tiresome after a certain number of playthroughs, the save slots don’t exactly abound for a game of this scope, therefore I decided to end it at the point that I did. It’s a great story and highly recommended by the community, myself included.

With Dragon Quest, I just had to finish Act 3 to get another ending. The main story was relatively short but the side quests were many, not all of them exactly doable from the start. The characters had to be at a certain level to tackle those challenges and investing in gear was a must. Since I spent so much time forging (I absolutely loved that minigame) I already had high leveled gear. I invested some more in it and collected even better gear than before. There’s some central quests that should be done before the final boss, like help rebuilding Cobblestone. It wasn’t an easy feat, but it unlocked a weapon shop with some of the best gear in the game. I did that one and a couple of others.

In Act 3 the game is more free in terms of places to revisit as every major and little location is available to fast travel (or zoom) to. The main cities are worth revisiting because there’s always something happening there, either a major event or side-quests to grab. Then we have Tickington where the Tockles live. By collecting the pastwords we can unlock quests at the Echo Chamber. I believe some people who played previous Dragon Quest games would recognize those places. Anyway, I did what I could but the quests were much harder than the main game. They were also not contained within a book. I graciously skipped that part. The last boss of the main game, Calasmos, took me some tries, but Victoria finished him with finesse.

I believe that if I were to platinum Dragon Quest XI S on Playstation I would be putting another 50 hours in it. Some of the late-game content felt impossible for my skill level. I’d also have to max level everyone if I even want a chance at winning in Tickington or at some bosses and challenges in the main game. I felt the game was overstaying its welcome so I married Gemma and moved on. It was, after all, one of the best jrpgs I’ve ever played and I wanted it to stay that way.

The marriage photo we find hanged on the wall in our house in Cobblestone.

This wouldn’t be a real Christmas break without Fire Emblem Three Houses thrown into the mix. I started another playthrough and this time I decided to do the Golden Deer route again. I may have played the game several times but the only route I repeated out of necessity was the Church (to marry Rhea, you know). I missed Claude and his impossible curiosity about every secret surrounding the Church that I had to go on an adventure with him again. And, most important of all, I miss battling with Nemesis. He’s one of the best, if not the best, last boss in the game. A poetic battle, the only moment in the game where I’m standing before Seiros’ archenemy while she cowers in a corner somewhere (why, Rhea?), and the only moment where God Shattering Star plays and envelops every bit of the World with it. Oh, I love this game so much I can’t even! I’m taking this playthrough really slow (except at the monastery where I rush things a bit) and I couple this with other games I’m currently playing.

Nemesis consumed by darkness

After exploring the Winter sale on Steam I found some visual novels I wanted to have. Quite randomly, I stumbled upon Misericorde, an indie novel I felt was right up my alley. I wasn’t disappointed at all, but it deserves its own post. Writing from memory will not be the perfect way to convey the experience but it’s what I’m currently able to do. Using Steam, I was able to take some notes, especially about things related with scripture and monastic life that I was totally oblivious about. This game is finished and what an experience it was. I can’t wait for the second volume!

I then started playing Utawarerumono: Prelude to the Fallen which turns out to be a mix of my two favorite genres: visual novels and strategy rpgs. I couldn’t ask for more. I’m about 7 hours in and loving every bit of it. I’ll try to write something about it when the right time comes. I know this one will be a long journey and I think I had a good share of shorter games completed to immerse myself properly without distractions. Meanwhile, Happy Holidays!

Eruruu, Aruruu and Tuskur serving a nice warm dinner