Kikokugai was just released (in eng) yesterday, and it kept me hooked through its 5, action packed hours. Its action scenes are a mixture of kung fu and sci-fi cybernetics, really well described, and in great detail. The action flows nicely, is very varied, and the excitement never drops. The fights are really far above average.
The setting and the atmosphere is excellent. I had my doubts about this curious mix of kung fu, Shanghai, cybernetics, and theological talk about souls, but in actual viewing the visual novel got me to suspend my disbelief and buy it entirely. I can't say the same about the actual story though. It's weird, and dark, and hard to empathize. Most of the story is action and killing. It was explained to us why it's sad, but not enough time was spent actually making the reader feel sad. It's a short visual novel, and the characters ultimately end up a little distant, because not enough time was spent with them.
The music was sadly lacking. While I'm not a music critic, it's plain that other visual novels have used the audio component much more effectively. The art is likewise a little sparse. The primary problem, and this might have led to the distant feeling I discussed earlier, was the lack of sprites. We rarely see our characters on screen. We have close to no descriptions of the characters outside combat, making visualization impossible. While we get CGs of characters while fighting, there are no images of them doing normal things, (ie. no images for the villains while having their villain meeting, again, making it hard to empathize). While the art we do see is definitely pretty, it's the quantity that's the problem.
As for the actual quality of the story telling, I'm pretty ambivalent about it. It's clearly not bad. It's not convoluted and it makes sense, which is more than that could be said for many other stories. There's enough questions to keep you wondering, but they're cleanly answered at the end. However, taking it seriously requires a high suspension of disbelief. The most incredible parts are not the kungfu magic, but the drama and the actions of the characters.
At about 5 hours this NVL is worth reading. But because the story doesn't try hard enough to make you feel attached to the characters, it won't really be memorable.
The setting and the atmosphere is excellent. I had my doubts about this curious mix of kung fu, Shanghai, cybernetics, and theological talk about souls, but in actual viewing the visual novel got me to suspend my disbelief and buy it entirely. I can't say the same about the actual story though. It's weird, and dark, and hard to empathize. Most of the story is action and killing. It was explained to us why it's sad, but not enough time was spent actually making the reader feel sad. It's a short visual novel, and the characters ultimately end up a little distant, because not enough time was spent with them.
The music was sadly lacking. While I'm not a music critic, it's plain that other visual novels have used the audio component much more effectively. The art is likewise a little sparse. The primary problem, and this might have led to the distant feeling I discussed earlier, was the lack of sprites. We rarely see our characters on screen. We have close to no descriptions of the characters outside combat, making visualization impossible. While we get CGs of characters while fighting, there are no images of them doing normal things, (ie. no images for the villains while having their villain meeting, again, making it hard to empathize). While the art we do see is definitely pretty, it's the quantity that's the problem.
As for the actual quality of the story telling, I'm pretty ambivalent about it. It's clearly not bad. It's not convoluted and it makes sense, which is more than that could be said for many other stories. There's enough questions to keep you wondering, but they're cleanly answered at the end. However, taking it seriously requires a high suspension of disbelief. The most incredible parts are not the kungfu magic, but the drama and the actions of the characters.
At about 5 hours this NVL is worth reading. But because the story doesn't try hard enough to make you feel attached to the characters, it won't really be memorable.
Comments
Did we even read the same VN?
I've seen a lot of praise for the soundtrack and hadn't heard a word of bad about it until this review.
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