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Sacred Reviews: The Lost & Forgotten

Introduction

"The Lost & Forgotten" isn't so much a game in my opinion as it is a short story. And in a way this makes my job a lot more difficult. After all, I tend to review Turn-Based RPGs and the few times I have dabbled with reviewing books I've always targeted works with happier endings.

Story
Pros
The story starts out rather well by quickly establishing that mysterious things are happening in Nikk's hometown. Mysterious things like people magically disappearing and being slowly forgotten about by everyone else. And it quickly follows this up by making the need to solve this mystery very personal for Nikk when the next victim ends up being Rea, his best friend. And if there's one thing that helps drive a story it's personal drama.

Cons
There are three notable issues that hold this short story back in my opinion. And while the last of my complaints is rather subjective. I think the other two will stand up better to scrutiny. The first issue is that the game contains several notable grammar and spelling issues. And while I'll admit that I do feel a little bit like the pot calling the kettle black on this issue. It's also hard to deny that a story this short really should try to remove these sorts of issues. After all, they do hurt the overall presentation even if they don't hinder the reader's ability to understand what's going on.

Secondly, the game really needs to do more then just mention that people are disappearing and that those that disappear are soon forgotten about. In fact, the only real upside I can give this story on this point is that it reminds me of the plight of Mai Sakurajima from "Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai". Though, I really don't think it was Kanatakkun's intention to make me think about a series of light novels that have been adapted into both a manga and an anime.

ENDING SPOILERS:
Thirdly, the game seemingly ends on a depressing note where Nikk and everyone else disappears to be forgotten by everyone but the reader. Though, I will admit that this may be an upside if your into stories with sad endings.


Graphics

If there's one thing I don't get about this game it's why Kanatakkun decided to go with purple for her color of choice. After all, people tend to associate depression and sorrow with blue in my experience. Heck, even the review by Frogge is based around the song "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" by Eiffel 65. That being said, I do like the simple look of the game, but the choice in color just comes across as rather bizarre.

Music

"The Lost & Forgotten" features an original soundtrack that really serves to heighten the mood of the piece. Of course, the mood being heightened varies between melancholy and sorrow.

Conclusion

"The Lost & Forgotten" is sort of like the Titanic in my opinion. It starts out fairly strong, suffers a massive wound, and then ends in tragedy. The wound in this analogy being a symbol for the apparent lack of effort put into fleshing out why people are seemingly being erased from existence. As a result, I can't help but feel like this story needs a major overhaul before it will be something work checking out.

Posts

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Frogge
I wanna marry ALL the boys!! And Donna is a meanc
18536
I kinda assumed purple was just because the developer felt like and not really for a reason in particular. I did not find the need to question it, personally, since as I said in my review, it's actually my favorite color.

If we're looking into symbolism,though, purple is the color of luxury, which I suppose makes sense considering the main character seems to be of an upper class (having servants and everything). It also seems to represent things like passion (main characer's passion for his friend) and emotion (the emotive, depressive atmosphere the game has).
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