Nano-Buddy EX

Intro

"Nano-Buddy EX" is a visual novel developed by KazukiT126 using RPG Maker MZ as part of a one map challenge that took place on the RPG Maker forum. As you can probably already guess this game only containing a single map means this game is pretty short. In fact, it takes around 15 minutes or so to beat it with it taking me around 13 minutes to experience both endings. Albeit I took advantage of having a save file before the final set of choices that will decide the outcome of the game. So it was pretty easy to go back and try to get the good ending.

Story

You play as a nameless, faceless, individual whose decided to pick up a Nano-Buddy EX, a Tamagotchi like device, in order to experience some childhood nostalgia. Though this attempt to relive your childhood goes pear shaped when the game starts to glitch out after a few days. And the help line is a complete waste of your time. So if you want to save sweet, little Avil you'll need to get to the bottom of this mystery before she suffers a bad end!

Greatest Strength/Weakness

The story possess a simple charm to it. Though that charm can also be weakness since it makes it pretty obvious that helping "Avil" will lead to a bad end.



Gameplay

You interact with Avil and have her manipulate a few objects within the confines of her small game world. A world so small it only contains a single map which is part of the simple charm of this game, but also a curse since I'm pretty sure most pet raising games back in the day allowed for more options. Though maybe I was a bit spoiled since my first virtual pet was a Choas from "Sonic Adventure" on the Sega Dreamcast. And back in the day in this context means sometime after 2004 so I'm guessing Nano-Buddy EX wouldn't have sold that well if it was a real device.

Graphics

The game features entirely original assets, but their styling leads a lot to be desired in my opinion. In fact, I find the art in this game rather ugly at times since Avil's proportions seem wrong.


What is going on with her left hand!

Sound

Sound wise the game is okay in my opinion. In other words I don't have anything to really complain about, but I don't have anything particularly positive say about it either. It's just there and easily forgotten about.

Conclusion

"Nano-Buddy EX" is a short visual novel whose charm comes from it being a short and sweet experience. A game you can easily knock out in under 15 minutes and then move onto something else. The kind of game you can get through during your lunch break and still have time to spare for actually eating your lunch. In fact, it's taken me longer to write this review than it took me to beat the game.