Doppelganger is a short demo released by Rhyme and Nessiah, during and - I believe - for the NaGaDeMo. Thought short and with little gameplay, it is, non-the-less a pretty little demo well-worth the play for those who enjoy a good visual novel.

Graphics were an amalgamation of visual novel rips and original graphics. Nessiah's lovely characters come to life on the modernistic backgrounds used in the game and both work well together to create a cohesive picture of the modern world and the people in it. They also work well with the system graphics which are sleek in design and pretty to boot. The graphics are a large selling point of a Visual Novel and the ones in Doppelganger excel in setting the scene and telling the tale.

Don't let the bright, cheery colours fool you however - the premise of the game is rather dark. The legend of the Doppelganger plays a major part in the story. The main character, Atoli, lives with a friend of her father's and her irresponsible sister. One night she offers some tickets to someone online and soon finds herself caught up in a mysterious event which will lead her to meeting a stranger with a familiar face. Her own.

Characters are well-written and presented, the driving force of the game, which is great because the rest of the world is empty of any other characters but the main cast. The writing is well done, though there are some grammar and spelling issues here and there, but that's understandable as it is a second language to both Nessy and Rhyme. I was a bit upset that it ended so soon, but it was an interesting story while it lasted.

Of course, being a Visual Novel and a demo, the game is quite light on anything gameplay related. That's not to say that there aren't interesting systems added to the game - or that gameplay will always be solely story. What systems there were show the intention of at least some sort of battles, as well as the introduction of Fragra (monsters?) in the story.

The menus are sleek and well-designed - easy to understand and use. The map system is a series of areas that you can move to around a large city and makes the world seem much larger. Each scene change has an Intermission where you can access your typical RPG menu, save your game and call people on your phone.

Sounds were well-used and quite plentiful. Music was beautiful and chosen well, though I did get bored of hearing the same song over and over again for so long. It did suit the mood and story, though, so I didn't mind too much. It just would have been nice to have a few other tunes thrown in.

All up, there wasn't much to play in the game. It was like an interactive movie, though I am expecting more to occur in the full version. The setting of the story and characters were interesting, but I would have liked to have had at least one battle or something to break up the story a little - even if it were chasing off the Fraga with Ralph. That said, it was a fun little demo and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

I recommend giving it a play. 4/5