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RMN Music Pack (free)Mystery, Romance, and a MMORPG
Slashandz- 05/29/2010 04:16 AM
- 3183 views
RE:Alistair++ is a visual novel/dating sim created by Archeia_Nessiah and sakebento. It tells the story of Merui,
a high school girl on a mission. She has thirty days to find the true identity of the online persona "Alistair".
Is this a month to remember or to forget?
The Good:
Story:
The premise is simple: you have a single month to find out who Alistair really is. But the execution is simply fantastic.
The plot constantly moves the player between two worlds, the real world, and a "Rivenwell", a chibi-fied online world.
As you travel between the two, the mystery of Alistair slowly becomes unraveled. In the real world, Merui will stop at
just about nothing to find clues, be it snooping around a suspect's room or agreeing to go on a date. Online, you
will frequently encounter Alistair himself... maybe you can get him to drop some hints?
The true identity of Alistair will only become obvious if you're on top of your game.
A Merui and Alistair showdown.
Merui:
Merui is the protagonist of the story. She's a high school girl who is a secret fan of Rivenwell Online. But other than that,
she's pretty much a blank slate. The player is free to take Merui and shape her into the main character they want.
Want her to be a tech nerd? Spend your time online. A social butterfly? Try watching popular TV shows. But there's more.
You can buy things at the mall. Is your Merui the type of girl who wears a cute jacket or a sexy tanktop?
People's perceptions of Merui change with each decision, and she becomes more and more like the role you give her.
Other Characters:
The game features three other primary characters: Travis, Shino, and Derek. Each of these guys have a unique personality,
and each is potentially Alistair. ...Oh, and they're also each potentially Merui's future boyfriend. Yep, this is where the dating sim
aspect kicks in. While the characters may seem fairly stereotypical at first (the nerd, the shy kid, and the popular guy),
each of them have much deeper personality traits and secrets than they first reveal. As you grow closer to each guy,
you'll learn more about who they really are... and whether or not they're actually Alistair!
One of these guys is really Alistair... but who?
Gameplay:
The game is similar to a visual novel in the beginning, in which you read a lot of dialogue, and then make the occasional choice.
However, once you enter the main portion of the game, you are given more freedom. Each day you choose where to spend your evening.
You can go to the mall to buy various books and clothes (which change how people perceive Merui), work on your school project,
or work an after-school job to make a little cash. You only have 30 days, so choose wisely.
Then there's the dating aspect. You will frequently encounter events in which you can make choices. Your choices can gain
or lose the affection of the guy involved. But the decisions aren't obvious. Sure, going on a date with Derek may seem
like the quickest way to win him over, but he gets dates all of the time. Perhaps he'd like you more if you played hard to get...?
Furthermore, many events have to be triggered. If you really want to get Derek's attention, why don't you show up in the gym in that
new sexy dress you bought? The game will keep you thinking and trying new things throughout.
Presentation:
Extreme detail was put into every aspect of this game. The art style shifts from a realistic-anime style while at school
to a super deformed chibi style while playing Rivenwell online. Even simple things like the font and menu change as well.
Each of the characters has several different sprites, allowing them to effectively display a wide variety of emotions,
and a lil' Merui that pops up on stat-building or save screens is a really nice touch. Throw in some amazing CG scenes,
some great backgrounds, and catchy music; the presentation is absolutely top notch.
Yep, all of the CG's look this good.
Replayability:
This game has a lot to do. After playing through the game once, you can play through it again, but this time with the almighty "skip" option.
This option quickly skips over previously read material. However, it stops when you need to make a choice, or encounter new dialogue.
This allows you to fly through the story multiple times very quickly. But why would you want to replay the story over again?
How does over four completely different endings (plus many more slightly different endings), twenty unlockable CG's
and a top-secret ending sound? I've replayed this game more times than I care to admit...
And the Bad:
N/A
Final Thoughts/Suggestions for Improvement:
RE:Alistair++ is an outstanding game featuring an excellent mix of mystery, drama, and of course, romance.
There's so many choices to be made and things to purchase, and nearly all of them have a direct impact on the storyline,
be it a changed conversation or an entirely new scene. The presentation is beautiful, the writing is spot on, and the characters
are both interesting and believable. Furthermore, the game's relatively short length and branching storyline make it
highly replayable.
I typically conclude my reviews with a quick section of my personal suggestions for improving the game. ...but I've got nothing.
I literally enjoyed every moment of RE:Alistair++, and certain scenes and story twists caught me completely off guard.
I really can't think of a single thing I would change that would make me enjoy the game more, so I'll just give you my first five star rating ever.
Fair enough? Well done, keep up the amazing work!
Final Score: 5/5 "Masterpiece"
a high school girl on a mission. She has thirty days to find the true identity of the online persona "Alistair".
Is this a month to remember or to forget?
The Good:
Story:
The premise is simple: you have a single month to find out who Alistair really is. But the execution is simply fantastic.
The plot constantly moves the player between two worlds, the real world, and a "Rivenwell", a chibi-fied online world.
As you travel between the two, the mystery of Alistair slowly becomes unraveled. In the real world, Merui will stop at
just about nothing to find clues, be it snooping around a suspect's room or agreeing to go on a date. Online, you
will frequently encounter Alistair himself... maybe you can get him to drop some hints?
The true identity of Alistair will only become obvious if you're on top of your game.
A Merui and Alistair showdown.
Merui:
Merui is the protagonist of the story. She's a high school girl who is a secret fan of Rivenwell Online. But other than that,
she's pretty much a blank slate. The player is free to take Merui and shape her into the main character they want.
Want her to be a tech nerd? Spend your time online. A social butterfly? Try watching popular TV shows. But there's more.
You can buy things at the mall. Is your Merui the type of girl who wears a cute jacket or a sexy tanktop?
People's perceptions of Merui change with each decision, and she becomes more and more like the role you give her.
Other Characters:
The game features three other primary characters: Travis, Shino, and Derek. Each of these guys have a unique personality,
and each is potentially Alistair. ...Oh, and they're also each potentially Merui's future boyfriend. Yep, this is where the dating sim
aspect kicks in. While the characters may seem fairly stereotypical at first (the nerd, the shy kid, and the popular guy),
each of them have much deeper personality traits and secrets than they first reveal. As you grow closer to each guy,
you'll learn more about who they really are... and whether or not they're actually Alistair!
One of these guys is really Alistair... but who?
Gameplay:
The game is similar to a visual novel in the beginning, in which you read a lot of dialogue, and then make the occasional choice.
However, once you enter the main portion of the game, you are given more freedom. Each day you choose where to spend your evening.
You can go to the mall to buy various books and clothes (which change how people perceive Merui), work on your school project,
or work an after-school job to make a little cash. You only have 30 days, so choose wisely.
Then there's the dating aspect. You will frequently encounter events in which you can make choices. Your choices can gain
or lose the affection of the guy involved. But the decisions aren't obvious. Sure, going on a date with Derek may seem
like the quickest way to win him over, but he gets dates all of the time. Perhaps he'd like you more if you played hard to get...?
Furthermore, many events have to be triggered. If you really want to get Derek's attention, why don't you show up in the gym in that
new sexy dress you bought? The game will keep you thinking and trying new things throughout.
Presentation:
Extreme detail was put into every aspect of this game. The art style shifts from a realistic-anime style while at school
to a super deformed chibi style while playing Rivenwell online. Even simple things like the font and menu change as well.
Each of the characters has several different sprites, allowing them to effectively display a wide variety of emotions,
and a lil' Merui that pops up on stat-building or save screens is a really nice touch. Throw in some amazing CG scenes,
some great backgrounds, and catchy music; the presentation is absolutely top notch.
Yep, all of the CG's look this good.
Replayability:
This game has a lot to do. After playing through the game once, you can play through it again, but this time with the almighty "skip" option.
This option quickly skips over previously read material. However, it stops when you need to make a choice, or encounter new dialogue.
This allows you to fly through the story multiple times very quickly. But why would you want to replay the story over again?
How does over four completely different endings (plus many more slightly different endings), twenty unlockable CG's
and a top-secret ending sound? I've replayed this game more times than I care to admit...
And the Bad:
N/A
Final Thoughts/Suggestions for Improvement:
RE:Alistair++ is an outstanding game featuring an excellent mix of mystery, drama, and of course, romance.
There's so many choices to be made and things to purchase, and nearly all of them have a direct impact on the storyline,
be it a changed conversation or an entirely new scene. The presentation is beautiful, the writing is spot on, and the characters
are both interesting and believable. Furthermore, the game's relatively short length and branching storyline make it
highly replayable.
I typically conclude my reviews with a quick section of my personal suggestions for improving the game. ...but I've got nothing.
I literally enjoyed every moment of RE:Alistair++, and certain scenes and story twists caught me completely off guard.
I really can't think of a single thing I would change that would make me enjoy the game more, so I'll just give you my first five star rating ever.
Fair enough? Well done, keep up the amazing work!
Final Score: 5/5 "Masterpiece"
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Great that you found the dating sim you woke up one day wanting to play (perhaps you need to have more of those). I won't actually read the review yet, so I won't spoil my gameplay experience (once I get around to it).
Slashandz
740
@ sakebento:
The honor's all mine. Thanks for the great experience. :)
@edchuy:
It really did come along at a great time haha.
I can respect not wanting to read the review until you finish, it prevents any expectations.
@calunio:
There's a 5-star trend?
I suppose that means I've got some good games to look forward to this summer. :)
The honor's all mine. Thanks for the great experience. :)
@edchuy:
It really did come along at a great time haha.
I can respect not wanting to read the review until you finish, it prevents any expectations.
@calunio:
There's a 5-star trend?
I suppose that means I've got some good games to look forward to this summer. :)
The 5 star trend = not being afraid of giving 5 stars to a game you really love... happened because there were 2 reviews that showed much love for the game, but they gave it 4.5, and me and kentona convinced the guys to change it to 5.
Giving 5 stars to a game (if you think it deserves irt) is good.
But I would definitely not give 5 stars to Re: Alistair++. I'll have to play the game a few more times before writing the review though.
Giving 5 stars to a game (if you think it deserves irt) is good.
But I would definitely not give 5 stars to Re: Alistair++. I'll have to play the game a few more times before writing the review though.
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