Thursday, September 22, 2016

fault - milestone two side:above - Visual Novel Review

Price: $15
Platform: PC(Steam)
Developer: Alice in Dissonance
Publisher: Sekai Project
DLC: Sort of(OST and Art Book)
Microtransactions: None

Note: This is a direct sequel to fault - milestone one. If you have not yet experienced that story, then please, for your own sake, go read that insdtea. I assure you you will make it back here again.

We pick up immediately where we left off in milestone one with Melano appearing out of nowhere and Selphine acting strangely. Ritona is forced to use something garish to try and gain an advantage in the situation. However, after this tense moment, Melano shows some tricks of her own. Tricks that are completely out of the scope of everyone's imagination.

The opening of this next chapter of fault absolutely blew my mind. It was like getting punched in the face. I cannot say exactly what it is as that is a huge spoiler and it would ruin the surprise; however, it is without a doubt one of the most creative things I have ever seen in any video game to date. This from a Visual Novel no less! Kudos to the developers here! It even unlocked an achievement that was called "Are You Listening Now?". Yes. Yes I am. I was immediately hooked.

The story this time around focuses, still, on discrimination, but on a much more micro scale. In milestone one we learned about it from a worldwide point of view from the Inner and Outer Poles. Here, we see it between two neighboring countries. There is also a lot going on with the distribution of wealth and subsequent poverty that it produces. We also learn just how far away our heroes are from their homeland and about how long it will take to get back. Let us just say it will be a while.

We meet several new characters. Some of whom seem to be the scum of the earth. Others are just creepy. There is a bunch from the main kingdom looking into the disappearance of Selphine and Ritona. We also get to learn a bit more about our protagonists. There is more going on with Ritona's past than I realized and Selphine has got a whale of a problem to handle. What about Rune? Well, Rune is absolutely amazing. That is all I'll say here.

There were a few things I really liked about this. The first thing I noticed was how they tried to fit in a shot, reverse-shot scene into the story. This was an interesting bit as it had a cinematic feel. It was neat and did not overstay its welcome at all. I liked how they went into further detail about their manakravter society, how things worked, and how people used it. One of my favorite things in a game is a lush universe with a ton of lore and backstory. I would absolutely love to learn more! Some of the new music tracks were really amazing as well. As if that was something to worry about. The score is still amazing.

As for things that stood out to me: A few of the things with Rune seemed a bit too convenient but I'll let that slide since it's a fun story and we aren't taking things to a high level of sincerity. Also, I love Rune, so she can do what she wants. Although most of the story is perfectly clean, there are bits here and there that might not be suitable for the overly young. There seem to be a few audio glitches here and there, too. Very minor but I noticed them. It ruined the ambiance a bit.

Just one mention about the DLC: The OST is absolutely worth getting. I love the instrumental tracks and the one choral "The Regal Ninth" is my absolute favorite. These files come out in an .ogg format and if you want to use them elsewhere you might have to run them through a file converter. The art book is also really cool if you want to see some of the world-building and concepts that go into the story. I do recommend you see the book afterwards just in case you might be worried about spoilers!

Conclusion
I loved this story. I loved the first part and I love this part. The opening was so amazing; I could not stop reading after that. I wonder why I even bothered to wait as long as I did before I started reading it? I definitely know better the next time a milestone pops out. I cannot wait!

Recommendation
If you read the first milestone and liked/loved it, then get on this right now. If you did not like milestone one, then what, may I ask, is wrong with you? Go reevaluate your life and come back here when you are ready to love this story. Joking aside, I would recommend this to anyone that isn't a really young kid. While most of it is absolutely PG, some of it is very graphic and vulgar.

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