So I decided to give this VN a shot, since I read good reviews about it, so this are my impressions of it.
I’m gonna try to make this rambling review as spoiler free as possible.
SWAN SONG. A name for a game that only makes sense if you know what it means.
Swan Song is an adult oriented game, as most of the visual novels are. The game contains some sensible scenes that some people may not like; nor find approvable.
The game begins on Christmas Eve, in a town in Japan, when a devastating earthquake strikes destroying almost everything, leaving behind thousands of deaths and not a lot of survivors. One of the protagonists, Amako Tsukasa, meets with a woman who suffers from autism, Yakasaka Aroe, they head to a shelter but get lost ending up in a church, where they meet a guy who was already there, Tanomura Shin. Soon they meet other 3 people, Kuwagata Takuma, Kawase Hibari and Sasaki Yuka, they all gather at the church and there is where the story kicks off…
On the top left is Aroe, top right is Kawase, bottom left is Tsukasa and bottom right is Yuka.
Characters.
The characters are good, I wouldn’t call them memorable, but since there is a “serious” topic the game is trying to achieve they fit in the environment just well enough. Even like that, some of them feel extremely weak and some others are really annoying, making me wonder at some point why they were there, the story could have turned out exactly the same without them. There are the ones that could have been much more than the wasted potential they turned out to be as well. Other problem is the quantity of protagonists. By being six of them the game will put us in their perspectives at some point and some of them don’t have the required screen time to give them a good characterization beyond a superficial way, this made me troubled since I couldn’t identify myself with none of them.
Story.
The story plays out well, it accomplish what it wants and deals a pretty good story, very different from the high school harem style of game. It takes the serious path and, while not being a writing masterpiece and leaving a lot of loopholes and WTF moments, is a good way to show what could happen if the society goes right down through the toilet after a disaster of this magnitude.
Gameplay.
The game itself is not that challenging when the choices are on the screen, since the game is not a multi-route. Some of the choices are really logic things to do and some need to think out of the logic zone to do something that determines the survival. There are other choices that take no part on the script and are just to unlock a CG. The thing to consider is that almost all the wrong choices will lead to a bad ending, making it a good way to stay entertained at some points.
H-Scenes.
The H-scenes in the game are not that much and almost all of them are skippable since they won’t add much to the plot. Some of them may be too much for sensible folks because there are raping scenes that, even being part of the plot, I didn’t like that much and feel like they were torturing me, especially because I don’t really like the senseless sex scenes in a VN and some are like lets put it in here just-cause-sex-sales. Being like this it would be hypocritical from me to say I approve rape.
The protagonists gathered in the church at the beginning of the game.
Art.
The art is really good, lacking just a little at some points but still managing itself to be amazing in its own way. The game doesn’t count with character sprites, instead the characters face pop up in little “geometric shapes” whenever there is a conversation. There is a gallery at the menu, but it will unlock until you clear the and achieve the normal ending of the game. It is pretty normal having a CG mode, a “recollection” mode where you can re-watch the H-scenes once you have them and a BGM mode where you can listen to the game score.
Music.
The music in the game is above average, having really good pieces and others not so good. A lot of them fit perfectly and show the tense or relaxed mood of the situation and/or the characters are living and some of them are pretty annoying and break the pace.
The best character in this VN.
As a conclusion the game is pretty nice and deserves a shot to be played. The story is good, there are some loopholes that could have been addressed to make the story more interesting but I’m satisfied the way it turned out in the end.
MY SCORE: 8/10
New Genesis. A Powerful One. 