ACE Academy

ACE Academy is a VN about giant robots and school life. Beat the Kaori route in 8.8 hours using a mouse and keyboard. Difficulty is NA. As of this review, the game is no longer available on the steam store, so this review is for people who still have it in their library and haven't played it yet. This is my fav VN from PixelFade, and a pretty good VN compared to other VNs out there. There's more focus in relationships and story than robot fighting, and Robo-fighting amounts to 'click the right answer fast enough'. The characters are great, the voice acting is great, the music is spiffy, the artwork is good, and the story and character interactions are interesting enough to keep you coming back. I played for Shou, who's just one cool dude. One day I hope PixelFade rises from the ashes like a confused phoenix and spawns more VNs from its flaming feathers.

I wish I played this before the company shutdown. Just started playing last month and I really enjoy the characters and the greater GEAR world. And it's refreshing to play a VN with English voice acting and built for a western audience. It sucks that I won't be able to play the Kaori fandisk for this game or the other works atm, but I am holding out hope that they find a way to distribute these games once more, and maybe make more games in the future. (I write this not knowing why the PixelFade closed, just hoping everyone involved was able to do okay afterwards)

Really liked this first visual novel from this studio. You can tell they were experimenting with this one compared to their later ones. Sad to see the company go under.

(Already finished this game before, ignore my time played) ✅ Surprisingly high production value for an indie VN ✅ Fully voiced main cast adds a lot of personality ✅ Characters are likable and the comedy actually lands ✅ Relationship routes feel natural and well‑paced ✅ UI, art, and CGs look polished and modern ✅ Easy to get into even if you’re not a big VN player ❌ Story is fun but not very deep ❌ Choices don’t drastically change the overall plot ❌ Mecha combat was awful ❌ Some scenes drag a bit depending on the route ❌ A few jokes miss, especially if you’re not into anime humor Sadly, the publisher has permanently pulled the plug for this game so you can't legally buy/play it anymore. I still would highly recommend it (assuming you enjoy VN) if you can play it some other way

+Fun, decently well written story. It's nothing special, but competent enough for a good play through or two. +Characters are typical archetypes but are written well enough to feel some level of attachment +I love how the love interests actually get into their own separate relationships if the MC doesn't pursue them. ~Ending definitely sets up the game for sequels that never came. -Some major disconnects in later chapters if you haven't gone on certain character's routes before. Like Mayu and MC suddenly forming a band or random Miguel person popping up with no introduction when helping Kaori out.

Good fun; too bad there's no sequel. And that PixelFade closed. Wish I had heard of them before that.