An Octave Higher

So... some notes... First of all, and I don't know if this was intentional or not, but constantly referring to one of your main characters of color as a beast is a bit... well... it's not a good look. Secondly, I don't know why liberals have such a hard time understanding this, but the difference between bourgeoisie and proletariat is not an amount of money, it's their relationship to work itself. The bourgeoisie own businesses, and make money from the labor of their employees. The Proletariat perform labor to earn a wage. During the ending portion, when Elise is employed as a piano player she is still proletarian, same with Aretha. Hell even Franz is seemingly proletarian. Again, the distinction is owning or not owning a business. As for other classes that make an appearance: Nobility (the Aristocrats) make money from taxing those who reside on their inherited property (land "lord"), and Lumpenproletariat (Amadeus, pretty much all members of Libertad, the beggars) are those who make money from crime or who can't make money because of a disability. The distinction is the relationship to the means of production, not the amount of accumulated wealth. Parting notes about Libertad…

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An Octave Higher, developed by Kidalang and published by PLAYISM, is a richly crafted visual novel that explores themes of social inequality, revolution, and the unifying power of music within a beautifully detailed world. Set in the city of Overture, a place marked by the stark contrast between a privileged upper class and the struggling Proles, the game immerses players in a society on the brink of transformation. The story revolves around three central characters: Elise, a factory worker whose love for music defies her harsh reality; Franz, a student of magical science caught between loyalty and curiosity; and Frederic, a revolutionary with a complex agenda. Their paths intertwine following a seemingly simple event—a broken piano—that becomes the catalyst for broader change and personal growth. The gameplay in An Octave Higher is driven by narrative choices, allowing players to shape the story through decisions that affect both character relationships and the ultimate outcome of the plot. Dialogue and interactions are carefully written, revealing the depth of each character’s motivations and struggles. Elise’s resilience, Franz’s intellectual curiosity, and Frederic’s fervent r…

With the exception of the antagonists, the main characters are extremely unlikable. Elise, a young factory worker who lives at a brothel, is an easily swayed idiot with a memory span of a goldfish. Then there’s Frederic, an aristocrat misogynist that uses every excuse under the sun to look down on everyone else. And finally, Franz, a well-off student that grew up among the upper class who eventually (after a series of misfortunate events) joins up with a group called Libertad. Franz is the only one that has any semblance of character development. He starts off naive about the world he truly lives in, but after being attacked by one of the bourgeoisie and being forced to live in poverty, his motivation for living changes drastically. The other two main characteristics remain static the whole time. Honestly, the writing bore me so much that I didn't even finish the main story line.

I could not get invested in the story or the characters outside of the Franz. Elise makes no believable actions for either of the longer two endings. I want the time spent reading through all of the dialogue back. The fast forward option stops on its own in random spots and doesn't even work at times when it should.

To be honest, I'm not sure if I *can* recommend this visual novel. For once I wish there was an "inbetween" sort of thumb icon, because there's both good and bad here. The good: The art is amazing, the magic system is surprisingly well-realized, there's a lot of interesting world building (when it isn't just pointless asides full of tell-don't-show loredumping) and I enjoyed how the story continually switches characters throughout the story, giving us a good insight into all three of them. Franz is easily the most likeable of the three. Music is quite something to admire as well. The bad: Again, pointless loredumps. Also, without wishing to spoil, from a story centering around the possibility of fixing a broken piano with magic, at some point it does a complete one-eighty and becomes a humdrum YA novel story about a proletariat revolution that comes pretty much out of nowhere and makes you wonder what you just spent your whole playtime investing in. The revolution gets put down, the story ends, and you never even come back to the broken piano, making the ending very unsatisfying (then again, I've only played through once - it could be that other choices lead to an ending …