Every Hue of You

[h1]Overview[/h1] In the fantasy city-state of Zenoa, our heroine Twyla is in a perennial state of grief over the early loss of her mother to illness, and now finds herself trying to maintain “The Twilight Jeweller” without anywhere near the level of skills her mother possessed. And so begins [b]Every Hue Of You[/b]. We quickly learn that in this land, emotions are tied to one's spirit, and deep emotional [i]outbursts[/i] can have severe and long lasting effects with very negative consequences upon the greater populace. Twyla's own grief is causing continuous rain to fall over the city; so a “tracer” is despatched to find the cause of this outburst – which introduces our first NPC, and potential romance interest, Lao, into the game as the man who identifies Twyla as the source. [h1]Features and presentation[/h1] - Graphically, overall the game scores very well. Sprites are large and alter pose frequently to reflect where they are within a conversation – barely a step short of being fully animated. My only disappointment is with Twyla's primary portrait itself. Her shoulders are drawn too high, so she looks like she has no neck and this gives her the appearance of being consta…

This game was less of a romance and more of an expression of going through the grieving process. I recommend it, but make sure you're in the right head space.

Every Hue of You is a very interesting game. It's a visual novel where emotions can take physical form, and it explores different societies' (and people's) ways of dealing with this phenomenon. I learned about psychology and philosophy alongside enjoying the characters' interactions. The presentation (in terms of the art and music, but also the crafting and enchanting) was really pleasant. That said, some of the characters and conceits didn't quite work from me. Story spoilers: [spoiler]I wasn't sure how happy I was with the focus on stoicism. I'm glad to have learned more about it, and that Twyla's change occurred over time and using different tools, but given how often emotions are framed as a weakness in many societies, I felt like I wanted to explore other avenues/tools in a bit more detail. There were also some concerning things that I'm glad were tackled in the game, but I felt should have happened sooner, such as enchanting jewellery for someone who wasn't there/without their consent. Also, and this is more of a personal thing, but given Monovi's questioning of the default life path, I would have enjoyed seeing more queerness on screen (beyond passing comments). I real…

[h1]A well-written story about processing grief.[/h1] The game is a short (for a VN) philosophical visual novel where you help various characters through their current hardships. Every experience helps Twyla (the MC) piece together how she can process her grief. It has made me (and many other players/reviewers) think a lot, as many of those stories touched various spheres of my own life. That has made me uncomfortable at times, but I am grateful to have been prompted and guided to reflect on those things. [h2]My highlights:[/h2] - The art is beautiful; - It is very well-written, with every character having their own touching stories and relationships. The game even has a glossary explaining the various terms (some in-universe, some being real); - Sound design: Every character has their own music variation, and I love the writing sound (very soothing); - The lore is engrossing. In the game, emotions are associated with elements, and they can even lead to natural phenomena/disasters. This is kind of the core of the story, as there are now stigmas associated with being too emotional, and it has even lead to people repressing their emotions, but it is all deeply tied to the next poi…

It's cute. The uplifting message when facing struggles is kinda what I needed right now.

This is not a cozy thoughtless visual novel! Prepare to face philosophy, emotions and societal norms. There's a lot of talking and interesting exposition and exploration of experiences and emotions, and each session I've played so far has been really interesting. The minigames are engaging too! A pretty and expressive game, thank you devs <3