NA-Re: great chain of being

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"NA-Re: great chain of being" is not a game, it's an e-book that's been dumped on Steam masquerading as a game. As a visual/interactive novel, this doesn't feature any notable gameplay, it's just a lot of clicking through badly written dialogue that would never have been accepted or published in print, which poses the question, "How did something this badly written end up on Steam?". When someone hoping to become an author is unable to get published in print, they spend $100 and dump their high school fan-fiction onto Steam, under the guise of a game. This Russian e-book garbage was written by a Russian weeaboo and stays true to form for almost all garbage anime fan-fictions on Steam. By which I mean this is a cringey high school anime club dropout fan-fiction about the authors imaginary girlfriends, who are underaged looking angels from heaven. The cringe is only matched by the creepiness with these kinds of fan-fictions. This e-book isn't that linear and works more as a Choose Your Own Adventure, but the point still stands... nobody read a CYOA book and then said "Wow, what a great game I just played." Books aren't games. This was slapped together with the godawful Ren'Py…

NA Re: great chain of being is a really unusual visual novel, and I liked how different it feels from the usual stories in this genre. I play as Eimin, who is sent on a mission involving the Emperor of Japan, the gods and the relationship between humans and kami. The idea immediately caught my attention because it mixes Japanese mythology with philosophical themes and a more personal journey through the mountains. The gameplay is mainly built around reading, exploring and making choices. I have to pay attention to conversations and decide how I want Eimin to respond as the story develops. I liked that the outcome is not completely fixed, because some choices can change how events unfold. It gives the story a little more tension than simply reading through a linear visual novel. The two angel companions also give the journey a nice contrast. Kandri is much more lively and outgoing, while Meguri has a quieter personality, and I enjoyed seeing how their different attitudes affect the conversations. Their relationship with Eimin gives the story more warmth, especially when the larger conflict between the Emperor and the gods starts becoming more serious. The setting is probably my f…