Sona-Nyl of the Violet Shadows Refrain

[h1]Concise Game Reviews: Sona-Nyl of the Violet Shadows Refrain [紫影のソナーニル -What a beautiful memories-][/h1] [i](Scroll down for the longer version)[/i] [table] [tr] [th][b]Game Value:[/b][/th] [td]✅ [b]Highly recommended for fans of melancholic steampunk visual novels centered on two heroines linked by a forgotten tragedy.[/b] You follow Elysia through the silent ruins of New York after the “Great Disappearance,” and Lily in an underground mirror city beneath a violet sky. Their alternating stories reveal what happened to the vanished population and how both girls are tied to the truth behind the disaster. [i]Is this world just a beautiful lie built on vanished lives, or can Elysia and Lily still find meaning in the memories scattered through a city that no longer exists?[/i][/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]Adult Content Tags:[/b][/td] [td]✔Consensual Sex ✔Female Protagonist ✔Cat Girl ✔Big Breasts ✔Vaginal ✔Full Nudity ✔Violence ✔Tragedy/Death ✔Body Transformation (metal/steampunk motifs) ✔Horror ✔Psychological ✔grief ✔trauma, ✔suicide mentions ✔Mild Sexual/Suggestive Content[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]Genre:[/b][/td] [td]Kinetic Visual Novel × Steampunk Fairy Tale, Dual-Protagonist Mystery…

Such a beautiful and mesmerizing VN in all aspects, it truly felt like reading a fairytale with sci-fi elements! The world-building is quite interesting, with the execution taking advantage of fusing steampunk and fantasy aesthetics to create a unique setting and very dreamlike ambience. Moreover, the presentation is immaculate - the art and music are breathtakingly stunning, and even the writing feels ornate with its fairytale/poem-like prose. Additionally the character cast is striking, diverse and with intriguing storylines. While the narrative structure might get redundant after a while, it didn't feel overwhelming to me as I tend to enjoy this writing style. The story itself, in my opinion, is one which relies more on the sentimental factor rather than actual plot for the impact. Though I did enjoy the plot, its episodal repetitive progression becomes palpable quite early on, which caused the story feel kind of predictable and not suspenseful for the most part. However the mystery is still present and I was really invested in the reveal, although the sci-fi and steampunk aspects ended up being more in the background than I'd wished. As mentioned, this story lays high value …

Very polished and high-quality VN in pretty much every aspect. The art, story, music, voice acting, are all wonderful. The fact it's so dense and constantly serious (without being grim) might turn off some people, though. There's also lots of repetition, making the prose rather ritualistic in a charming way. It's a very sentimental, poetic kind of story in general. I would say it's much closer to a traditional book than a VN than most games in the genre, and more specifically feels like a modern fairy tale. I somewhat wish it could have received an English dub, considering the story takes place in a fictionalized America, but the fact it got a translation is a blessing on its own. A very well-handled one, too ! Props to MangaGamer for porting the game so nicely and faithfully on a modern engine (Ren'py), while also combining both the original R18 version and all-ages re-release with its added bonus content in a single game. Speaking of, the former is only unlockable by downloading a patch on the publisher's site, but the Refrain (all-ages) version is overall more complete ; if you only intend on playing it once, I would recommend playing this version (the R18 scenes from the ori…

This is like experiencing a picture book. This is my first encounter with Liar-soft. I did not expect the full narration, including thoughts. Having voiced MCs is quite rare when taking into account the VNs I've read until now, so that was quite a pleasant experience. Some voices may seem monotone, but it makes sense when taking into account who the characters are, and what they feel. The whole game is gorgeous, no matter what is presented. The dull, grey landscapes? Still beautiful and invoking a melancholic feeling. The colorful, picturesque places? They felt like a dream. The story overall is not too complicated and it surely relies on the characters. And I did end up enjoying them, which further enhanced my experience of the game. I had no idea what is going on in the beginning, and it is specifically made so that you don't know. You know as much as the protagonists. You see what the protagonists are seeing. The game managed to create a cohesive narrative and create a world that made more sense the longer you played and the more you got invested into its characters. Although the game is overall bittersweet, I fully enjoyed it and I am pretty sure a lot of people will find s…

これは地下の詩。。。なんてね

Visual Novel from the Golden Era. No explanation needed.