The Expression Amrilato

Mediocre Yuri game. If we ignore morally gray situations, there are still things I don’t like, so I’ll keep it simple. There are a few scenes where Rin thinks, “what if I/she were a boy,” which felt unnecessary, especially since the game barely touches on the idea of it being “taboo.” Even if the topic is relevant, it could work with stronger execution, but the writing here is only at an acceptable level. The CGs are limited, and the characters’ facial expressions often don’t match the voice acting. This makes the presentation feel off. Maybe that’s why there’s more focus on the voice acting.

Thought it was cute at first, but honestly the fact that our protagonist is 17 and the love interest is 14 kinda ruined it for me. The art is beautiful and I like the idea of having to learn the language to understand the characters of this world better, but the age difference make me uncomfortable, even tho its obviously fictional. I have no idea who thought this was a good idea instead of just making them the same age or about the same age

Stop reading reviews and just go in blind. Seriously. The less you know, the better. If you like fluffy gl romance and those "decypher the language" games, this is for you.

👎

[b]This review contains mild spoilers.[/b] [i]The Expression Amrilato[/i] fully commits to its niche premise, and works as both a teaching tool for those willing to pick up Esperanto (called "Juliamo" in-universe) and a short, sweet story with the heart of the movement's goals at its core. [i]Amrilato[/i] demands your total commitment to wanting to understand the world's characters, and those looking to engage with it chiefly as a quirky yuri visual novel may find the many sequences that break away to quiz you on the language distracting or frustrating. The story is structured in such a way that the player's understanding of Juliamo grows alongside the main character Rin's, and so many lines of dialogue at the start are intentionally untranslated and, at the earliest parts of the game, written entirely phonetically. Over time, as both Rin and the player develop a better grasp on the language, Juliamo text will be accompanied by furigana containing direct, literal translations for each word. [b]As a story...[/b] [i]Amrilato[/i] is short, sweet, and impactful. I found myself enjoying Rin's many inner monologues, especially when she's confused about many of the same linguist…

It's not perfect. It might not even be great, but I enjoyed myself and got to feel nostalgic about younger times. I found the main character to be highly relatable, while keeping clearly defined personality traits giving her more depth than generic self-insert characters. The language part is far from overwhelming, you get to learn a bit about how it works. I wouldn't mind there being a bit more segments with Juliamo we're not meant to fully understand yet, those were good sport & fun.