School Years Reviews

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Terrible for English players, possibly good for the Chinese? Hard to say

School Years is a romance visual novel with walking sim/puzzle aspects. The voice acting, art and music are all well done. The reason I am not recommending is the English translation. It reads as a slight step above a machine translation, and in a visual novel, not being able to read the story at an understandable level is a game killer. The story might be great, I just have no way to tell. So, to any reading, please be aware that I am only not recommending the game to those who rely on the English translation.

The story’s setting is within a high school in 2005-2008 China. Unlike high school drama, basketball teams, or senior prom, this story is focused on inner world and intricate feelings, gave up on single sided young love, and put efforts into mutual love that developed over time. The main character, born in 1987, year of Rabbit, fell in love with this cute girl sitting next to him in class. They meet each other everyday, and their feelings for each other grow a little bit each day. At home, his parents always have arguments about money, which was depressing. What is more depressing is the countdown of the most gruelling national exam Gaokao - 180 days. Rewind the time, I couldn’t imagine myself going back to 2005 to sit in that classroom studying for the national exams, although the teacher Mr. Gao is a tall, funny, handsome yet baldhead, and super nice to his students. The main character spent his parents' money and thoughtful ideas trying to win her heart. I haven’t finished the game, so not sure if those efforts will get him anywhere in the end. If you are into Chinese culture, this can be a nice 10-hour long game to get. It feels like listening to an interactive anime book with decision tree and mini games. You might need culture references or gameplay guidance to proceed though. School Years, this game has a unique perspective, and gave audience a real digital experience of the darkest pre-Gaokao months, with a pretty girl like warm sunshine beaming into the coldest corner. The immersive experience brought you back in time with QQ, stock market, walkman and recorders, Jackie Chan and Kim Hee-sun's famous song Endless Love and the movie The Myth (2005). This game is the best simulation for pre-Gaokao days in school, a period of time so intense that no one wants to go back to. Yet for Steam achievements, you will need to go back again and again, so please do remember to save your chapters every once in a while, because there is no Chapter Select after you finish your first run. Good luck!

School Years puts in everything to make an immersive story. Some of it works well, while others less. +All characters are voiced, even the main character, and random classmates. +The main character Muko is animated when she sits next to you in class. Though it's a bit choppy and the facial animations are rudimentary, it's surprisingly effective. When I played that game of Gomoku, it really felt like I lost to her, a person on the other side of the screen. Call me crazy. +The minigames kept things more interesting. +Great soundtrack. The main theme 初恋日记 reminds me of those songs I heard in childhood in the car going to Chinese Saturday school. This VN takes place around that time. +Chapter 9 was my favorite. The characters had to speak English for an enactment, and I love hearing English with different accents. On top of that is Muko's beautiful voice. -It often happens that people are speaking in the background. This was very distracting, because the background volume level is as loud as the foreground. Not to mention I don't have the bandwidth to comprehend two conversations in Chinese. Maybe you can call it a skill issue. -It's impossible to save during a choice, which means you often have to go back many lines if you want to see the effect of another choice. You have limited time to react, because not reacting is also a choice. I understand the design decision, but it does make it cumbersome to play. -One important note is that the story isn't finished, so don't expect too much from the ending. Looks like they're still working on Episode 2.