Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth Reviews

100/10

AKU UTAWARERUMONO

Very nice

Kamige. As good as I remember it back on its PS4 release.

When it comes to lists of best games you haven't played theres a reason Utawarerumono is always up there, the story within this trilogy is of an exceptional calibre by any margin by any form of entertainment this is aquaplus's magnum opus it deserves all the success and more. Before coming to steam it was the number one recommendation to play when getting a Vita and now its a fantastic purchase for the steam deck. This is the conclusion of a 100+ hour build up of multiple stories aligning clashing ideologies with fate of the last remnants of humanity on the line as well as their successors. By every metric this series has lived up to the standards that reviews have placed upon it. The medium of this containing an exceptional amount of words with quite difficult combat makes this niche within a niche but man if you like tactical rpgs and can tolerate a lot of reading this will be a instant hall of fame for you not just for JRPGs but for games in general, for stories within any medium. In my life I have read over a thousand books, hundreds of visual novels, hundreds of JRPGs, this stands at the peak of that mountain it is one if not the best stories I have ever experienced.

Mask of Truth has the titanic task of concluding a story that began with the first Utawarerumono game in 2002 and spans a long period of time, involving many different characters. Not only does it successfully wrap up all the plotlines, but it also delivers one of the most incredible payoffs in any game ever. The Mask of Deception and Mask of Truth duology has my favorite protagonist, Haku, brought to life by Keiji Fujiwara (R.I.P :c) with a stellar performance, and my enjoyment of this duology is largely thanks to Haku and his relationship and interactions with the rest of the cast, especially Kuon. Another aspect of this VN that I love is the OST. It has the perfect soundtrack, and all the vocal tracks sung by Suara are incredible. But it's not just the vocal tracks—everything about it is outstanding: the ambient pieces, the emotional ones... Together, they form a truly memorable soundtrack. Gameplay-wise, I genuinely believe that the tactical RPG battles are some of the most fun in a strategy game, every character is unique and I enjoyed playing the challenging Dream Arena battles, I also did all the Munechika's Trials and grinded the main scenario battles while listening to my favorite tracks of the OST, I had so much fun and managed to get all achievements. in the end, it is difficult to put into words a story that you have connected with on so many levels but to me everything related to this series is just perfect and after finishing it I consider it one of my favorite pieces of fiction ever that I will never forget.

Haku is speaking, listen and learn 10/10, life changing story, Incredible conclusion to an already amazing story, top cast, top music, must play series

Gameplay-wise it's nothing special. The game mechanics are mostly a filler, but it's a decent break from the VN part. The story, the world building and the sound - there is absolutely nothing quite like Utawarerumono. It's a one of a kind gem of a series. Chances are you will never find a better story or book, ever.