The Alchemist of Ars Magna Reviews

I'll revisit this at a later date once the story reaches absolute conclusion, but I think I have enough to conclude in confidence production is lacking on several critical levels. Characters - They are flat. They're not really explored or fleshed out as a matter of course or through carefully constructed B or C plot threads. Instead, they're presented as-is and are given additional traits as a matter of plot, almost in an afterthought to the writing process. Because of that, I struggle to care about their moods or struggles. I constantly find myself disengaged from the pursuit of saving what remains of the world of Oor because they themselves seem to be acting out a care or concerned, instead of being genuinely concerned. Setting: - Very chuuni-like with its emphasis on specific terminology and need to exposition on demand, but not in a good way. This is a world that absolutely could have benefited from supporting plot structures to not only introduce us to the various factors—spirit gods, beast demigods, malignant gods, the Dust, the academy's role both in the day-to-day, and in the overall battle against the existential crisis of the planet—but also the characters themselves. Instead, the setting is starved for detail, or is given a quick exposition dump exactly before that info becomes critical or relevant to a plot revelation. It's all very after-the-fact in its execution. Translation: Not a lot of care given. Dozens of times I can count a complete loss of POV tenses. There are memes where they have no purpose or reason being present, Now I can easily allow the script is not a shining stalwart, given the aforementioned chuuni factors making the writing overly complicated for no impact, but even then better care should be given to the basic grammar. Porn - This time, it was actually relevant to the story structure itself and is/should be a critical factor in understanding the MC, so anyone playing the All Ages version is going to be confused several exposition dumps later due to it being hamfistedly cleaved from the game proper and locked behind a patch. That said, it's actually pretty bad. Not for the execution, but because it's just...there. The characters aren't properly fleshed out, and so clumsy factors or feelings of the heart one would expect to pop up to initiate or push along such scenes is absent, making the affair stale. Story - TBD but honestly it's just too hard to connect empathy or an ounce of care, thanks to the above factors. Gameplay - Frankly it's irrelevant. You could carve it from the game and lose nearly nothing at all. In total, not something I'd recommend to anyone looking for a cohesive work, or looking to scratch an itch on a basic turn-based RPG. If you're absolutely curious, catch it on a sale. As is, I'd say find something else to occupy your time.

Ninetail doesn't miss. Initial impressions: Great voice acting, artstyle, and set/setting. It's expensive but you get a lot of content for the price, the game is huge. The hpatch is over 1GB, but it's free, make sure to get it.

Bottom line: More expensive than most 18+ games on steam, but the quality and quantity of game you get for the price still makes it worth it. If you have no interest in the patch content and/or don’t like turn based traditional RPG combat, it is a harder sell. It is turn-based, party RPG combat, but offers far more depth than the RPG Maker fare you may be used to. Personally, don’t think the gameplay is as good as Ninetail’s Venusblood games, but it is still better than over 95% of games on steam with optional 18+ content. Like their other games, it can be as hard or easy as you want. Easy gives you a ‘I win” button for every battle to use as you wish. Hard will force you to master the game and manage your resources effectively. Also, like their other games, the story can be digested as you want. Every scene you see, not just the patch ones, can be instantly skipped and viewed at any time in the extra menu. This allows you to quickly see all the branching parts of the story, rather than feel like a hassle to get all the way back to a decision part again on a new game+ playthough. Art quality and quaintly is far above average when compared to your typical 18+ game on steam. I played this before in Japanese, which is why the review is with limited playtime.

Firstly, despite my rating i do recommend this game, I love venusblood and am excited to have another ninetail game. The art and music are great, enri is best girl. However, I must bring attention to the translation. It's not bad, you could even say it's good, I find it easily readable. But it's frustrating seeing the constant trend of half assed QA. The script is riddled with missing words, missing letters, spelling mistakes, weird phrasing and grammatical errors almost every line. An idea I could suggest, if publishers don't want to pay for professional QA testing, is asking fans (such as myself, I am volunteering) to be offered a free copy in exchange for being given a portion of the script to proofread. This could be done pre release, like months before if necessary, I would be perfectly fine to spend a few hours doing it, and all it would cost is the price of the game. Please consider...