Magical Eyes - Red is for Anguish Reviews

Magical Eyes - Red is for Anguish is a slow-paced, supernatural crime-solving kinetic novel. The only interaction the player has is the Reasoning Mode sequences, which only give you more insight into the story. I haven't finished the whole thing yet, but there seems to only be two chapters (chapter 0 and chapter 1) and one ending for the novel. $16 is definitely not the price this game is worth, considering that the game only has a few characters and that is the only real artwork in the game. There's also Japanese voice acting, which could be the reason for the high price for mediocre story and writing. If your mind is already set on buying the game, then feel free to do so. But, I personally had higher expectations for the game and would have bought some of the other games on my wishlist before getting this one if I knew about the slow pace.

Magical Eyes is supernatural murder mystery visual novel. Its about high schooler who is part of organisation that is responsible for handling incidents caused by certain supernatural entities called Variants. The story revolves about certain doll and disappearances happening around her. The beginning might give you impression that this is going to be story about fearless superhero and girl chasing him, but fortunately this isn't the case. Things calm down and everything appears mutch more nuanced, nothing is black or white. So story is rather good and it was able to draw me in. What i didn't like was how storytelling was forcefully cut into "scenes" which you select from city map. I am not sure what was purpose of this, since game is linear so you cant make choices by selecting different scene. So the fact that game pushes you to town map after every "scene" just so you can click on next one is in my opinion unnecessary disturbance. At end of every chapter there is "reasoning mode" which doesn't expect you to solve anything, it only tests out how mutch attention you paid during chapter and if you get everything right, you are rewarded with bonus scene. VN has voiceacting for everyone except protagonist. Graphics wise its bit of a disappointment. Character sprites are not bad, but they are rather simple and only few per character. Backgrounds aren't drawn, rather they are 3D renders of rather low quality. I mean there are countless amateur adult VNs in Ren'py engine that have mutch, mutch better done renders. And honestly i just prefer good old drawings over renders. This seems to be only first chapter of the story and at the end, there is hint, that its going to continue with next Magical Eyes game, but that haven't been made yet. Considering this was released in Japan in 2014 and its already 2019 and developer haven't done anything since then i highly doubt its going to happen.

Decent short novel, good first chapter in the series. The only problem might be that sequel might be never coming out due to the game being a flop. I still liked the first chapter, but if it bothers you, avoid picking it up.

I loved the story, characters, voice acting and art plus the music was nice too. Since this is only chapter 1 (one case) there are still a lot of unexplained things but at least it didn't end in a cliffhanger and the case was very interesting and tied up neatly. Definitly gonna get the next game once it's out. p.s [spoiler] Damn you Tamura for making me teary eyed 3 times in a row! I'm either being sensitive or very empathetic towards the character [/spoiler]

Magical Eyes - Red is for Anguish is an excellent first entry in a series of visual novels. It tells a story of a group of people with extraordinary skills, dealing with trouble caused by human emotion. Instead of disappearing peacefully, the strong feelings of the deceased keep going, haunting and possessing those around them. The first chapter has the characters come across a mystery involving many disappearances and perhaps even murder -- all possibly linked to an ominous doll. Although Red is for Anguish is not very long, it does a great job establishing the setting and many characters with intriguing personalities. The character art is gorgeous and voice acting is also very good. There are a few less than pretty backgrounds, but overall the VN looks and sounds very good. I will be looking forward to future parts of Magical Eyes to learn more about it's fantastic cast.

A very well made story. Truly a pity that the studio involved hasn't had any news since 2017. I would have liked to see the continuation of the story, "Indigo Blue Heaven," but it seems like it is not to be.

Despite being the first part in an abandoned series, I still recommend it. The first chapter still stands as a solid individual story

Magical Eyes feels like it has some strong ambitions but is ultimately just an average Visual Novel that feels like it was made on a very low budget. While essentially telling a complete story, it’s made extremely clear that this was supposed to be Chapter 1 of a larger story, which a couple of years later at the time of this review, has not panned out. That’s not to say there aren’t enjoyable aspects to this story of a murderous doll with motives unknown, and the investigators with supernatural strength- the characters are fairly memorable, and the mystery is interesting, at least for a time. But it feels like we are thrown into this world and story without enough time to get to ease into it and new characters appear fully developed- nobody seems to grow or change much throughout the experience. The characters in the story also seem to know a lot more about one another and their histories than the reader does. There are other issues, like scenes without character visuals, just text scrolling down the screen making it very difficult to tell who is talking to who. We have the main female character who is so obsessed with the male main character that she seems obsessive and it feels like she may turn out deranged- but it turns out that’s just what the writers considered a normal romance angle. While the character art is okay, if a little low res, most of the background art is low budget CG that looks about 10 years older than it actually is and doesn’t match the style of the rest of the game. There is some excellent artwork to be found, but those examples can be few and far between. While feeling low budget, I think a strong effort was made to give the game some extra personality and style. There is a timeline of events showing where the various scenes from each point of view took place, along with a summary of each event. Each chapter ends with a question and answer round with lets you show your understanding of the story so far and unlock achievements and additional scenes. There’s also a glossary of terms that has some charm, and the game is fully voiced. For a serious fan of the Visual Novel genre, this is worth checking out at the right price, but don’t expect to be blown away or to ever see the next chapter. But stranger things have happened.

The story does take a moment to really get going, as it is setting up the world, but once it does, it really takes off. This is part one in the Magical Eyes series, though the story itself is self-contained. Think Fault:milestone one in the way the story grows and comes together at the end, but without fault's obvious cliffhanger. The production values are quite good. I'm not sure what to praise more - the character art, the backgrounds, the music or how dynamic some of the scenes are. It's definitely not a run-of-the-mill visual novel. Last but not least, I have to give props to the VAs as they do an excellent job of conveying the characters. It certainly helped pull me even more into the story. What I'm saying is that if you like your thrillers/mysteries/character drama/magical world stories, I think you'll enjoy this one as is. Though now I can't wait to read the next episode!

Time to review this amazing game! Magical Eyes - Red is for Anguish is a visual novel. A horror story with a bit of humor, to be precise. I can't stress how well written it is. On par with some of my favorite books. Of course, since this is a "game", you get the added bonus of lovely anime art and some pretty darn good music. In fact, it has a strong anime feel to it including its own beginning and ending theme songs. Some would be tempted to place this game in the kinetic novel category because you have no choices that impact the story. However, the main character is trying to solve a murder mystery and you help out with that. At the end of each day, you get a "Reasoning Mode" where you analyze the clues you've recently received and answer questions. You're ranked on how well you do so saving beforehand might be prudent. If you get an S rank (the best), you unlock extra scenes and add content to the Special Extras on the main menu. This game isn't laid out like a novel where you just turn the pages. There's a map with locations you can click on. Normally, there's only one spot, with an exclamation point, that advances the main plot. Occasionally though, you get an extra place highlighted on the map that's optional. Make sure to visit these FIRST because they'll disappear after you click on the plot advancing spot. Actually, I was a little saddened that there weren't more extra optional places to explore. If you've played Persona, the map and accompanying music are extremely similar and gave me a nostalgic feeling. While you're reading this fantastically creepy and intriguing story, there are two things to watch out for. Some things will be highlighted in blue and these are added to your dictionary. You can click on them immediately for a definition or check out your dictionary at your convenience. The other thing is key words or phrases that the main character will remember and use in the Reasoning Mode. When you're answering questions, a list of choices will appear and those depend on what you've picked up while reading. I believe this is why it's so important to explore every extra scene you can - it'll give you more to work with in Reasoning Mode. The music in the game is quite good. Much of it is catchy and almost all fits well with whatever scene you're reading about. I was very impressed. Actually, the whole presentation of Magical Eyes - Red is for Anguish is top-notch. I've been in a lazy mood (not uncommon) so I really haven't been feeling like writing reviews but I HAD to share this one with my friends who love reading. Well, guess it's time to wrap this up. On top of the high quality of the game, it also includes steam achievements and cards so it's the complete package! For obvious reasons (see above), I'm recommending this. :)