Muv-Luv Alternative (マブラヴ オルタネイティヴ) Reviews

Best VN ever

be prepaired to get ptsd yall

They dont understand you like i do sumika

You ever get raw dogged so hard you just turn into a brain stem?

Muv-Luv Alternative is the finale and culmination of the events set up in Muv-Luv Extra and Muv-Luv Unlimited. [h1] Muv-Luv Alternative [/h1] The story picks up directly after the events of Unlimited and sees Takeru repeating the events of Unlimited in an effort to change the outcome(s) he saw at the end of it. The first portion of the novel mostly retains the same tone as Unlimited but with perhaps a bit more gravity. However after a certain point the story takes a marked shift in tone towards more dark and dire circumstances. Be warned, this title is not afraid to push you down, then kick you while your down, then give you a hand up, then kick you down again and again. The cast is expanded to include more characters including those from the developer's other titles. Almost all of the new and returning characters are likable and serve important roles in Takeru's journey. Speaking of Takeru, he is a somewhat divisive protagonist. on the one hand he can be incredibly annoying with his long winded internal monologues and childish behaviors. On the other hand, I struggle to think of another character with more realistic character growth. He isn't like a lot of anime adjacent "flawed" protagonists that go through a hardship or two and come out the other side as self-actualized Übermenschen. Takeru throughout the series and in Alternative in particular will consistently mess up, break down, pick himself up, improve, and then repeat. He's never done failing and growing, but he does improve with each new trial he lives through, and that makes him very human to me. 100%ing Alternative takes about as long as 100%ing both Extra and Unlimited combined, as such there's a lot more meat here and there is some really quality and emotionally charged moments. However there's also a fair amount of bloat that could have been trimmed to improve flow, such as Takeru having what is essentially the same conversations with multiple people multiple times. It's nice to get different perspectives but it really does make certain scenes drag on. The already good production quality from Extra and Unlimited sees an even bigger improvement here with more movement and action scenes as well as animated sequences. Though the addition of multiple long unskippable scenes does make replaying a bit more of a chore. Like Unlimited there's really only one route with just some even more minor dialogue differences depending on which girl you focus on. That being said the story being told is the most comprehensive and important one in the trilogy. It's a bit of an emotional roller coaster at times. There are some pretty high highs, and a lot of [b]REAL[/b] low lows. With the patch there are only two 18+ scenes, both back-to back and with the same character and one of them is quite controversial. I found it to be gratuitous and on about the same level as or maybe a little worse than Baldr Sky's "humiliation" scenes. That being said I do think the context around the scene is fairly important for the story, emotions, and mindset of two of the main characters, so I'm a bit torn on the issue. The other scene is more akin to the 18+ scenes from Extra in its sweetness and wholesomeness. Muv-Luv Alternative is often called one of if not the best VN out there. I don't know if I can agree to that, as there are a few too many flaws in my opinion. But I can say that it is a very compelling and emotional story that builds off of and pays off on virtually everything set up in the previous two novels. I genuinely grew to love and appreciate almost every primary and secondary character, and when the story starts punching you in the heart you really feel it. [h3] Pros [/h3] [list] [*] The best production quality in the trilogy that even beats out many modern titles. [*] The story is the deepest it gets and there are multiple moments that had me choked up. [*] Outside of maybe two or three tertiary characters, there really aren't any bad characters in the bunch. [*] Best girl is back. [/list] [h3] Cons [/h3] [list] [*] There is quite of a bit of bloat in the story and some sections are needlessly verbose (particularly Takeru's internal monologues). [*] While they feature a fair amount, the main girls other than [spoiler] Sumika and to a lesser degree Kasumi and Meiya [/spoiler] are relegated to secondary characters at best. Alternative is a story about Takeru and [spoiler] Sumika [/spoiler]. [*] Even more and longer unskippable scenes hamper replayability. [*] [spoiler] Sagiri [/spoiler] is even worse than he was in Extra. [/list]

8.7/10 I would give it a 9.5/10 if I played it back in 2005. A pioneer of this genre indeed. I've played Steins;Gate before this one. It just shows how Steins;Gate has perfected the formula from MLA without pacing issues. The Pros: [list] [*] The OP is one of the most iconic in Galgame history—and will always be. [*] Character development: how a guy struggles to find his place in the world. A path where a boy becomes a man. [*] Jinguuji Marimo is the best teacher ever portrayed. [/list] The Cons: [list] [*] Pacing issue is the serious flaw in this game. You spend 3 games with more than 100 hours of gameplay to have serious character development for Takeru. But IMHO, it isn’t worth it at all. [*] There were character routes in Extra, but none in Unlimited and Alternative. You spend lots of time on autoplay, plowing through the same content for the slightest difference. [*] This game is also limited by the technology of the time. I think it would benefit a lot if it had Baldr series or EDF (which fits the theme surprisingly well) gameplay. But let dreams be dreams. [*] Personally, the climax is at the Coup d’état arc. Lengthy slice-of-life (which I did enjoy, though) before that. And you can clearly see you’re on a path of doom later on.

Don't even know what to write. This is one of the greatest stories ever told. I never knew you could put a reader in that much terror in just one scene. DO NOT SPOIL YOURSELF TRUST ME

In a word, Amazing. I grew attached to the characters I laughed I cried. I'm still processing everything but my feelings at the time of writing, this was a masterpiece

"Our best efforts, truly all of our resolve has been in vain. Countless lives and valuable pieces of equipment have been lost. However... look around you. Look at how our home is being reborn, just as the cherry blossoms at the main gate bloom proudly, even on this dying land. Look at your comrades by your side. Look at the passion still burning bright in their eyes despite our plight. What is it that drives us on? What makes us rise back up when our whole bodies are battered and bruised? It is the fact that devoting our whole bodies and souls to fighting despair is the duty given to those of us still alive, and the fact that doing so is the one and only way to honor those who have given their lives for humanity's victory. Listen to the voices of those sleeping in the Earth. Listen to the voices of those who met their end in the sea. Listen to the voices of those lost to the sky. ....The time has come for their dying wishes to be fulfilled. And now, these young soldiers are about to set off. They will carry on their backs the wishes of us, and of those long gone, as they depart to face the enemy alone and without backup. Whether history chooses to glorify them or not... we will remember them. We will engrave into our hearts the noble deeds of those who are not permitted to reveal even their names. Departing young ones... Do not forgive us for being unable to teach you anything but fighting. Do not forgive our inability to avoid sending you onto the battlefield. I pray that your act of bravery will form the cornerstone of a world where we no longer send such young men and women into battle." Peak 9.9/10 because i played with the patch:(