AKER FERN - Visual Novel

Not a bad game, keeps you hooked for half an hour.

Приятно, но лишь на раз. Проходится быстро и достижения такие же.

Arken Fern is a small fan-made visual novel that surprised me with how much fun I had. It’s short, absurd, and full of charm, and despite its rough edges, I genuinely enjoyed the experience. 👍 Recommended — I definitely had a great time with this game. If you’re in the mood for something not too long, funny, and with a bit of mystery, go for it. I’m definitely going to play Arken Fern 2 in the near future. 🕒 Hours Played: around 10 🎯 Completion Status: I think I saw all scenes and all endings (thanks to Phantom’s guide on Steam) 🟪 Some Info [📝] Made by a Polish team - The game was created by a Polish group, so all voice acting is in Polish. I understand Polish, so my experience may differ from someone who relies only on the English text. [📝] This is a Visual Novel - This means the game is entirely reading‑based, with choices that lead to different scenes and endings. There are no additional gameplay mechanics — just in case someone isn’t familiar with the genre. [📝] Free game - This is a fan‑made project created by people who had an idea and dedicated their free time to make it real. I hope they had fun doing it. Because it’s freeware, I don’t think it’s fair to expect a perfectly polished, issue-free product. For that reason, most of my negative observations will be in the 🟦 Neutral section rather than 🟨 Bad or 🟥 Ugly. [📝] Clarification comes with the endings - If you want to understand the strange events happening throughout the story, you’ll likely need to see all endings — many explanations appear only there. 🟩 The Good [✅] It’s free - Always worth highlighting. [✅] Comedy through absurdity - The game is described as a school comedy, but I wasn’t sure what that meant at first. It turns out most of the humor comes from absurd situations the characters find themselves in, and how they try to cope with them — usually with only the main character realizing how bizarre everything is. It reminded me a lot of old Leslie Nielsen movies. This kind of humor is my weakness, and I loved it. I laughed much more than expected. [✅] Fun mystery elements - I got surprisingly hooked on the events. The game isn’t huge, but it has some genuinely interesting mysteries. [✅] Good music moments - The soundtrack fits well and enhances the atmosphere when needed. [✅] Characters - I liked most of the cast. Some characters can be hit or miss, but after seeing all endings, I started appreciating them more — even the ones that annoyed me at first. [✅] The main character is a “badass” - I enjoy confident, strong, overpowered protagonists, and Dan Tern definitely fits that category. 🟦 The Neutral [➖] Voice‑over quality - Since this is a homemade project, the voice acting varies a lot depending on the equipment people had at home. It will most likely give a negative first impression. Personally, I got used to it, and it even gave me a nostalgic ‘old Flash game’ feeling. [➖] English translation mismatch - I listened to the Polish voice lines while reading the English text to see how non‑Polish players would experience the game. Sometimes the spoken Polish line and the English text don’t match. Nothing major, but a few scenes may feel a bit awkward because of it. [➖] Some childish dialogue - A few lines feel overly childish or simplistic. Not a huge issue, but I noticed it more often than I would have liked. [➖] Voice acting doesn’t always match emotions - In emotional scenes — stress, fear, excitement, sadness — the voice acting sometimes doesn’t reflect the character’s feelings. It can sound like reading from a script, which breaks immersion a bit. [➖] No clear canon ending - Most events in the game happen in parallel, meaning characters acknowledge things even if you didn’t see the scene. However, the endings are mutually exclusive — you only see one per playthrough, and the others simply don’t occur in that route. Since Arken Fern 2 is a continuation (which I haven’t played yet while writing this), it’s unclear which ending the sequel treats as canon. Each ending contains major events or character development, so it’s hard to know which one the story will follow. [➖] Endings introduce new mysteries - While the endings explain some strange events from Chapter 2, they also introduce new mysteries that aren’t resolved in this game (maybe in Arken Fern 2). Overall, it’s a charming little fan project that’s worth trying if you enjoy quirky humor and short visual novels. I’m looking forward to playing Arken Fern 2 next. Just for the record. I have asked AI to help with typos corrections and grammar. If some sentences end up strange, that may be the reason. Please let me know.