Amarantus

I’m writing this review because I feel some of the comments on the game are too forgiving because of its charm and promise. I get it, I want to love Amarantus too, but there is one big issue with it that honestly is just disappointing (it was for me anyway) and then there are some smaller ones. So the big one for me: premise and story. The premise just doesn’t make sense, which is a shame since this problem would be easy to solve by injecting a bit more realism, and the story goes, well, nowhere really. There’s much history and interpersonal stuff, which I like, but I feel these aspects were confused for a good story :I In short: where the plot beeeeee??? Other nay stuff: -Might be a ‘me’ problem, but the CG styles are so different from the in game art that I could hardly tell which characters were in it. -The game tells you the first time you play something like “you MIGHT NOT reach a happy ending at your first try”, which turns out to be bs, since you CANNOT reach a happy ending without one playthrough. Correct me if I’m wrong about this, otherwise “I’ve got hurt feelings” and it’s a complete bummer as well D:< Godd stuff: -Looooove the idea and the main art style -Good characters -Made me chuckle a couple of times -Lotsa choices But I'd say check out Mask of the Rose instead.

[i]Amarantus[/i] is a dark adventure visual novel developed and published by ub4q. You take on the role of Arik, a young man who is woken up suddenly in the middle of the night by his foster dad. Soldiers have come to Arik's home, looking for him, and Arik is told to run to his friend Mireille's home and seek sanctuary there. After making his way to Mireille (well, it depends on a couple of particular choices made) and explaining the situation, Arik decides to take the fight to Lord Caudat, the country's tyrant whose soldiers end up arresting Arik's foster parents and even destroying his home. Arik is convinced that Caudat must be stopped at all costs, and I'll end my story synopsis here to avoid spoilers and all that. As for the gameplay, [i]Amarantus[/i] has numerous choices presented throughout the story. While some of these choices determine what kinds of relationships Arik will have with various members of his party who join him on his quest, other choices determine Arik's personality, ultimately in him deciding how he wants to deal with Caudat. Even in the settings area of the game's main menu, you can fiddle with the functions so that you can play the game however you want. For example, the default setting is so that you have to hover your mouse cursor over a choice in order to see what it is. However, in the settings area, you can adjust this so that you can see all the choices without hovering over them (which is what I prefer). For a first playthrough, [spoiler]Arik will end up dying[/spoiler]. However, after that first playthrough (via "into the dark" route), the "like a spark" route will be unlocked, and then [spoiler]Arik will end up surviving, and there are a couple of different main endings, depending on a crucial choice made very late in the story[/spoiler]. There are lots of CGs, a varied soundtrack, and a references section that explains how to pronounce certain words. In addition, there are Steam achievements although they won't count towards a user's global total until the game is out of "profile features limited". Now that I've gone over the story and gameplay, I'll move onto my critique. [i]Amarantus[/i] has been on my must play list for quite a while now although it's only recently that I got around to playing it. First, I enjoyed the story a lot. I love how it starts off in a dramatic, exciting way, and the story doesn't waste any time afterwards in presenting choices. For example, Arik can choose to do as his dad says and run, or he can choose to confront the soldiers head on. There are lots of choices, and depending on the ones made, they can change even the most minor of events. As for relationships, Arik can choose to have relationships with Mireille (his childhood friend), the Major (a hired soldier who accompanies Arik on his quest), Marius (Mireille's step-sibling who had a romantic relationship with Arik in the past), or Reann (Marius' acquaintance whom Marius has a crush on). There's even the possibility of a [spoiler]poly romance with Marius and Reann[/spoiler]. I like how there's the possibility of relationships, and the romances can get pretty hot since there are [spoiler]sex scenes although only partial nudity[/spoiler]. However, if Arik wants his revolution to be successful, perhaps it's better not to be in any relationship (and relationships are optional). What I really like, though, is how there's sort of a new story after you complete a first playthrough. When you play "like a spark" route, there are new scenes with [spoiler]Arik and his birth mom, Marian, who appears as a ghost in his mind[/spoiler], and depending on additional choices made, Arik can learn additional information that wasn't possible in "into the dark" and more importantly, he can [spoiler]survive being killed[/spoiler]. XD As for the gameplay, it's pretty straightforward with the choices. I like how there are lots of different settings, which is rare for visual novels. Earlier, I mentioned the setting for viewing choices, but there are even options to enable and disable missing CGs in the Extras section, and you have the option of disabling certain special effects. As for achievements, while some are pretty straightforward, others can be quite difficult to obtain. That is a reason it took me so long to 100% complete this game. It requires quite a bit of exploration if you want to get all of the achievements, but it's totally worth it and there's that sense of accomplishment. In regards to the art, I love this unique style. It's a definite departure from the typical anime style. It's difficult to describe exactly the style, but it feels more hand drawn and the colors are natural, never overly bright. The expressions of various characters feel natural, and there's even an option to enable or disable mouth movements. Of course, the CGs are lovely to view, and there are quite a lot, including some that showcase the various romances that Arik can have. Regarding the music, I enjoyed listening to the variety of tracks. They range from the faster punk rock type to the slower ballad. Also, I love the instrumentals that are used in these tracks. There are minor sound effects as well although no voice acting. Overall, would I recommend [i]Amarantus[/i]? If you're looking for an exciting visual novel about revolution and overthrowing a tyrant, all the while figuring out how to navigate relationships, then this is totally worth taking a look. I enjoyed getting to explore the story, going through the various possibilities, and seeing how certain decisions can change the story's events. For the asking price, I'd say it's worth getting although you can always wait to get it on a sale. However, I will say that this is such an enjoyable visual novel and although I have completed it, I'd love to go back and explore more of the story someday. Finally, I want to give a thank you to ub4q for the review copy, and here's hoping that we see more visual novels like this one in the future. ^^ Vive la révolution! (Google translate for "Long Live the Revolution!" XD) [spoiler]Curator copy from Otome Lovers.[/spoiler] [quote]If you found this review helpful/useful, please check out [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44702020/]The Introverted Gamer[/url].[/quote]

Absolutely delightful visual novel. PRO - The art is probably the best part of this visual novel. It was so beautiful I ended up buying the artbook as well - The characters are the true protagonists. I enjoyed trying to understand their minds and what kind of route they preferred or what they really wanted. Marius and Mireille were my absolute favorite - The general atmosphere and the music - Choices and consequences CON - I found the mission so weirdly childish... and the whole "tyrant" but compassionate... - The pacifist route makes no sense. More context on the world would have helped understand why surrendering was a viable option

The art looks nice and I love the sound effects, animations and occasional soundtrack playing. The game is really well made in this regard and it helps to set the mood! But sadly the premise, writing and story just aren’t that great. I’m through the forest now and it takes a crazy amount of suspension of disbelief to enjoy this. The premise is so ridiculous that in no way I can't fathom even the protagonist himself seems to genuinely believe they’re capable of doing what they’re trying to do. The plot doesn't make much sense so far, either. It also has cringy teen novel vibes sometimes, which isn’t automatically a bad thing ofc, I just can’t really get into that anymore. Dialogues are really weird and feel unnatural to me, the characters just keep talking and talking about so much unimportant stuff, considering the mission they’re supposed to be on, stammering and interrupting each other, constantly making vague hints like they’re in a YT video and forced to censor certain words or phrases. You read and read, but they actually say very little. I’ve been playing for about two hours now and still basically know nothing about the world. It’s painfully slow. My favorite character so far is "the Major", because she seems the least weird and knows how to stfu. Additionally, they're constantly squabbling and backstabbing you and each other, but you can't really do anything about it because there is barely any player agency at all. There are choices here and there, but most of them are things I don’t want to do or say.

I hate Marius

bought the game to romance the guy who reminded me of sylvain von fireemblem. stayed for the incredible character writing and intrigue. now it's three in the morning. marius turned me down btw

crazy how rewarding the insets are. just a couple of detailed panels - often close-ups of hands, grazing/grasping/caressing - but the visual impact is so great that you gain the same satisfaction that cutscenes in videogames are designed to give you. i screenshotted every single one

A hesitant do not recommend, it wasn't awful, but wasn't good. Took about 4 hours for one playthrough. Pros: -Lots of choices -Like the art style a lot -The branching romance options are cute - Has an option to skip to the next piece of unseen text, that's a really nice feature to have in a VN (I think all should have this feature) Cons; -I was so confused for most of it, everyone speaks in implications, so you think you get the gist of what's happening, until someone says something plainly like 'I can't believe person x killed those people' when the whole time it was implied that it was someone else. You think you're making sense of something but you're not. -You have to replay the whole game twice to get a 'true' ending, the second play thorough has a few extra scenes but it's 90% the same until you get to the ending, was annoying and unnecessary. -A lot of special lore names that aren't explained and you have to work it out from context, pretty confusing. -Even with 'instantly display text' turned on, it doesn't, the game waits for animations to finish and sometimes has 10 seconds of a black screen (changing locations/scenes?), I thought my game froze till it happened a few times- it seems to be on purpose -The story is very abrupt, doesn't flow very well, and doesn't make logistical sense

A chaotic revolutionary journey, with plenty of intrigue to keep you theory-crafting into and beyond the game's final moments, and a thriving garden of incredibly fleshed out characters that won't hesitate to call you out on your words and actions, Amarantus is at its best when you meet it half way. When you really dig your claws into it, Amarantus digs its claws into you in return.