ANGELIC WAVES – REVIEW
I’ll be honest, I was never a big fan of visual novel games. There wasn’t much in this genre that really reeled me in. Most of the time it was boring stuff that only focused on romance or corny anime moments, but sometimes every once in a while there comes a decent game from a freshly sparked developer that manages to take us by surprise. This was the case with Angelic Waves, I was lucky enough to be provided the copy by the game’s developer Bus Arrows Studios. I went into this game thinking, bleh, just another visual novel with anime art that I will skip through for the most part. However, I’m glad to be proven wrong by not just the well written story, but the beautiful art-style, decent dialogue writing and some extremely well done voice acting and music.
GAMEPLAY:
There isn’t much to say about this game’s gameplay though, it’s a simple point and click story, where the entirety of the gameplay revolves around reading the stories and watching everything unfold. It’s a proper visual novel, and that is the beauty behind it. The true essence of this game’s gameplay lies in remembering details that you read, dialogue that you listen and characters that you meet. That is the main plot point here, because these lines and memories all merge together to create a beautiful story that you can’t help but remember for a long while even after you’re done playing the game.
I would prefer some more additions to this gameplay though, while I do think that it is a perfectly well made visual novel, I want there to be more things to do. I want to have more immersion rather than just read, I would’ve really enjoyed if it had puzzles related to remembering dialogue, or more interaction essentially with the characters and the game’s world. As of now, the only interaction the game gives you is a few options, like earlier on in the game you get a choice on who out of the three girls you wish to spend time with at a party. Alas, that isn’t something this game is focusing on as it tries to focus more on its actual story, which brings us to our next segment of this review.
STORY:
The story follows you playing the role of Maxwell Cross who lives out a quiet, simple and mundane life with only his two best friends Benny and his wife Jenny to give him company every once in a while. One day, while having dinner at Benny and Jenny’s house, Maxwell finds a magazine which talks about the story of the forever angels, ancient warriors from created by a divine power to take down any sort of evil on earth. This is where that mundaneness is completely gone from Maxwell’s life. He walks back home, thinking nothing of it but when he gets back to his apartment complex after a good dinner at his best friends’ house.
Here, we meet three women, Gilleen, Roya, and Annabelle, who have now moved into the best pent house apartment in his building. On first impressions, they look like normal girls. They’re pretty, polite, kind-hearted and super exciting to talk to; however they hide a special secret that is explored and uncovered as the game’s story progresses. Their secret is related to an ancient power, and a secret force of ancient and mysterious women who were sent to the earth as divine providence. This is where the story is a divide, will Maxwell find love, or will this secret lead to something destructive? Find out when you play Angel Waves for yourself!
ART STYLE:
The art style is one of the most important features of this game, as it is something that we shouldn’t by any means take lightly. The game looks absolutely drop dead gorgeous. For an indie game by a fresh developer, this game has the art style of an artist who has mastered their craft. This art style for the most part carries the game; each character looks different, memorable and uniquely styled. Their personalities are perfectly portrayed by the way they dress and their expressions. There’s a unique polishing to the art design that makes it look much sharper than even most high budget anime these days.
SOUND:
The soundtrack here is actually kinda nice, I enjoyed the way the music complimented most scenes but at times it did get quite repetitive. I liked the score initially, but then it kept playing again and again and I got bored of it halfway through the game. With that said though, the few tracks that do play in the game set the mood really well, and elevate the scenes’ quality way more.
There are also snippets of voice acting littered throughout the game, which gives the characters a tad bit more in terms of personality than you would have expected. Since this is a visual novel, I went in without thinking that there would even be sound effects for the characters’ voices. However, there’s a full blown voice acting cast here, who do their jobs really well when looking at the fact that this is a visual novel. The acting is done really well too, Galena in particular is so well voiced that you can’t help but pick her in every choice you get in the game! Annabelle also has some fantastic voice acting, and you really admire her actor’s performance throughout the game.
VERDICT:
This game in particular has some extremely well done art work, each character is memorable due to this art design and stylistic approach to unique character designs. The backgrounds pop into the forefront of the game’s narrative, and each character holds the center screen in attention. The writing could definitely use some more polishing, but it does its job very well in conveying everything from the story message to the main point. The best thing about this game is its attention to detail, which is very hard to find in indie games that are also visual novels. There is also some fantastic sound work, some awesome music albeit a bit repetitive in many scenes.
In conclusion, I feel like this is a huge debut for Bus Arrows Studios despite the lack of many gameplay features that would have made this game a bit more interactive. As a visual novel though, this is a terrific opening from a brand new studio paving the way and creating a brand name for themselves. I thoroughly enjoyed their exploration of the Forever Angels concept, and I cannot wait to see more of their work coming down in the future.
RATING: 8/10
