Belle Automata: Chronicle I

[i]Belle Automata[/i] is one of the most entertaining visual novels I’ve had the chance to play in recent years. I really love this game, with its captivating writing and beautiful artwork. My first play session was much more addictive than I anticipated. At some point, I had a couple-hour time window in-between activities and I thought it was a good opportunity to try out the game. Two hours seemed long enough to allow me to dive into its story yet short enough not to overly strain my already tired eyes from being up for a long time. However, after those two hours had elapsed, I wasn’t able to put it down. I had it so bad that I eventually resorted to canceling my previous plans and staying glued to the PC for the rest of the five hours that it took to finish one of two currently available routes. The rest of the game (consisting of an equally long route) was also played in one session a couple of days later when I finally had some free time again. The game is narrated from the perspective of Aureve (the name can be customized, although doing so will leave it out from all vocal lines that contain it), one of the last few sentient androids remaining in the world. After her beloved master passed away, Aureve was listed for sale in an auction on the black market, and a mysterious buyer became her new owner. The story starts as she is about to join the new household while still reminiscing about her close relationship with her old master. To her surprise, Aureve meets several other sentient androids there and is also immediately set free from any obligation to serve humans. This allows her to embark on a path of self-discovery and exploration of the things that she genuinely likes outside the seamstress profession, for which she was manufactured, as well as find new dreams to pursue and even experience romance. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2957893523 In a nutshell, [i]Belle Automata[/i] is a sci-fi otome game. Out of the six male romance options planned for the complete edition of the game, only two full routes are available in the current [i]Chronicle 1[/i] version, with 3 possible endings each. The two routes will follow Aureve's relationship with Victor - the android butler that manages and maintains all things related to the household, and The Nightmare Prince - the human ‘young master’ of the house (as Victor calls him), a mysterious figure who avoids socializing with other androids and humans at all costs. Victor is the classic [i]tsundere[/i] type, having a hard shell on the outside but being really passionate on the inside. The relationship between him and Aureve is a slow-burn romance that will periodically give you warm and fuzzy feelings and keep you on edge for *something* to happen. While tsundere characters can sometimes appear rude and blunt when interacting with their love interest (and not only), Victor always expresses himself in a deeply polite manner yet allows himself to lash out snarky comments towards other characters when he is overcome with jealousy. Seeing how he slowly warms up towards Aureve despite his consistent efforts to remain cold is simply a delightful read. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2957893505 On the other hand, The Nightmare Prince is your typical [i]dandere[/i]: reserved, shy and terribly afraid of any kind of interaction with other people. However, contrary to his scary name, he's actually a softie at heart, and his actions towards Aureve showcase his kindness and generosity. A nice bond starts developing between them as they begin to communicate and clumsily express their appreciation toward each other. He values and treats Aureve not as an android but as a person, while she is full of gratitude towards him for saving her from being scrapped and then setting her free. As he opens up to her bit by bit, the thin line between friendship and love starts to fade, and the two find themselves developing deeper feelings toward each other. The main characters are extremely well-written and there’s a progressive build-up of complex layers to their personalities as the plot deepens. They are also marvelously voiced, and all lines apart from Aureve’s inner thoughts have voice-overs. While the narration itself keeps you on your toes for the whole length of the game, I would argue that at some point close to the end, the romance aspect loses priority. Although it still takes a big part of the narration, the story focuses instead on Aureves's difficult choice between accomplishing her dreams or choosing love over them. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2957893560 The branching between the routes happens early in the game (a few minutes in, actually), and each of the two paths contains several subsequent choices. The type of ending reached is highly influenced by how many choices you picked in favor of the love interest, although some are not very evident. Otherwise, the choices do not affect the flow of the story in any way; they will only provide 5-10 alternative lines, but they all converge back to the main path immediately after. [i]Belle Automata[/i]’s immersive writing, good character build-up, lovely voice-overs, nice soundtrack and beautiful artwork make it a one-of-a-kind read. The game takes around seven hours per route (or around 12 hours in total for all possible endings of the two routes). It has all features you’d expect in a visual novel: skipping already read text, adjusting your reading speed, automatically advancing to the next line, plus a gallery of CGIs and music tracks. [i]Chronicle 2[/i] and [i]Chronicle 3[/i] are currently being developed, and you are invited to support the game on [url=https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/chouette/belle-automata-complete-edition-a-sci-fi-fantasy-otome]Kickstarter[/url] (launches 09 Apr 2023). A demo is also available for those who would like to try [i]Chronicle 1[/i]. [quote]💜 If you like this review, please consider following [url=http://store.steampowered.com/curator/11354094]Lilly's Corner Curator page[/url] 🌸 [url=https://lillycorner.com/]Website[/url] [/quote]

[i]Belle Automata: Chronicle I[/i] is an otome, dramatic, sci-fi visual novel developed and published by Jellyfish Parade. You take on the role of Aureve (whose name can be customized), a female android whose previous master passed away and is now under the ownership of a new master. Aureve is a dreamweaver model, meaning that she was designed specifically to make beautiful tapestries. Upon arriving at her new master's residence, Aureve is greeted by Victor, a male android butler. Victor greets Aureve and then gives instructions from the master, telling Aureve to throw away her proof of purchase. At first, Aureve is confused, but she quickly does as she's told, tearing up the paper. Victor also informs her that the digital copy of her proof of purchase is destroyed, so basically, that means that Aureve is a free android who can do as she wishes. Rather than having a master, she now has an employer. How will Aureve handle this newfound life? I'll end my story synopsis here to avoid spoilers and all that. As for the gameplay, [i]Belle Automata: Chronicle I[/i] has plenty of choices presented throughout the story. The first couple of choices determine which one of the two routes Aureve will go on: Victor or The Nightmare Prince (Aureve's employer). Then the rest of the choices will determine one of three endings for each romance interest: perfect, neutral, or bad. (Before anyone asks, there are other guys in the story, but they won't be available to romance until [i]Chronicles II and III[/i] are out.) There are a few CGs unlocked for both Victor's and The Nightmare Prince's routes, including ones for perfect and bad endings. There is full-on English voice acting as well as a varied soundtrack. However, at the time of this review, there are no Steam achievements or Steam trading cards. Now that I've gone over the story and gameplay, I'll move onto my thoughts. I enjoy a wonderful visual novel that has great story telling and hot romances to boot, and [i]Belle Automata: Chronicle I[/i] delivers that and more. However, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, so let's start with the story. I love that the main character is a female android and one that has feelings. Any android that doesn't conform according to human expectations (mainly, behaving out of character) is called a rogue, and Aureve definitely qualifies as one. Aureve starts narrating that she's probably the way that she is because of her previous master, and then she talks about how nervous and such she is to meet her new master/employer. Aureve is a very sweet, cute character, and I love how she has these moments when she talks to herself. XD Getting back to the story, Aureve arrives at her new residence and after briefly going through the common route, the game gives the one option of which romance route the player will go on. It's pretty simple to figure out the choices to get on a particular route. As Victor is a butler, he'll appreciate it if Aureve chooses to help with the cleaning, while for The Nightmare Prince's route, Aureve will have to choose to explore the mansion. Then there are the individual routes where Aureve will get to know either Victor or The Nightmare Prince (and yes, Aureve does find out his actual name ^^). I enjoyed reading these routes, especially with the voice acting, seeing Aureve get closer to her guy, becoming friends, and then becoming something more. With Victor, he initially comes off as stoic and cold, but on his route, Aureve can help him loosen up, and he even shows her his smile (OMG, his smile is too precious, but I'm digressing lol). With The Nightmare Prince, Aureve doesn't get to know much about him since he always stays in his room, choosing to communicate through the various speakers in the mansion. However, on his route, Aureve can get him to come out of his shell and open up more to others. I love both Victor and The Nightmare Prince (even though their personalities differ), and I just wish that Aureve could have romanced the other guys as well. Regarding the writing, I thought it was very well done. I enjoyed reading through all the routes, with the perfect endings being wonderful and happy while the bad endings being tearful. The neutral endings are somewhat happy and hopeful, so they're a good balance. Also, I enjoyed how in each route, there's not only romance but some character development for Aureve. For example, in Victor's route, [spoiler]Aureve has a chance to learn music and possibly, become a pop star[/spoiler]. I noticed a few typos, but the story is very enjoyable. In regards to the art, it is beautiful, with the sprites done in the usual anime style. I especially liked looking at Aureve's sprite and her hairstyle changes, depending on the chosen route. The backgrounds are well done, giving off that futuristic setting. (By the way, although the story isn't totally specific about this, it takes place on a planet away from Earth although Earth is still inhabited.) Of course, the CGs are beautifully drawn and colored, too, and they appear just at the pivotal moments in a guy's route. With the music, the tracks are great to listen to. They give off that futuristic, slightly upbeat feel. Yet, there's also a variety where there are slower tracks to give off a more romantic setting. Then I can't forget to mention that there's full-on English voice acting, which isn't common in visual novels. I enjoyed listening to all of the voices, and Aureve's voice is my favorite. It fits with her cute character and personality. Overall, would I recommend [i]Belle Automata: Chronicle I[/i]? If you enjoy visual novels, want a good otome, and enjoy stories that take place in futuristic settings where androids can become sentient (and thus, have the potential to become human), then this is a must read. I enjoyed both routes and going through all the emotional ups and downs as well as the humorous moments. It's definitely well worth the asking price although you can wait for a sale. I feel a bit bad that it took me a while to get to this wonderful visual novel, but as the saying goes, the best things in life are worth waiting for (or something like that). ^^ Also, before I forget, I'm really excited for [i]Chronicles II and III[/i], so sending positive vibes over to the devs. XD [quote]Flying free and writing reviews solely for [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44702020/]The Introverted Gamer[/url].[/quote]

3.5/5。游戏没有主线，显得颇为单薄，真要找个主线的话可能脉络就是女主寻找自我的心路历程吧。虽然主角感情写得还是比较细腻的，但我更喜欢跌宕起伏的主线。游戏有全配音。 我只打了管家线，写得像小学生谈恋爱，情节也belike两个安卓人互相知道对方的心意但是双方都不知道该怎么更进一步，有一种小学生早恋感。不过我打出了bad ending，很莫名其妙的因为我感觉给的这些选项都很模糊，不像是那种会有决定性的选择。 victor完全是一只坏猫。完美主义的管家，安卓人风味非常浓，看起来很正直实际上会很突然地tease女主。此小机器人非常拧巴，他一直不承认自己对女主的感情，还蛮好玩的。女主说要present自己的心意没想到真的是做pre啊，还准备了ppt好好笑。

If you like colorful characters, amazing voice acting, and a fantastic story, you'll love this game. With an almost completely voiced script, it makes playing super relaxing (otome streamers you don't have to read for hours upon hours! Just a couple of lines here and there). Just be careful that you don't mess up the name input like I did (a simple rewind fixed it but it can be confusing at first). I look forward to Chronicle 2 and 3!

I had such a fun, enjoyable time with this game over the last few hours that I had to rush to leave a review! Seriously, I am so charmed by how incredibly sweet this game is and how warm and fuzzy the romance between the main character and her adorable cranky-tsundere-butler-with-a-heart-of-gold, Victor, is! I'm not always a fan of tsunderes because so many of them come off as so mean... but Victor really stole my heart with how incredibly sweet and earnest he turned out to be beneath that initially stiff, cold demeanor. His interactions with the main character were incredibly tender while still having some real heat... some of those CGIs were DELICIOUS. Plus, I really ended up loving the main character and the slow way she developed her sense of who she was and what she wanted to do with her life beyond her android programming. She went through a beautiful journey of self-development and developed such great friendships with all the cast members -- all of whom are sweethearts, by the way! I can't wait for their routes later on, especially Zaffre (the most hilarious one of the lot). This game is highly recommended and I can't wait for more from this developer!

Has a cute tsundere butler as a LI. 10/10

A cute game from Jellyfish Parade about finding your passion! The art and music are both excellent, and I appreciate the well thought-out stories.

What a great game! Victor was my favorite, but all the characters were really charming, especially Aureve. I can't want for Chronicles II and III!

Ta gra jest naprawdę piękna :)

I played the demo and was instantly hooked on it and decided to buy the game. Aureve is so cute and I love her as the main character so much. I've only played 6 hours and I'm still not finished with Victors route even though I've been playing the game on Auto-Play. All the voice actors are incredibly. I can't wait to play Klause route when it comes out because he interests me the most so far.