[i]Crimson Song - Yuri Visual Novel[/i] is a yuri linear visual novel developed and published by Male Doll Everyone. You take on the role of Diandrir, a young noblewoman who's traveling through the woods on her way to the city for business. However, during the night, she is suddenly attacked and next thing she knows, she wakes up in a bedroom in an old castle, with only Catherine, the owner of the castle, to attend to her. However, there's more to Catherine than meets the eye. Especially since this is a kinetic novel, I'll end my story synopsis here to avoid spoilers.
As for the gameplay, there are no choices presented, so you just play through the story from beginning to end. A few soundtracks and CGs are present, the latter which can be seen in the CG gallery of the main menu after they're unlocked. Also, there are a few Steam achievements although they won't count towards a user's global total until the game is out of "Steam is learning about this game".
Now that I've gone over the story and gameplay, I'll move onto my critique. Being in the mood for a slightly darker story as well as a short one, I decided to give [i]Crimson Song[/i] a try. First, I liked the story premise. Immediately, I could tell that the atmosphere would be dark and that Diandrir would be in danger. There's definitely a bit of excitement going on. Then, we're taken to a castle, where Diandrir meets Catherine. Of course, since I paid attention to the story from the beginning, I instantly recognized Catherine although Diandrir has no recollection of her. The story itself basically revolves around Diandrir and Catherine. I liked the dynamic that the two of them have, and I especially found Catherine to be entertaining. She's a character who loves to tease Diandrir but only in a good way. As for Diandrir, I found her to be an ok main character. I like how the story progresses as well as how it ends although if I had to point out something that I didn't enjoy personally, it would be [spoiler]the scene where Diandrir spies on Catherine masturbating. There are no explicit scenes here - only Catherine's bare legs are shown. However, I felt that this scene was inserted mainly for fanservice reasons[/spoiler]. There's the budding of romance between Diandrir and Catherine. Catherine is more forward in her affections while Diandrir is more shy, so it'll take a while for the two of them to have some sort of solid relationship. However, the promise is there.
As for the writing, I found it fairly well paced. Nothing felt dragged out or such. I noticed occasional typos and grammatical errors, though. I have a feeling that the writer's native language isn't English (but I could be wrong), so this is reflected in the writing. A bit of proofreading to polish the writing wouldn't hurt. It is a short visual novel. It took me around 45 minutes to finish the story (and I read slowly, so for faster readers, they could finish it even more quickly). In regards to the art, I found it pretty pleasing. The sprites are well done in the usual anime style, and the backgrounds are pretty to look at. The CGs are well drawn, and the colors are used well, feeling dark to give off that appropriate story atmosphere. Briefly commenting on the music, there are just a few tracks, but they depict the mood of the story well. Like the art, the music gives off that dark, slightly gothic atmosphere. I'll comment, though, that I personally enjoyed the violin piece when Diandrir plays the violin for Catherine.
Overall, would I recommend [i]Crimson Song - Yuri Visual Novel[/i]? If you enjoy yuri visual novels, like reading slightly dark stories, and don't mind the short playtime, then it's worth taking a look. I wish that the story had been slightly more expanded on since I felt like it ended a bit too soon. However, it's an enjoyable read. For the asking price, I'd recommend holding off for a bit of a sale, but it's worth getting at some point, and it's also in a Steam bundle. ^^
[quote]Flying free and writing reviews solely for [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44702020/]The Introverted Gamer[/url].[/quote]
It was only meant to be another annual visit to his mother's grave, but midway through Diandrir's story was shrouded in darkness. A Kinect visual novel about darkness and girls' love.
Kinect Story;