Cross the Moon

Like vampire stories and cosmic mysteries? Looking for a linear visual novel with a compelling story, great characters, wonderful art, a unique aesthetic, and an incredible soundtrack? Then look no further. [b] Can't recommend this enough [/b] if you're looking for a great narrative experience. I found myself pausing the game at several points to just soak in the music and atmosphere that's on display. The soundtrack absolutely slaps, and the artwork is vibrant and gorgeous. I love the colour palette. The story had many twists and turns, and frequently veered into the unexpected. It was exciting from start to finish. Thoroughly enjoyed this.

Cross the Moon is different from most VNs I've played. There's no choices, just some collectibles for additional lore, but I don't think that takes away from the experience. The art is on point? There's fantastic use of color in the backgrounds, and I'm glad I picked up the OST too. The story is well-paced, and I found it compelling, though it might not be to everyone's taste. I was also happy to see multiple queer characters in the cast. And the 3 main characters are all POC which is kinda unique for a VN. The protagonists are a teenage boy, his older sister who's just starting her career, (the siblings are vampires), and a police officer (who is human). They all intersect with the story and each other in interesting ways and, I don't really want to say too much more and spoil things. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2420079302 It's a really unique VN. Try the demo. If you like that, you will likely enjoy the full story.

[i]Cross the Moon[/i] is a kinetic, mystery visual novel developed and published by Patrick Rainville. You take on the role of three main characters: Lux Amanite (a high school teenager), Aurore Amanite (Lux's older sister who's just gotten a new job at a prestigious corporation), and Ryouko Otsuki (a police investigator from Japan who's on a partnership). The story takes place in the fictional country of Armorica, particularly in its capital, L'Amour. (Based on the names of other characters and such, there's some implied French influence.) In this world, vampires and humans co-exist. After a major event some years ago, certain people with a genetic predisposition suddenly transformed into vampires, and these vampires were ostracized for being different. Although some reparations have since been made, vampires continue to be discriminated among some people. After the murder of a lawyer makes headlines and Lux and his friends are suspected of being involved (as they were with the victim before he was murdered), events began to spiral, so the story takes on the perspectives of these three main characters, who all end up being connected. Since this is a kinetic novel, I'll stop my story synopsis here to avoid spoilers and all that. As for the gameplay, [i]Cross the Moon[/i] has no choices presented, so you simply play through the story from beginning to end. However, as you proceed, you may encounter certain spiral fossilized shells that fade in and out. Clicking on them unlocks a side story involving another character who isn't a part of the main story although they ultimately have a connection. Also, it unlocks a Steam achievement, and yes, there are achievements, but 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 tend to enjoy a good mystery, and [i]Cross the Moon[/i] definitely delivers that and then some. The very beginning of the story is a bit confusing, as you're playing an unnamed character and the person talking to you is unnamed as well. This person is narrating the main story through the use of vinyl records. However, there is a reason that these characters are unnamed, and at least, one of their names is revealed later on. Anyway, once I got past the very beginning, I liked how the story starts off. Immediately, I felt myself transported into L'Amour, and I got to meet Lux, who reluctantly accompanies his friends to a bar. There are many characters with varying personalities. Lux is the rebellious teenager who's trying to find himself, feeling abandoned because his best friend is spending all his time with his girlfriend, who's a bit suspicious herself. Then, there's Aurore, who wants to land that big corporate job in order to get a good living for her family but also, to dispel the prejudices against vampires. Finally, there's Ryouko, who has gaps in her memory and is caught up in the supernatural happenings in L'Amour. Although it could have ended up being confusing, trying to follow the story from the views of three protagonists, I found myself having no trouble doing so. I got totally absorbed into the story and especially into the murder mystery. There are major plot twists towards the end although I won't spoil what they are, of course. I should give a heads up that the story contains [spoiler]horror and gore elements, so it's definitely not for the faint of heart[/spoiler]. Although I won't reveal how the story ends, it has a very satisfying conclusion that ties most of the mysteries together, and we get to understand how the three main characters are connected. There are a couple of mysteries left unsolved, but I feel like this is one of those stories where that's meant to be the case. As for the writing, I felt it very well-paced. I noticed a couple of typos, but otherwise, it was very smooth. As for the art style, I liked how unique it is, compared to many other visual novels. The sprites are designed in black and white, giving off those feelings of the past. As for the backgrounds, they are in a photographic style. Like the sprites, the backgrounds are mostly in black and white although covered with colored tints. It's a refreshing change from the usual anime style and such. In regards to the soundtrack, there are a variety of tracks, which range from the concert scene to a mystery one. As the story is supposed to take place in the 1960's/1970's, the music gives off the vibe from that era. Overall, would I recommend [i]Cross the Moon[/i]? If you're looking for a really good mystery story, don't mind the parts of [spoiler]horror and gore (which the art also has quite a bit of in regards to blood splatterings and whatnot)[/spoiler], and are ok with the lack of romance (although there are hints of possible blossoming romances towards the end of the story), then this is worth taking a look. The story was amazing, and I especially enjoyed the plot twists. I definitely didn't anticipate them at all. For the asking price, it's definitely worth getting, as it took me about 9 hours to finish the story and get all of the achievements. The story is well written, and my only regret is that it took me quite a while to get around to this visual novel. [quote]Flying free and writing reviews solely for [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44702020/]The Introverted Gamer[/url].[/quote]

This was an amazing experience from start to finish. Not only were the individual elements of music, art, writing, editing and directing, all individually great; the way they all came together really raised it to a new level. Definitely up there out of all VNs I've played. It's so cheap too, there's no way anyone should miss out on this deal.