[i]ELEGIES: Aya[/i] is a crime thriller, mystery, slightly supernatural visual novel developed and published by Dream Squircle. You take on the role of Zachary (Zach, for short) Gilbert, a teenage boy who wakes up in the middle of the night to find his parents dead and his house in flames. He barely escapes by jumping out of a window. However, he ends up severely injured in the hospital. There, he meets Aya, an energetic, friendly girl who, at first glance, also seems to be a patient. However, Zach discovers that Aya is a ghost and that he's the only one who can see her. Zach and Aya quickly become friends, and after realizing that Aya doesn't know much about her past, Zach is determined to help Aya uncover it. That's the basic gist of the story, and I'll end my story synopsis here to avoid spoilers.
As for the gameplay, there are several choices presented throughout the story. Depending on the choices made, you can either get a dead ending, bad ending, or good ending. Also, there are plenty of CGs (which can be viewed in the Gallery in the Main Menu) along with a varied soundtrack and full-on English voice acting (with the exception of minor NPCs that have only a few lines, at most). Even Zach, the main character is voiced. 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. As an avid fan of mysteries, [i]ELEGIES: Aya[/i] caught my interest, so I wanted to get around to experiencing the story as soon as I could. First, I like how the story starts off. I knew that there would definitely be excitement when I first saw Zach find his parents and discover that his house is on fire. You know that something terrible has happened although the details are missing. Then, when Aya is first introduced, I like how she just randomly appears in Zach's hospital room and she's watching a game show, cheering on enthusiastically. Aside from Aya being a ghost, she provides a bit of a personality contrast to Zach. While Zach behaves like an angsty teenager (which is understandable since he lost his parents and his home), Aya is enthusiastic and happy, despite that only Zach can see her. I enjoyed how the story progresses as I witnessed the friendship between Zach and Aya grow, and later on, how Zach and Aya look into Aya's past, which may be tied into [spoiler]what happened to Zach[/spoiler]. The story has its twists and turns, and despite that there's a good ending, it turns out that [spoiler]it's really not that good since the villains get away scot free. I understand that this is meant to lead into a possible sequel, but it kind of left a dissatisfied feeling for me[/spoiler]. As for the cast of characters, there are a lot of different personalities. There's Claire, Zach's aunt who's a freelance artist and who tries to be cheerful and protective of Zach. Then there's Sloane Tyrell, the detective assigned to Zach's case who wants to find out about Zach's circumstances, getting this feeling that it wasn't just an accidental house fire. Of course, there are the villains as well. There are quite a few, but here's where I'm going to criticize a bit about them. I understand that villains should be portrayed in a certain manner, but I felt that in this story, it's way too obvious that they're villains (if that makes sense). They dress in dark suits, follow Zach, and speak in deep, almost comedical voices. I would have liked more subtle villains, but that might just be a personal preference.
As for the writing, I felt it fairly well-paced. I didn't notice any typos, so the editing was done well. I would have only added a few commas and such, but that's me nitpicking. In regards to the art, it's beautifully drawn and colored. Sprites are in the typical anime style, and colors are used well. The backgrounds are done well, too, and I especially like the CGs. Regarding the music, there's a good variety of tracks. They range from the being chased theme to the usual everyday one. Also, they felt appropriately placed in their respective scenes. Finally, I want to note that this visual novel has full-on English voice acting, which is rare for English visual novels. It was quite the pleasant surprise to discover this, and for the most part, I liked the voices. The only criticism I have is in regards to the villains' voices, but I already noted my thoughts about the villains in my previous paragraph.
Overall, would I recommend [i]ELEGIES: Aya[/i]? If you enjoy visual novels and are looking for a good mystery that's full of suspense and that has a bit of the supernatural on the side, then this is worth taking a look. I found it to be an enjoyable read although I am hoping that there will be a sequel since I want [spoiler]Zach and Aya to finally have the happiness and peace they deserve, instead of being continually worried about the villains going after them. These poor kids have been through enough already, what with the villains having killed their parents and all[/spoiler]. For the asking price, I'd say that it's worth getting, especially with the addition of English voice acting. However, you can wait for a sale, and it's in a Steam bundle as well.
Finally, I want to say a major thanks to Dream Squircle for the review copy, and I know I've already said it, but I'm really hoping for a sequel. ^^
[quote]Flying free and writing reviews solely for [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44702020/]The Introverted Gamer[/url].[/quote]
