[h1]A cozy visual novel in which you control the story. XD[/h1]
[h2]Introduction[/h2]
[i]Medetashi Medetashi[/i] is a cozy, fantasy point-and-click, visual novel developed by たけの野々and published by VNka. You take on the role of a nameless cat, whom you can choose to name, and you're one of the characters in a fairy tale who witnesses the heroine of the story get attacked by a giant monster. Assuming that you choose to investigate, you soon discover that there's more to the heroine than appears at first glance, as she's able to leave the story and travel to another. What will happen as you travel from story to story in search of the heroine's secret? :o
As for the gameplay, choices are presented although with an exception of one at the beginning of the story, they're pretty inconsequential. The main aspect is the point-and-click elements. A brief tutorial is shown in regards to interacting with items and such. Also, several puzzles are present in which you have to put your thinking cap on in order to solve them. Several CGs are present, but at the time of this review, no Steam achievements or trading cards are available, and the game won't count towards a user's global total until it's out of "Steam is learning about this game".
[h2]Review[/h2]
After receiving a review copy of [i]Medetashi Medetashi[/i], I couldn't help but be curious about the name, which I found out is "Happily Ever After" in Japanese. Thus, I couldn't help but be intrigued to find out more about this story, especially after reading the store page description about fairy tales. ^^
The story starts off like a typical fairy tale, with the heroine facing a ferocious monster head on. Instead of the heroine saving the day, though, or someone else stepping in, she gets eaten by the monster. However, no worries. She ends up being ok and even comments on how boring it all was. I knew then that this wouldn't be your typical fairy tale, and I believe the nameless cat knows, too. XD Early on, you can choose either to go after the girl or to stay behind in the village and wait for her return. If you choose to wait, the story shortly ends afterwards, so it's pretty much an abrupt ending. Thus, you're meant to go after the girl and find out more about her. I like how curious and cute the cat is as well as very adventurous. It's obvious that he wants to find out who the girl is, even at the cost of leaving his world. Also, I like the heroine in that she definitely isn't your typical damsel-in-distress or has a meek personality. She can be a bit rough around the edges, but there's definitely a reason behind that. Traveling to different stories was fun, and there's a variety from a fairy tale to a sci-fi adventure to slice-of-life, school days. There are a total of 4 chapters with a bonus secret chapter. Without going into spoilers over the true ending, I'll just say that it's very emotional and it can be heart-wrenching, but overall, it has a happy, hopeful vibe.
Of course, the main gameplay is the point-and-click and puzzle elements. While I found the point-and-click elements to be easy to use, some of the puzzles can be quite tricky to solve. Still, in each chapter, there is a hints section, and you're given up to 5 hints that can help you to solve the puzzles and proceed to the next chapter. The only gameplay aspects that I found quite difficult were the ones in which you had to figure out the names of certain prominent characters. The hints don't really help with deciphering them, so you'll need to pay very close attention to the story. Since I played this before the official release, no walkthrough/guide was available, so hopefully, one will be present by the time I post this review or shortly afterwards. As I mentioned earlier, no Steam achievements are present, which would have been a fun element. Still, the game itself is very fun and a bit challenging to play.
As for the art, it is absolutely gorgeous. It has this lovely hand-drawn style, which is reflected especially well in the CGs. The colors feel soft, perfect for evoking that cozy vibe. Unfortunately, I couldn't take screenshots, probably due to the game engine's limitations, but the Steam store page has screenshots from the game, so you can get a good idea of the art style.
In regards to the music, no tracks were present throughout the main game. Now I don't know if this is a bug or intentional. Since the stories are from books (and reading them doesn't have music present lol), it could be an intentional part on the developer. However, after you get the true ending, the ending credits roll and there, a lovely vocalized track is present (along with several sweet hand-drawn CGs that depict what happens to the cat and heroine afterwards). I enjoyed listening to this track as well as witnessing more of the story.
[h2]Conclusion[/h2]
Would I recommend [i]Medetashi Medetashi[/i]? If you're looking for a cozy visual novel that's on the short side and/or you're good with fun point-and-click elements and slightly challenging puzzles, then this game is worth checking out. It has a beautiful emotional story that made it worth getting the true ending.
Finally, I'd like to thank VNKa for the review copy. I enjoyed [i]Medetashi Medetashi[/i] very much. The cat is especially very cute and adorable, and I'm looking forward to more future VNs that are coming out. ^^
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