Project Angels - Visual Novel

Pros : -Great visual -Story is very good -Soundtrack is banger -Visuals during the ambush is quite interesting Cons: -Dialogues can sometimes be a bit odd -Chapter can be skipped entirely if you played on linux -Would be great if there's skip button

if this is the dev's first game, have my support here, it a good story game

Not bad. Heavily Underrated. However it's not that good either. Props to making a bunch of bad ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ though

[h1][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/34294631/] Follow Far2close - Visual Novel Playthroughs Curator Page [/url][/h1] [b]Project Angels[/b] Developer: Project Angels Dev, AlienzProject Publisher: Niji Games [h1]Intro:[/h1] Maritime piracy has seen a surge in the waters surrounding the United Islands of Antarcticussia, which makes trade and fulfilling the world economy a struggle. Steel Waters is a Private Security Company contracted to handle piracy threats, and its members are the Angels, a bio-enhanced super soldier. As their Commander, although you've gone through a coma and partial amnesia, you'll be facing the top of piracy foodchain, Apollyon. The threats out at sea are numerous, but issues on land may escalate things that may prove an issue for the survival of Steel Waters. [h1]Pros:[/h1] [b]1.[/b] The story is flawed BUT it does scratch that itch for a political militaristic desire. I did like the use of flashbacks, because the Commander A.K.A. Savior is still recovering from a coma that resulted in partial amnesia. Most of the times he slept, he'd have flashbacks to what the ANGELS are, a particular mission gone awry, the SAPIENS project, and a mysterious individual who confronts us. I also enjoyed the political aspect in the third act, as laws will be laws and orders may be put in place that threaten the use of private security companies. [spoiler]The segment of the presidential debate regarding PSCs was great.[/spoiler] [b]2.[/b] I enjoyed the characters, I found them to all be charming. Anna Konstantinovna is your trustworthy First Lieutenant, she works by the book, and will not accept failure. If you need to depend your life on someone, Anna is that person. With that hard exterior, she is a softie on the inside, and I thought that was adorable. It's easy to fluster her and the Commander knows that. Captain Vuur Rattlesnake is mature and gives off a caring, maternal exterior. She doesn't get heated like Anna nor reckless as Vendetta. Vuur has gone through harsh missions and understands the costs of the job, but she retains her caring demeanor if it means that those she cares for all come back home alive. Staff Sergeant Vendetta can be lax, especially during combat. She doesn't possess the maturity like Vuur, nor the strictness of Anna. However, Vendetta does have one of the best secret theaters. [spoiler]Her secret theater talks about her upbringing, she didn't have a cozy past. She doesn't understand the point of love due to how she sees it as always temporary. Always something that happens and dies off, and is why it's pointless to engage in it. She values trust better and has a good reasoning for that.[/spoiler] The final one I will direct as Abyss Keeper. I don't want to say her name as she is key to the story and will play a part in both past and present. She is interesting and purposely perplexing. She's three steps ahead of you in her game of chess, but doesn't try to mean any harm. All she is trying to do is [spoiler] give Steel Waters a reason to exist in order for you to see through her eyes on what will happen.[/spoiler] The game does have multiple choices for who to go with, but the choice to go alone flows better with the narrative. [b]3.[/b] The art by [url=https://x.com/7N39AP]Iskhaki Andre[/url] is good and I appreciate all the details considering how how each sprite is decked out in tactical gear. There is a CG art at the end by [url=https://x.com/kaburagon]Kaburagon[/url] which was cool too. There are also 3D animated scenes of a birds eye view of the area of operation, which is neat as it's like we are directly overlooking the status of the mission, unit positions, and updates. I also loved the new sprites for whoever you choose in the end. Vendetta and Vuur surprised me in a good way. [b]4.[/b] The music by [url=https://www.youtube.com/@jpsoundworks/featured]JP Soundworks[/url] is great. It captures the military theme and urgency just right along with some tracks with solemnity or upbeat to fit with smaller moments. I'd like take note of [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8U6cOub0CI]Combat Preparation[/url], [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5UaPY44aLA]Main Theme[/url], and [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0VfsVIo6tY]Feelings[/url] as examples. [h1]Neutrals:[/h1] [b]1.[/b] Consider the flaws I will list as something that may not happen in the upcoming sequel, as the developer will most likely have learned more and applied better in Season 2. [h1]Cons:[/h1] [b]1.[/b] Just like my favorite game, [i]Girls' Frontline[/i], it suffers from a slow beginning and things haven't got to cook yet. Actually, this game is things just heating up, the actual meal will be in [url=https://x.com/angels_dev/status/1734745814046822426]Project Angels 2[/url]. This game is getting you to know the [i]Project Angels[/i] world. What do I mean by this? I am saying that the plot progression of the story is loose. The conflict is there and there is the rising action, but the end is just a car crashing into a brick wall. [spoiler]Zero surrenders herself to Steel Waters and supplies us with the SSBN-666 as a gift for nuclear deterrence.[/spoiler] Was there a huge conflict at the end? Yes? The quick pacing did make it feel that this ending a little lackluster. Which is why there's a sequel and we'll find out more. [b]2.[/b] The characters were fine, the Commander (Savior) is a strange character. He has his past and everything, he's supposed to be the Commander in Chief of Steel Waters, but he does seem extremely silly. I understand you can't be in work phase 24/7 but this man seems more incompetent than a regular guy. He does have serious moments, and it really shows when he's confronted, but he can be overly silly a lot of the time. Maybe that will change in the sequel, but this my thought for this particular title. [b]3.[/b] The biggest issue is the lack of extremely important utilities such as an actual save system, ability to hide the user interface, ability to skip text. The only way to save is the auto save system. You have one save file which saves at the end of every chapter and resets when you finish the game. You are given multiple choices on which girl to pick at the end which leads to finishing the game and resetting the save. You then have to replay the whole story again until you reach that particular point. That's where the need for a skip function comes in, as there is none and you must fatigue yourself with numerous clickthroughs of the story. This is why a save function is absolutely necessary. You can remedy this by backing up your single save file in the Local folder of your PC and just replacing it every time you finish and resets. If you want to 100% the game, you'd have to this about five times. For the hide U.I., it's useful if you'd like to take a good look at the art, a gallery of it wouldn't be a bad addition either. [b]4.[/b] The sprite art is very minimal with only differences in facial expressions, no different poses. There are the normal sprites and there are the secret theater sprites, so the variety is lacking. There is also a lack of CG art, I'd like to see a hybrid of the 3D overwatch of the mission mixed in with combat art of both named individuals and their teammates. CG art would also benefit with the somber moments too, especially the secret theaters. Understandably, it is just a small handful of artists along with time and funding being heavy factors. [h1]Conclusion:[/h1] A good concept, but the execution shows a number of flaws like pacing issues, missing key functions, and lack of art. This was their first release and the developer is learning and has shown heavy improvements on social media regarding the development of [i]Project Angels 2[/i] so please take this entry with large heap of salt. I do [b]HEAVILY[/b] look forward to the next release. [b]Score:[/b] 6/10 DECENT

I'll admit, I'm not sure I like the writing of this game. While characters are distinct from one another in dialogue, they largely feel like archetypes - the serious, devoted one, the freewheeling one, the more experienced one who knows how to loosen up, the yandere one. Also, for a game about mercenaries, there's surprisingly little violence and death on display - in particular, the Angels of Steel Waters seem to suffer few to no casualties throughout the entirety of Season One. In fact, Steel Waters as a whole seems almost immune to violence. I never felt worried that a character would die and that the story would have to continue without them, and I never felt like any of the characters were fighting tooth and nail for themselves or what they believed in. Considering all the similarities this game has with the Metal Gear series - private militaries, supersoldiers, elaborate plans, philosophical discussions, and so on - that felt very strange to me. Yet, if the blue thumbs up didn't already say it, I'm still willing to give this game a recommend just to see where the story goes. It raised questions, and it got me to want answers.