Spirits: Ciel Bleu

[i] Spirits: Ciel Bleu [/i] is a short (about 3 hours) kinetic visual novel. Actually, there's one choice but not that meaningful. It's really sad but I'm afraid I can't recommend this visual novel. Again that dilemma between pretty art and poor writing. I really loved visuals here: bright and soothing anime-like style, though far from perfect, for example, sometimes a bit disproportional. The backgrounds are especially cute, in my opinion. It would be nice to have a CG gallery. And also, maybe it's not the best idea to use a CG from the 'final boss battle' for the game cover, kinda spoilerish xD https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1721113011 As for the novel part, first what caught my attention was way too many typos and mistakes for such a short game. I even checked several times if the dev is a native speaker because that amount of mistakes I usually see in visual novels made by my native Russian developers. *Sigh* The game needs some serious editing. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1721034664 Writing is kinda simple to my taste and the plot is a bit predictable with some issues, at least for me personally. Though I liked the idea of spirit bearers. The story seems quite dynamic, lots of changes, nothing to be bored about. But to the point when the whole story is a tad rushed, no depth at all, some details would be nice. It feels more like a generic retelling. For example, I got really interested when MC was brought to the spirit realm and his training started. But we got just zero details of what he was doing. Yeah, growing more muscles was mentioned but is it really the most important thing for a SPIRIT bearer?! Well, ok, who am I to even doubt, not an expert in this sphere for sure, I guess it matters but what about other more spirit-related things? Nothing. I'm utterly disappointed. I liked the idea so much but it wasn't implemented at all. If only the story were longer and more detailed. One of the reviewers mentioned that the game stirs imagination, yeah, right, because you actually HAVE TO imagine lots of stuff to propel the plot. That's not how the storytelling should work. I get it that some details can be omitted but not all the time. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1721113040 The final scenes were actually rather sweet, swaying my general impression to the more positive side. So I can't say it was a complete disaster. Nope, I enjoyed bright visuals, and the main idea but it turned out to be quite a superficial game, unfortunately. [table] [tr] [th]Find more in a [url=https://steamcommunity.com/groups/readingnook] Reading Nook [/url][/th] [/tr] [/table]

Spirits: Ciel Bleu визуальная новелла про семнадцатилетнего школьника с необычными способностями. Уиллард Раус может призывать духов и пользоваться их способностями. Вскоре он понимает, что он не один такой и пытается разгадать тайну своей новой академии и всего происходящего вокруг. Великолепный сюжет, не выдуманный на коленке, затягивает с первых минут. Возможно для любителей этого жанра идея будет не нова, но для меня это было очень необычным опытом. Мало того все пронизано своеобразным юмором, но и может удивлять в каждой последующей сцене. Чего стоят все персонажи, которых вскоре начинаешь понимать с полуслова. Так же мне очень понравился стиль в котором все это нарисовано. Возможно оно напомнило мне персонажей из других игр, и я давно так не погружался в чтение наверно со времен седьмой финалки. Игра динамична, хоть и не требует предельной концентрации. Вся динамика поддерживается вашей фантазией. Наврятли я осилил бы подобное в печатном варианте, но в игровом очень понравилось. Тексты читаются легко и непринужденно. И игра конечно объемная. Еще вы можете посмотреть обзоры на другие игры: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/25737869/ Так же подписывайтесь на нашу группу с халявными раздачами: https://steamcommunity.com/groups/freeekeys

I think it's important to emphasize this is a VISUAL NOVEL. Full stop. There is no "game"—no inventory, no interactive objects, no multiple endings, no meaningful dialog options (save for one, which really only serves to provide additional backstory for one of the supporting characters). If your expectations are anything but, or if visual novels are not your regular "milliue," I honestly wouldn't recommend Spirits: Ciel Bleu. ...However. I personally really enjoyed the "game." I found the story, while not world-shatteringly unique, engaging enough to stick with from beginning to end in almost a single sitting. The premise, again, is nothing new—our social outcast protagonist, Willard, lives an uneventful life sheltered from the "larger-than-life" secrets of his family's colored past, with a latent and untapped power inherited from his long-deceased mother. When these strange and unexpected powers being to surface, Willard is shipped off to an academy for "Spirit Users," human beings with inherent, X-Men-like spiritual abilities to hone and train his talents. It is here that the bulk of the narrative unfolds, and where most of the story's "Spirit User" cast is introduced. All in a very "typical high school drama" kind of way. Let me be clear: Spirits in no way reinvents the wheel. If you're any kind of fan of anime, a lot of what's here is simply a wash, rinse, repeat of plotlines and tropes you've no doubt seen countless times in popular shows. The story borrows heavily from comedic, slapstick harems like Love Hina and Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure with an otherworldly structure reminiscent of Dragon Ball and a "Spirit Guardian" gimmick a la Ah! My Goddess! Which might sound bloated and chaotic but works surprisingly well given the likability of the cast and the fast-paced narrative, which provides "good enough" world-building that keeps the plot moving without ever soaring too high over the reader's head. Yeah, it could benefit from a little narrative "padding" here and there, but I appreciate that the story doesn't drag. It's fun and engaging and pulls you in with its predictable absurdity (all the while invoking a strong sympathy for the deplorable situations the characters find themselves in). As far as graphics go, I have no complaints. All the lines and textures are crisp, the character models are well-drawn, the colors are bright, the backdrops are varied, and the cutscenes are gorgeously detailed. The music is nice, even head-boppy at times, though there were sections when the BGM would abruptly cut off (or not play at all). There were perhaps a few too many grammatical errors, given the roughly 3 hour runtime, especially in the latter half of the "game." A shame a more thorough inspection/edit wasn't done prior to release, given the obvious heavy reliance on text. But it is what it is. I'm in the minority for saying this, but I'd be all over a prequel/sequel for Spirits: Ciel Bleu. The plot isn't "new," but I dig the lore and feel there's a good foundation for the developers to work with if ever they got the itch (or funding) to expand. There is a LOT of story to potentially delve into for pretty much every character in the cast, and I can't be the only one curious to know how some of the relationship dynamics pan out. Not to mention there are some unanswered questions/a cliffhanger that would provide plenty of content for a Part 2. Overall, I went into this "game" expecting very little and came out the other side pleasantly surprised and wanting more. Definitely, this will NOT be every user's cup of tea, but if a fun and quirky story's your thing—and you land a coupon through badge crafting, like I did—I see no reason not to set aside a couple hours and take the plunge. THE WRAP: -Pretty. Bright. Crisp. Just looking at the visuals makes you feel good. -Easy to read. -Likable, sympathetic characters. Solid male lead. -Fun story. Some intriguing lore/world-building woven into the (otherwise) predictable plot. -Worth the coupon price. -Grammatical errors galore. Needs spell-checker and an edit. -I recommend the visual novel. I do not recommend the "game." (There isn't one.)

Amazing art and fast-paced. If you like short VNs with nice art and likeable characters, this VN is for you. There are caption typos but the strength of this VN is truly in the artwork. Dialogues can be improved but that should be an easy fix. I would suggest creating other VNs for the other characters apart from MC. For instance, Clustre, Atalica, and the Guchi girl all look like they could have their own VNs centered around them. The story in the 'other world' where MC was transported was quite short but I thought that was okay because it's not a multi-season anime like Fairy Tail.