[h1]Seafood may never be the same... :o[/h1]
[h2]Introduction[/h2]
[i]Taste of the Sea[/i] is an animal-themed, otome visual novel with horror elements developed by Memo, Nitzz, and 5000ms Production and published by Memo. You take on the role of an unnamed female character (which you can name), and you're feeling the struggles of university life and whatnot. You call your mom, and she offers to cook for you as a way to reenergize you. Liking the idea, you agree and tell her that you want a seafood dish. Thus, your mom sends you money to buy fresh seafood, and you go to the market to take your pick. However, after arriving back at your apartment, you find out that your live aquatic creature can talk, and it goes without saying that you're very surprised.
As for the gameplay, it mostly consists of choices. While early choices determine which route you enter, latter choices determine whether you get the good or bad ending. There are 3 dateable options: Lobby the Lobster, Crabbian the Crab, and Octus the Octopus. However, Octus' route is unavailable until you complete Lobby's and Crabbian's routes. Also, each route has a unique mini-game. Plenty of CGs and a varied soundtrack are present although no voice acting is available. Steam achievements are obtainable as well, but they won't count towards a user's global total until the game is out of "Steam is learning about this game".
[h2]Review[/h2]
When I was first informed about this game, I was aware that there would be comparisons to a certain otome visual novel, which is definitely the case. However, horror elements are present as well, which makes me think of another visual novel that I have yet to get because let's just say that there's only so much horror that I'm even willing to handle. :o
Anyway, I'll get to my thoughts on the story. I found the concept of getting to know a seafood creature and possibly, having a romantic relationship with it to be intriguing. After all, people think of food as just food (hopefully lol). Even though I was skeptical about how the writer would pull off this feat, they did it very well. I found it pretty difficult not to connect with the dateable options. Lobby is such a sweetheart, curious about the world, even though he knows that he doesn't have long to live. Crabbian is the tsundere who slowly reveals his true feelings to the MC. As for Octus, his route was definitely the most interesting. Without going into too many major spoilers, there's plenty of fourth wall breaking and he's aware that the MC has gone on Lobby's and Crabbian's routes. His route is definitely intended to be played last, and I would suggest getting all of the endings for Lobby and Crabbian before going on Octus'. Also, I like how the game makes it so that you can get locked out of Lobby's and Crabbian's routes if you try to go for either of them again (not sure if this is after you get all of the endings for their routes), which forces you to go on Octus' route. (However, you can get on their routes again after you make a certain choice on Octus' bad ending.) While the good endings are sweet (but with a tragic twist), the bad endings are definitely heartbreaking. Octus' is the most heartwrenching, and yup, there's plenty of horror with the bad endings and whatnot. Let's just say that I'd suggest avoiding playing this game at night.
With the writing, the pacing is fine. It can feel slow, but it's more meant to be a bit of slice-of-life, the MC going through her day during the week. As a native English speaker, I felt that some of the sentences felt awkward with the phrasing and whatnot. It could benefit from having a proofreader double check and reword some of the sentences to make them sound smoother. However, the story is perfectly understandable.
Briefly going over the gameplay, the mini-games were fun, but I felt that there could have been a bit more of an explanation with them. Mainly, I would have liked to know what would constitute a win for the mini-games. Also, the mini-game for Octus' bad ending was confusing since I thought I kept missing something until [spoiler]all I had to do with close the mini-game, which opens in a separate window[/spoiler]. All the achievements are obtainable, and a typical playthrough may take around 2 hours. I completed all of the routes and whatnot in around 4.5 hours, but I used the skip already ready text option at some parts.
As for the art, it has a very cute style, and I really liked how Lobby, Crabbian, and Octus were drawn. Along with the right color combinations, it feels like the sprites reflect their personalities. The backgrounds are simple but drawn and colored well. Of course, the CGs are great to look at.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3628762525
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3628762713
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3628762897
With the music, the tracks are nice to listen to, and they have a good variety. They range from a light-hearted beat to the more deeply emotional one. I can tell that some of the tracks are royalty-free, but I think that's fine. They fit well with the scenes they're placed and help to move the story along.
[h2]Conclusion[/h2]
Would I recommend [i]Taste of the Sea[/i]? If you enjoy visual novels, are open to romancing unique creatures (and think of it as being similar to [i]The Princess and the Frog[/i]), like the horror elements that might give you jump scares, and/or like getting obtainable Steam achievements, then it's worth taking a look. For the asking price, based on the total gameplay time, it might be a bit on the short side. If you're on the fence, then you can wait for sale, but I think visual novel fans should give it a try.
Finally, I'd like to thank Memo for the review key. It was quite the unique experience that'll leave an impression on me although I think I'll want to avoid seafood for a while. XD
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