[i]The Scorchfarer[/i] is a kinetic visual novel developed and published by Michiyuki Project. You take on the roles of Yukiharu (Yuki, for short) and Mikaela (Michi, for short), a Terramagi pair who have just been sent from the academy to take their final test before officially being appointed to the job, as they have just finished their training at the academy. After a catastrophic event known as the "fire rain" destroyed most life on the planet, people from the remaining continents came together to find a way to restore life to the world. Although conventional means would take too long, a magical form of terraforming was discovered, which could heal the land much more quickly. As a result, Terramagi were born. With their magical abilities, they can heal the lands and help repopulate them. Thus, this story (episode one, to be specific) follows the adventures of Yuki and Michi as they set off for the city of Foxtrot. I'll end my story synopsis here to avoid spoilers and all that.
As for the gameplay, the story is linear, so there are no choices presented. However, there is a point-and-click system. As you follow the story, you'll notice an "eye" icon on the top right of the screen. When it's open, you can click on it, which will then allow you to discover sparks (small twinkling stars) on the screen. Clicking on them will unravel some interesting fun facts and trivia about the world. (There are even a few Steam achievements linked to finding these sparks.) Other than that, there are several CGs as well as a varied soundtrack. As I mentioned, there are Steam achievements although they won't count towards a user's global total until the game is out of "Steam is learning about this game." On the main menu, there is a journal mode, where you can learn more about the characters and places in the game. (Even clicking on certain items in the journal will unlock Steam achievements.)
Now that I've gone over the story and gameplay, I'll move onto my critique. [i]The Scorchfarer[/i] has been on my radar, ever since I first heard about its development. Of course, the story premise totally intrigued me. The combination of a post-apocalyptic world and the fantasy genre (with magic and all that) caught my interest. I liked getting to follow Yuki and Michi as they first leave the academy and then head to Foxtrot. We meet a wide cast of characters with varying personalities and backgrounds. Towards the end of the first episode, there is a bit of mystery regarding the magical form of terraforming and its consequences. Also, as this is the first episode (with future episodes being planned), this story leaves off on a couple of cliffhangers. As to the writing, I found it well-paced with only a couple of typos. The major issue I had, though, was with how a character's actions would be written under what would normally be that character's dialogue. For example, the character's name would appear on the dialogue screen and then it would narrate that said person walked over to somewhere else and then their dialogue would appear. I found this weird since visual novels made with Ren'Py usually don't do this. Instead, they would leave the character's name absent if the writer wanted to simply narrate their actions. Perhaps this is me nitpicking, but I found it a bit off-putting.
In regards to the art, though, it is absolutely beautiful. I love the hand drawn style here, and the backgrounds and sprites were done very well. Also, I like the use of colors, which have that soft, pastel feel. I just wish there was a CG gallery where I could view all the unlocked CGs, so if you want to take screenshots of them, you'd have to do so while playing through the story. (I should note, though, that there is one scene involving [spoiler]a head decapitation and a bit of blood, so that might be a little disturbing[/spoiler].) Finally, as to the soundtrack, I enjoyed listening to the tracks. There's a good variety to fit with the varying moods throughout the story, and each track felt appropriately placed.
Overall, would I recommend [i]The Scorchfarer[/i]? If you enjoy visual novels, want a good, short story, and enjoy point-and-click elements, then I highly recommend checking it out. This first episode is free, so there's no reason not to give it a try. (Future episodes might be paid, though.) In addition, there are Steam achievements for those who like that feature. I'm looking forward to future episodes, especially after that cliffhanger. ^^
[quote]Flying free and writing reviews solely for [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44702020/]The Introverted Gamer[/url].[/quote]
