[b]Note:[/b] A copy of the game was gifted to me by a friend. ^^
[i]The Source[/i] is a sci-fi, kinetic visual novel developed and published by Octopuses. After a brief introduction by Narrator, you find yourself in the roles of Joe and Eva. The world they live in is pretty bleak and harsh, but there is hope. For those who are chosen to participate in a trial and succeed, they will be allowed to enter Source City, a utopia where there is no suffering and everyone can live a good life. As for the trial itself, Gatekeeper, the person who is administering the trial, explains that Joe and Eva are to travel to different periods of Earth's history. The pair can do anything they please, so they can either interact with people from the respective time period or choose to observe. The pair's objective is to report their findings upon returning home, and from there, a judge of some sorts will determine whether they have passed. However, there is way more to this story, but in order to avoid spoilers (especially since this is a linear story), I'll stop my synopsis. XD
As for the gameplay, no choices are presented, so you just play through the story from beginning to end. There are a total of 17 chapters. Even though there are no CGs, like in many visual novels, there is full English voice acting. Also, Steam achievements are present, but they won't count towards a user's global total until the game is out of "Steam is learning about this game".
Now that I've gone over the story and gameplay, I'll move onto my thoughts. I enjoy a good story where I can just relax while I'm anticipating the next series of events, and [i]The Source[/i] ends up doing that. With that said, I'll first comment on the story. Regarding the story, it's a pretty standard post-apocalyptic, sci-fi one in which the people are living hard lives, but living in Source City will make their lives better. That's the end goal - for people to make their way into Source City and to do so by passing the trials set forth by Gatekeeper. I liked the whole time traveling aspect even though it isn't anything new. It was interesting to witness different points in an alternate Earth's history and to see firsthand how civilization collapsed and humanity was nearly wiped out. However, the story doesn't simply end there. There are some major revelations and surprises although they happen during the latter half of the story. Without going into too many spoilers, I'll just say that for the ending, I was completely mind blown, even to the point where there was a bit of fourth wall breaking. Even though the first half of the story can feel pretty standard, the other half is when things really blow out of the water. :o
Next, I'll briefly go over the characters. For Joe and Eva, I found them to be pretty generic, almost to the point of having no personality. Now, I'm not saying that this is a negative, and later on, there is an explanation as to why these characters are like that. Still, I wanted to say that in case anyone was hoping for a bit of personality from them. However, I will say that around halfway through the story, [spoiler]two new characters, Tom and Mei, enter the picture. They end up having way more personality, which, again, ends up being later explained[/spoiler].
As for the writing, I found it paced pretty well. As I mentioned earlier, the first half of the story feels pretty standard, so there are no actual surprises and so forth. However, I feel that this is intentional on the writer's part and that the second half is when things get moving. Oh, before I forget, I like how [spoiler]the second half has similar events from the first half, but they take things into perspective from the other side[/spoiler]. I didn't notice any typos or such. With regards to gameplay, all of the achievements unlocked for me as I finished up each chapter. The only aspect that I noticed was amiss is that there were a couple of character lines which had no voice acting even though all the lines (and I do mean all the lines, so even the Narrator's ones) are supposed to be voiced.
In regards to the art, I found it aesthetically pleasing. The sprites are more on the anime style although they have a bit of a realistic vibe to them. The backgrounds are drawn and colored well, too, although they appear to be blurry a lot of the time. This is probably intentional, though, since the focus is more on the characters, as the surroundings don't really matter much. I do wish that CGs had been present since I like to see what the artists come up with for important scenes and whatnot. As for the music, I enjoyed listening to the tracks. There's a bit of variety, and the tracks feel suspenseful and dramatic. Also, I like how all of the characters have English voice acting, which includes the minor characters. The voice acting makes the story feel alive and immersive, and each voice fit well with his or her respective character.
Overall, would I recommend [i]The Source[/i]? If you enjoy a good story that'll keep you guessing what'll happen next, breaks preconceived notions/ideas, and don't mind the lack of choices, then it's worth taking a look. I enjoyed the story, especially towards the end. I tend to be the kind of reader that likes to immerse myself in a story, so when certain events happen, I was, to say the least, not expecting them. For the asking price, it might be a bit pricey, as it took me around 5 hours to complete the story and obtain all of the achievements. Also, I read slowly, so it might take less time for others. However, this visual novel is fully voice acted, so that might be the reason for the asking price. Still, you can wait for a sale, and as I said, I think it's worth a try. ^^
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