Trials of Harmony ~ A Found Phone Mystery Visual Novel

Very enjoyable visual novel like game in the vein of titles like Replica, the Strange Phone or the SIMULACRA series. The atmosphere reminds me a little of the Zero Escape games, so if you are a fan of any of the games I mentioned you might enjoy Trials of Harmony as well. The characters are well defined and the story keeps you entertained until the end. There are a quite a few puzzle elements as well which are directly woven into the narrative making them interesting to solve. The game also offers different endings depending on how you do at the puzzles and on your decisions. For such a fairly priced visual novel you get quite a few hours of content. The dev team has also been very helpful on the forums, which is always great to see. I full heartedly recommend this title.

Ok, this is the time I write 'I do recommend this game, but...' To be fair it's good for it's price, as long as you don't expect it to be on Zero Escape *insert other title here* level. Pros: - the mobile messaging thing (you can actually play it from mobile phone btw, just not the Steam version); - story itself is nice; - music, definitely worth mentioning; - 22 achievements you can get in one playthrough, if you're after that. Cons: - meaningful choices - nope, some choices are there just for the sake of being there, most change nothing much; - text speed and skip button. Ok, I think the text speed could work on mobile (I play Mystic Messenger, I know the pain) but on PC it's frustratingly slow and skip button tends to freeze for minutes which left me staring at a blank screen and killed whatever tension the story managed to build. Another thing I want to mention is if you're expecting all motives will be revealed and logic will be found well, no. It's not that bad but spoiled some fun for me. Some of the things characters did left me with, how Tracy would put it, this: ლ(ಠ益ಠლ)

I've played my share of Death/Survival Games and the only thing that makes this stand out is the aesthetic and the fact that it's on a phone. I liked the concept, don't get me wrong, it's Sara is Missing mixed with Zero Escape, but my problem is that it gets pretty tiresome, and the characters are generic as hell or fits a common trope in this kind of genre. My biggest issue lies on the interactions. I have group chats with 10 of my close friends, and I am accustomed to having branching conversations while another conversation is happening, and sometimes clash of ideas could occur that would make the chat very alive. This game is better yet be written as a text-based story than a phone-mystery novel because the main chatroom feels really dead, and everyone just seems to wait on one person to send a message. Maybe it's just me, but that's not how chats work. It doesn't help that the music makes me sleepy especially since the game takes forever to complete. If you really like the concept then go play the game. But all I'm saying is that there are better games of the genre out there.

Thematically, Trials of Harmony is a game in the vein of 999, VLR and other such escape room and visual novel mash-up games. Long story short, for what it tries to do within its scope, it's pretty solid. There aren't all that many western visual novels, so having a developer from a different background tackle this genre was refreshing in and of itself, as the game deviates a little from the usual VN formula. And while Trials of Harmony is certainly a variation on a theme, it's an interesting take with a more grounded approach than is typical for the genre. First and foremost, the writing is pretty good! I don't have the vocabulary to really break it down fully, but I enjoyed reading through it over the course of a weekend. The characters generally talk like you'd expect from real people, which is a nice change of pace from a certain class of visual novels that takes a very maximalist approach to expressing emotions -- the written equivalent playing to the back row. You won't find a character dramatically whispering another character's name every couple of minutes, the game doesn't lean on titallation as a crutch to make up for weaknesses elsewhere, that sort of thing. Instead, the dialog is naturalistic and tends to flow together well. By and large, I was pretty satisfied with this aspect of the text. It does take a little suspension of disbelief when, for example, someone sends a message that dramatically cuts off even though it's in an IM chat, but by and large I found it to be quite a breezy read absent of idiosyncrasies or stiff dialog. Some of the flair in the prose like the text-based emoticons feel a bit rooted in the internet culture of the aughts even though the game is set in 2021, but it wasn't all that distracting either. I came across a few grammatical mistakes here and there, but it's easy enough to attribute to it being framed through an IM chat window -- even though it was likely just a mistake. In terms of plot, there are some moments that don't quite land the way I think they were intended or weren't as impactful as I thought they'd be. Some of the situations and devices it employs will likely be familiar to someone who has read 999. You can expect the usual multiple good and bad endings as well as a true ending, like many other VNs. None of the bad endings really lead to a distinct scenario, however. The game simply ends. At the same time, the "good" endings aren't significantly different from each other either. So if you're all about exploring branching paths in visuals novel, do set your expections accordingly. While the game does has a few neat tricks up its sleeve, it's played pretty straight for the majority of it. You won't have to look at your screen upside-down through a mirror while solving a picross puzzle or something, if you get what I mean. A decidedly weaker aspect of the writing is its characterization of its cast and antagonist. It takes some time for the cast to become fleshed out, and a subset of those characters remain fairly underexplored or underutilized throughout. What I do appreciate is that they don't come across as one-dimensional cutouts in spite of that. So what some characters lack in definition, they make up in a (varying) degree of believability at least. A fair trade-off, I suppose. What I found more difficult to look past was the primary antagonist's motivations and general presence being a little undercooked. Of course, whichever way you try to explain why someone would create an elaborate death game is going to be a little ridiculous, but I would've appreciated a bit more flavor than the game has to offer in this respect. The sound design in this is quite well-realized and punches far above its weight class, I'd say. The melodies and songs all sound great within their context. I hate to sound like a broken record, but it is reminiscent of the grungy industrial electronic music of 999. But in a way that I personally quite liked and was distinct enough to not feel too on the nose. Gameplay-wise, it's not very complex. The few puzzle scenarios presented are fairly straightforward. It’s a "fill in the blanks" type of mechanic, whereby you either spell out what needs to be done out of a preset combination of letters or pick a certain answer. There aren't explicit spatial puzzles or anything more explicitly gamey, so don’t come into it looking for something like that. To make it a tad more engaging, I found it fun to try to figure out the solution myself before starting the "fill in the blanks" phase. As they're mostly logic-based puzzles, they're quite doable and fun brain teasers. Preferably, the puzzles would've been more organic in terms of how you'd solve them, but it is what it is. If you do take them on immediately, you can inadvertently fumble your way into the answer by way of trial and error. The plus side being that there's minimal friction between mechanics and forward progression. More broadly speaking and at a more subjective level, I think the somewhat sparse presentation made it hard for me to see the characters as persons and place them in the setting. In a game like 999 or VLR, you have graphics that visualize the environment, character portraits have different expressions and so forth. With the game being presented through the lens of an IM interface, there aren't as many small touches like those to enrich the story and play. Given that it’s priced as reasonably as it is, and its budget couldn't have been even a hundredth of other well-known visual novels in this style, it makes sense. I did encounter a few minor technical annoyances. The game will prompt you to open the IM interface to move the main character's dialog forward, even when there's only a single thing they can say -- which is more often than not. Having to click around and confirm your reply needlessly adds wasted time, and even discounting the minor annoyance itself, that lost time adds up after a while. It's a small thing, but I think the overall pace of the game would benefit from an option to automatically advance in the case of preset replies. Having the ability to pause the text to read older messages would've also been appreciated. If you'd like to do that, your only recourse is to wait until your character gets a prompt and avoid answering or to slow down the text speed as much as possible and hope the story doesn't advance too quickly. And, sometimes, when a prompt with different responses comes up, I wanted to read back what was said before, but it doesn't seem possible to back out and read before choosing a reply. I feel like I began writing this with an overall more positive impression than I left on paper. I genuinely liked this game. A few issues here and there, but it was entertaining by and large. Characters being depicted in a naturalistic way was very refreshing and allowed me to round up the overall experience at times I perhaps wanted a little more. In terms of length, I got to my first ending at around 9 or 10 hours of play (while being a fairly slow reader, I should add). The remaining couple of hours I spent going through the bad endings and figuring out other good ending routes. A fairly painless process, as you can tell. While I was left wanting to learn more about these characters and some seemingly loose threads, I felt pretty satisfied about it overall. I'm aware it's a boring conclusion to draw, but I think "fans of the genre" will get a kick out of this game. The wider audience, I'm not entirely sure. If you are interested in the concept of an escape room themed visual novel, but if the anime aesthetic and its associated tropes put you off, this is a good one of those that may be more to your liking. While there are a few gripes to be had about the overall experience, at this price point and with the amount of quality content you'd get out of the game, it's worth a shot for the curious, I think. I've paid a lot more for a LOT worse.

I found [i]Trials of Harmony[/i] during the most recent winter sale, and I am definitely glad I did. Although the premise is a touch derivative (primarily of the [i]Zero Escape[/i] games, with a hint of [i]Danganronpa[/i]), and although there is the occasional typo, awkward word choice, or monologue that would be thumb-cramping for someone to type on their phone in real life, overall this phone-chat VN tells a satisfying story. The setup of the situation is effectively expressed, most of the characters are fleshed out and sympathetic, and the puzzles are straightforward. (Tip: To select answers, click and hold.) I would have liked a little more variation in the story--and thus more weight to most of my choices, and no cases of "but thou must"--but I realize that accommodating such branching would require far more complexity in the storytelling. As it stands, the experience is great for a little indie. Atmospheric music choices, clever use of the phone interface and chat concept, nice and judicious use of effects. Recommended for anyone looking for a bit of an escape (pun intended).

Having Just done a full Playthrough of this random game that was recommended to me, I can safely say without a doubt, that this is what I can call an amazing game! This is what you would call a masterpiece in design. It has a wonderful story that keeps suspense rolling, as well as characters that are fun and enjoyable to the umpteenth degree. The vibes I get from the everchanging colors and shades that delightfully come into contact with my eyeballs unnerve me in the best way possible. And most importantly, I always enjoyed the tenseness of hearing the message alert, not know what could possibly be waiting for me on the other side. The dialogue feels natural but unique to a point of being engrossing. I also always felt sad whenever a tragedy would strike unexpectedly. This game also gave me heavy Zero Escape vibes, from the "bracelets", to the deathgame, to the "AP Points", but I loved it all the way! If there is only one complaint I have about the game, it has to do with one particular puzzle from Room 4's chapter. It was very confusing on how to solve that particular puzzle, especially went it plays a major part in figuring out the solution to the room. I won't spoil the answer or anything of the sort, but I shall leave a cryptic hint on how to figure out the pre-room puzzle. ONLY ONCE YOU'VE MOVED FORWARD ONCE, SHALL YOU BE ABLE TO RETURN TO WHERE YOU ONCE BEGAN. That SHOULD hopefully be cryptic enough as to not ruin any surprises! But besides that, I think this has a potential to possibly become a series of "Found Phone" VN'S, each with their own stories and characters! And if that were to ever become a reality, I would be behind it 100%. I loved my experience playing through this game, and If you are a fan of the visual novel genre, as well as a fan of tension-based horror and suspense, This is a definite pick-up for you and your friends! I wish you guys at SilverTabbyCat a Good-Good Day, and Best of Luck on ALL of your future endeavors!!!

If you'd like to experience this game's puzzles with far less time commitment and without an overarching uncompelling narrative, might I recommend TED-Ed? Chapter 3's Puzzle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnSw8g3DPHw Chapter 4's Puzzle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKh6z0X6KRw Chapter 5's Puzzle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yDmGnA8Hw0 Chapter 6's Puzzle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Vd1dTBVbFg I'm fairly certain I've also seen chapter two's puzzle on a TED-Ed at some point, but I can't find the video any more. Regardless, these puzzles are easily available in plenty of other locations for free. As for the story itself, chapter 6 onwards was quite enjoyable, but certainly not enough that I could recommend trudging through the first five chapters to get to it. But the novel's biggest issue is that there's no way to manually progress the text. I cranked the message speed up to the maximum which still left me constantly waiting for the next message having already read what's on screen. There's also a skip function, but as one might expect that progresses the text far too fast. Pick your poison; spending as much time waiting for the next message as you spend actually reading or tapping that skip button and needing to scroll up a bit. Overall, cannot recommend. The puzzles are extremely common, you've almost definitely seen them before and if you haven't then there are still better ways to experience them. The story lacks even the slightest bit of entertainment value until the final act. The presentation, though unique and certainly full of potential, is where this novel falls flat the most.

Yo, this is great! The music, the general design, the writing. Worth the money. My only two gripes are that the ate that new messages appear can be a tad slow, and I wish that some of the other characters got "after the event" blurbs after the ending (I got Ending A+).

Ugh, I'm sorry, I gave this around an hour - which I admit is not very long for this sort of game, and I just can't take anymore. It's so extraordinarily tedious to play through, despite the intrigue I have about the story Okay so the gimmick of this visual novel is that it's presented via a phone, conversations take place in text messages and a group chat. For starters, [url=https://i.imgur.com/8eXs8md.png]why does previous text end up fading when a character starts typing a message?[/url] If you fall behind or want to reread some text, it's very distracting. Secondly, being on a phone doesn't really add anything, besides making the player wait a few seconds while [url=https://i.imgur.com/aBa4cVH.png]characters type to see the next line of dialogue[/url]. I understand this is to mimmick real life conversations but it makes everything feel SO ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ sluggish. Also sometimes a character would say something and there would be no progress until 5-10 seconds later when a character would start typing. Again, I get it, the characters would need time to process reading a shocking message - but it's realism at the expense of a fluid experience. The game starts off with a group chat with TEN participants introducing themselves, slowly, and there's no options in settings to make text appear faster or methods for the player to progress text themselves. I'm gonna be honest, I think this soured my experience because I was starting the game off with an immediate negative impression.[url=https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/768182158539882567/880685228497199184/unknown.png]I beg you[/url], [url=https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/768182158539882567/880685315310895134/unknown.png]please speed this up[/url]. Either have less characters or let me go through this dialogue at my own pace, because this was probably the worst introductory sequence in a visual novel I've ever experienced - and I have played slow paced stuff like Umineko/Fata Morgana LOL The phone aspect also feels a bit flat in that all the characters have basically the same typing style. There's a girl who occasionally uses emoticons and a character who calls the women "lass" but that's about it. A lot more could be done to distinguish the voices - maybe someone types in only lowercase for example. I just...people wouldn't type sophisticatedly if they were trapped in a death game and had their phone on them - messages would be panicked, short words used. So if it's not realistic in this regard, why is this presentation even used? This is more of a nitpick but sometimes your character will reply and talk in the group chat. When that happens, I have to click the "type your message here" button, wait for my character to type it out, then move my cursor to the send button. This happens when my character only has one dialogue option btw and it's a not huge deal but adds up over time. The ability to send messages with the enter key would've been really appreciated as well or the option to just send the message without typing it out. Again, it's just another thing slowing everything down I heavily suspect this game was made for phones in mind and then ported to PC with zero additional changes, because to me that's the only reason you would present a visual novel like this.

A very fun experience. It's not a new concept but it's well done, and the visual novel in phone format deal is rare enough that it feels refreshing. I really enjoyed it, I expected it to be shorter but I was pleasantly surprised. My only complaints are achivements behind unskippable credits and that he chat and mini games mechanics is a bit awkward at times, but nothing that ruins the game.