[i]With Eyes of Ice[/i] is an otome, kinetic visual novel developed and published by ebi-hime. You take on the role of Gréta Egilsdóttir, a young woman who is seen fleeing through the snow of Iceland on one cold winter night. It's obvious that Gréta is fleeing from someone or something, but then she ends up collapsing in the snow towards what would seem to be her death. However, she then awakens (albeit in a feverish state) sometime later in a warm room and sees that a young man has rescued her. As Gréta falls back asleep, though, she reminsces on all the events that led her to her current predicament. Then, we're taken into Gréta's past when she once lived with her grandmother in the small village of Reykjahlíð. Especially since this is a linear story, I'll end my story synopsis here to avoid spoilers. ^^
As for the gameplay, there are no choices presented, so you just play through the story from beginning to end. However, there are lots of CGs as well as a varied soundtrack (but no voice acting). Also, there are lots of Steam achievements although at the time of this review, they won't count towards a user's global total until the game is out of "Steam is learning about this game". In addition, after you complete the story, fragments and the author's notes are unlocked. The latter should be self-explanatory, and as for fragments, they show glimpses into past events of various characters (other than Gréta).
Now that I've gone over the story and gameplay, I'll move onto my critique. I enjoy a lot of ebi-hime's VNs, and when I heard that this latest release is an otome, I knew that I had to play this. First, I like how the story starts off with Gréta (only in her nightgown) running away. You know that probably, something terrible has happened, but you have no clue as to what it is. Fortunately, she gets rescued just as it looks like she's about to die, and then shortly after, we're transported into Gréta's past. I like how this story is presented, as it begins in a dramatic fashion before it get to the slower scenes. Once we're taken back into the past, that's when we get to know the characters and the events that led up to Gréta's predicament. I like the cast of characters here. Gréta, the main character, is a sweet, naive girl who's poor but living happily with her grandmother. However, she certainly doesn't have it easy, living among unfounded rumors by the villagers. (I suppose some villages have residents like that.) Thus, Gréta has very few close friends. Petur, the childhood friend, is sweet although a bit timid since he's afraid to take action at times. Then there's Kai, the young farm boy who meets Gréta and escorts her to her new job as a housekeeper. I found him to be sweet and friendly. Kai's position is different from Petur's since Petur is the son of a district commissioner and is surrounded by wealth, whereas Kai is the second son of a family of poor farmers. Next, there's Nataníel, a doctor who initially arrives in Gréta's village to attend to Petur's sick mother and ends up looking after Gréta's grandmother, too, for a little time. Nataníel truly wants to help people (thus, why he became a doctor) but he seems engrossed with his work. Finally, there's Steina, Nataníel's pregnant wife whom Gréta becomes a housekeeper for. Even though Steina appears to be nice at first (maybe a bit overbearing), Gréta discovers that there's a much darker side to Steina that later is explained. There's a great variety of characters here. As to the story itself, I don't wish to go into too many details since that would be going into spoiler territory, but I like how it progresses. Although there are some light-hearted moments, the story is definitely on the darker, more disturbing side. There are even scenes like [spoiler]physical and emotional abuse[/spoiler]. Despite that [spoiler]one of Gréta's potential love interests dies T_T[/spoiler], I like how the story ends although we never find out whether [spoiler]there's a possibility of Gréta and Nataníel getting together[/spoiler].
As for the writing, the story pacing was fine, and as I mentioned earlier, I like how it starts off and then goes back into Gréta's past. I noticed a couple of typos that could use correction, but they don't distract from enjoying the story. In regards to the art, it is beautiful with the sprites in the typical anime style. I feel like the sprites also depict the characters' personalities, such as Gréta's blond hair and blue eyes appearance giving off that sweet, naive personality. The backgrounds are done well, too, and I like the use of colors. The CGs are drawn well, and I especially liked the darker scenes, as they give off that disturbing, impending danger feeling. Regarding the music, I like the tracks that are used. There is a variety from the everyday scene to the more dramatic one. My favorite tracks would have to be the ones which depict that feeling that the story takes place in Iceland, one of the Nordic countries.
Overall, would I recommend With [i]Eyes of Ice[/i]? If you enjoy visual novels and like otome ones that don't [spoiler]necessarily have a happy ending[/spoiler], then I think it's worth taking a look. ebi-hime has done a wonderful job writing up this story, and there are definitely unpredictable moments. For the asking price, this might be a bit on the steep side (as it took me fewer than 9 hours to complete the story, get all of the achievements, and read the extra content), so it's probably best to wait for a sale. However, it's worth getting for those who enjoy a good, dramatic story. ^^
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