In theory, Life Is Strange developer Don’t Nod’s shift to the visual novel genre makes sense given their penchant for choice-based stories with twists. In fact, Harmony: The Fall of Reverie is an underwhelming first foray into the space, lacking the worldbuilding needed to truly sell an almost entirely verbal story, and shrugging it off. It is characterized by the appearance of options other than shrugging.
The story begins with Polly returning to her hometown in the wake of her mother’s disappearance. While searching for clues, Polly finds a magical necklace among his mother’s belongings, which, when touched, reveals the fantasy land of Reverie, inhabited by personifications of human aspirations such as power, glory, and truth. will be spirited away to. Polly, or Harmony as she is known in Reverie, is perhaps the key to saving both realities, the only being who can bring their disparate desires together.
It’s a visual novel through and through, and you’ll spend most of your time listening to the characters talking against a static background until you make a decision. The artwork is often beautiful with memorable locales and character designs, and the voice work is excellent throughout, complemented by a sparse but pleasant soundtrack.
I’ll show you the mechanics Polly can do in a moment. a little bit You see the future as the story unfolds in front of you in the form of a flowchart similar to that seen in Detroit: Become Human and Zero Escape: The Last Reward of Virtue. However, there are some nodes on the chart. that is It is hidden until you further the story. It’s convenient, but it makes the game feel like it’s simply working towards a specific goal rather than organically shaping the world through heartfelt and honest decision-making.
Another double-edged sword is the brevity of the game. Many visual novels extend the run time and claim it feels a bit longer, but his eight hours spent on Harmony wasn’t enough to effectively flesh out the world and characters. Nonetheless, the story progressed at a good pace, so even though I was a little confused, I never got bored.