Absolutely plastered on Crystall-wine. [Crystalline Post]

No, I'm not Crystall-fine

Image from Pixelfade's site

Oy, oy, oy... I haven't been posting, and I almost forgot to post this month... Haha, yowch what a damn lazy blackguard I turned out to be! But anyways heres a post for your troubles.

A little bit of information:

Crystalline is a game developed by indie studio Pixelfade, it was their second commercial visual novel after ACE Academy, which I also played. 

It was released on August 22 2018, and has positive reviews on Steam.

Pixelfade is known for their pretty high production value EVNs (or English Visual Novels) and this is no exception. Not to mention the fact that it's completely voiced acted from start to finish.

So without further distraction... Welcome to the Crystalline long post:

I have played through the entire game and have clocked 40~ hours into it, mostly just from messing around and seeing what the game has to offer and of course the odd replay for a section or two.

First things first, the game looks and sounds great for an indie visual novel. (important to note that the highest standard in my books is The Great Ace Attorney, but that's not an indie game so bleh.) The Live2D portraits, the opening song and movie, the voice acting, the backgrounds, the UI, its all very good looking, that is to say that nothing looks terrible, nor out of place, and a lot of things even look above and beyond what others would do if not for the lack of time or money.

I enjoyed the game pretty well, I had no real problems, except maybe for some of the excessive Anime-ness? (But that's a me thing more than a everyone thing so it's forgiveable, I mean, I'm a Persona fan, so take what I say with salt to last a lifetime.) The story was a simple and tried one, but it stands out because of it's very good presentation, again, as stated above, everything looks and sounds good. The biggest problem of the story is that because it's tried and true, it's also very predictable... There was no real twist nor subversion of the tropes or genre. By all accounts, it is a run of the mill Isekai into a fantasy world VN.

Even with a story as common as a grain of sand in the desert of Isekai I still enjoyed the cast of the story, but they're nothing to write home about either. Leanna Dawn is the heroine mage-knight (spell sword figher knight gal) and main love interest for our Hero, [Insert Player Name], Zack Spade is the brooding mercenary with a tragic past and a hidden heart of gold, Amelia Estelle is the smart, eccentric, and kawaii anime girl, and Kara Noir is the alluring treasure hunter that also has a tragic backstory while also being the love interest of dear Zachary.

The voice cast did good, I have no MAJOR complaints, but I do have minor ones, such as, I wish Zach didn't sound so uhhh nasally? Idfk, he sounds a certain way and I don't really vibe but otherwise it's fine. (No disrespect to the VA just pointing out my feelings on something. Then again, it could be a creative choice too.) I don't particularly like nor dislike Amelia's monotone-ness... It's her character and such, but I do believe it could be better, not that it's horrendous. Leanna and Kara's voice actors were both good, though it's unavoidable that Anime game has weird dialogue and delivering some will by association sound weird too.

The story follows some scrub (You) studying at the library late, dozing off, and awaking post Isekai in a brand new fantasy land... Later you learn it is called Terra. But anyway, you faff about until you make abrupt contact with the lady Leanna Dawn. You have the whole realizing this shit ain't a dream and I AM ISEKAI'ED moment, she offers to help you and you take it. After getting equipped in more period appropriate armor, ditching the US College Student Drip TM as a result, you make way for the city of Illumia. From then on Shenanigans ensue and these shenanigans involve dark magic cults, beings of arcane origin, romance, heartbreak, absolute tomfoolery, and fun slice of life adventurer thangz.

There are more than 2 endings, I believe there are 8, A lot of them are similar, but the most important distinction is you either go home, die, fail to romance Leanna properly, or get the best ending. So do with that what you will.

Some quick things before I move on to the part where I talk about a scene or two:

-Music's fine, I mean I do listen to it here and again as background music while my brain slowly melts away doing nothing but sitting around listening to background music.

-Minigame sections were a change of pace from most indie VNs but still feel lacking.

-Main menu looks nice.

-Ending kind of meh on all sides, kind of abrupt.

-Pango is a dawg, little buddy was willing to die with you.

-Shou (From ACE Academy) returns, and I actually like that, I like Shou.

-Leanna's family should have been in the true ending epilogue but whatevs.

-Amelia's family being introduced was kind of unecessary for how little they played any part.

-The shadow temple trial has no consequences for some reason.

-I did like the inclusion of Gingalain and his role in the story.

And finally, the next part dawns upon us...

A scene that I liked the most and have the most to say about:

SPOILERS YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

SPOILERS YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

SPOILERS YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

SPOILERS YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

SPOILERS YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

AKA: Zeer looks wayyyy tooo much into things.

So the scene I decided upon is when [Insert Name Here] and Leanna 'break up', I think about this scene, it's not a new concept at all mind you, but it's a good scene. It happens after the dizzying heights of a festival that's based around couples, which depending on your choices, you and Leanna win. Now in this tourney of twosomes, your competition are some insufferable folk, always ready to blame this and that, and perhaps blame eachother for shortcomings and failure. You and Leanna are probably the, depending on your choices, best couple, because at the end of the day picking the BEST choices in this scene is picking the choice where you don't care about doing the best or winning every challenge, its picking the choices where you and Leanna are having the most fun.

And even then, as the festival ends and you get your prize. A scenic overview of the city in full splendor, looking at the fireworks... Leanna still comes to the inevitble conclusion for our hero's predicament...

He is going home to his world, and all of this, this romance, this excitement, this happiness. It will end, and yes even if all things end, this ending will be much sooner than anything that naturally comes to pass. And it's understandably, fucking devastating for the lass. She's found love but it all seems fleeting, futile to hold on too, because at the end of the day, [Insert Name Here] is not of Terra, and has/had/will have, a life on Earth, people who care about him, and people he cares about.

You can, depending on your choice, argue that decision doesn't have to come now, that you'll make it work somehow, that you'll stay, but it doesn't change that Leanna feels like she's robbing you of the life you held dear in your world, that she's robbing you of the people who held you dear in your world. She loves you too much, but the decision to love you, to keep you, is also one that in her mind, hurts you more than anything, a decision that's too selfish to justify, that loving one another is too painful because it means nothing in the end. But, that's where I disagree.

Loving and losing are inextricably linked. Again, all things end, and if you do choose to leave Terra at the end, thus ending it quicker than if you were to live out your days together, it still doesn't change the fact that we can't be afraid of the end, though it hurts deeply, we can't restrict ourselves for the reason that it all ends. Instead, we should pursue it BECAUSE it ends. For the exact fact that nothing stays, we should make the most out of what we love or else we'll end up regretting letting it go. And that's why, understandable as it is, why I do disagree with her choice. But remind yourself, it is her choice, and it is her feelings, and respecting the choice and feelings of someone you love is right, even if you argue on it, IF they're set on it, you ought to respect it... Tragic as it can prove to be in some cases.

So you move on, whether you argue it with her, immediately accept it as something to happen, or agree that it won't work out. (I actually think that arguing it/understanding it is a part of getting the best ending, and picking that choice of agreeing it wont work out will net you a different ending but I can't be sure.) Because you have a job to do, stop VOID and get home... That's been your goal for the better part of your journey. And home, yes, you love her, but what of home, what of your family, friends, and others... Is one girl enough to cast all that away, is the small group, the land of Terra, and the pango (oh sweet pango), enough to cast the world of Earth, your birthplace, your parents, your siblings (or not, it's not really specified whether you have any), your friends, your lifepath and aspirations, your belongings, your physical home, your country, your history... All of that... Away?

Well, that's up to you, but to Leanna the thought of making you cast all that stuff away... That's devastating.

Le conclusion~~

Crystalline is a good game, enjoyable, and if you like Isekai, you might like it alot. I bought ACE Academy, Crystalline, Kaori After Story, and Ethereal Enigma on a whim, and I enjoyed them a lot. Pixelfade's next project has been revealed and I'll buy it too... Probably.

I do like that it tackled the dilemma of going home or staying in the fantasy world. It's a dilemma I wish was tackled more often, and I think they should have tackled it HARDER than they did, but what they had was already fine.

I'll just say... Don't fear the reaper, don't fear the end. Live and love, lose or win, just don't fear it.

AND NOW... Thank youuuuuuuu 4 reading and I REALLY NEED TO STOP LAZING AROUND AND GET A POSTING!

- Z