February 2021 report!
2021 resolution!
- Play all remaining SG wins!
- Finish more games every month then I add to my backlog!
Finished 1/11 remaining SG wins, +5 to my backlog and +6 to finished games.
In Trails in the Sky, First Chapter, you play as Estelle and her adopted brother Joshua, both will be taking a test to become a junior bracer, and when they become skilled enough, full-fledged bracers!
Your father is Cassius Bright, one of the only 4 S-Ranked Bracers in the nation. But after he vanishes during a mission, it’s up to Estelle and Joshua to find him!
Become friends with many characters, learn backstories, rescue people, dress up, read books and newspapers, do quests and adventure around the wonderful Kingdom of Liberl!
I absolutely loved Trails in the Sky, it’s a huge game (50+ hours) with a ton of story and character. All the characters have actual depth to them and while it’s a bit slow in the beginning, by chapter three I was absolutely hooked and not putting the game down till I was done! It’s incredibly well made and well worth the $19.99 price tag.
Achievement hunters beware! This game can and will become incredibly frustrating to gather all the collectables. Limited time windows with absolutely no prompts or warning, and with no way to backtrack after you finish a chapter, you will need multiple saves and you will need to follow a guide or YOU WILL FAIL.
Lily of the Valley
Lily of the Valley is an incredibly short and slightly philosophical VN that brings up topics of suicide, death, grief, as well as the lack of thereof.
The story is rather lacking and while it tries to send a powerful message at the end of the game, it falls short, likely due to the odd and out of place twist at the end of the story.
Regardless, it’s not a horrible or even a bad VN, the art was pretty amazing even if the music tracks were repetitive.
The Forest of Doom
The Forest of Doom is a fun choose your own adventure in which you, an adventurer, find a dying dwarf named Bigleg who was on a quest to find The Hammer for The Lord of Stonebridge. The Hammer is an important weapon that the lord needs to unite his people so that they may defend themselves against the Trolls.
As an adventurer you roll for your stats, have a map that automatically marks locations you have been to, an adventure sheet with a list of your items and potions, as well as a bookmark option so you can backtrack and make new choices.
Time to finish varies between people, 1-5 hours. Overall an excellent and satisfying game.
Stars and Snowdrops
In Stars and Snowdrops you play as Her Very Spoiled Highness, or Princess Kovi. You are dropped off at Snowdrop Keep for a “vacation.” After being duly informed by The Advisor Frel that that is anything but, you must find a suitor, or a decent advisor, to go back home.
While Stars and snowdrops has its negatives, I’m very impressed with its soft music tracks, artwork, and in particular, its voice acting. Even in more expensive VN’s that’s not typically an option I get to experience, and it was very well done. The sprites are animated, there is a small amount of character customization, and while the story was interesting, Kovi was a bit of a brat and I’m a bit baffled how quickly she and her love interest fall in, well, love, if given the option.
The story is about 20-30 min long and if you have any interest at all in playing the game, for $1.99 I say go for it.
Neon Space
Neon Space is a short 1-3 hour puzzle game with 10 music tracks. You have abilities, such as “Blink” which teleports you forward when you hit the spacebar, and you can slow down time for a few seconds by hitting “R.”
Overall, it’s not a bad game. Some of the levels are repetitive. I recommend only getting it on a steep, steep sale. The $10.99 regular price isn’t worth it. From the other reviews it seems this game was once only $1.
The Stillness of the Wind
In The Stillness of the Wind, you play as a mother named Talma, your parents and husband passed away many years ago and your siblings and children, Sola and Rama, have long since left the farm. You, your goats, and chickens are the only things left. There used to be a village, but it was long since swallowed by the desert and the remaining residents moved.
While your siblings have all left for across the sea or the city, you do remain in contact with a few of them. Garza, Mimi, Eimi, and your childhood friend and neighbor, Votta Bara. Receiving letters by the mailman is the brightest part of your day, but as the contents of the letters get increasingly worrying, strange and horribly bad things start happening to you and the remaining livestock.
I had a wonderful experience playing The Stillness of the Wind, and despite it only being 3-4 hours long, I had a lot of fun. It was pretty simple and slow paced, and easy to pick up on. Despite the theme being a “quiet rumination on life and loss.” I got an impression of hope, that even though bad things are happening, it will eventually be ok.
There are multiple endings! Make sure you find all the collectables scattered around the farm that appear in the sand when the wind uncovers it! Fill the shelf!
I’m glad I’m not that much of an achievment nerd. Multiple saves + a guide sounds like hell.
But looks like a game I’ll have to play in the future.
The world building was incredible and it was definitely the best game I played so far this year, I would have enjoyed it more If I didn’t have to occasionally break away from the story, run across the map, to grab a collectable that’s only available during a specific quest. It’s wild.
I had to trade for the second chapter immediately upon finishing the first, but I don’t think I will manage to play this year because of my SG priorities. Motivation! <3
Thanks for the warning on Trials in the Sky. Also I’m really surprised you grasped the story of TSoTW :D It was difficult for me to follow tbh. But I liked some satanic and Lovecraftian elements that I think it had, but I’m not sure if I interpreted it right. I also got a negative ending :/ I didn’t found all the idols in the sand.
The toys start appearing I think the day your chickens disappear or the next day, I had 14 chickens and I was shocked when they were gone. Fortunately I had like, 50 eggs and didn’t starve even when the cheese went bad, until I ran out of firewood. If you find all the toys, you get a special and similar ending. If you want, pm me on steam and I can send you a screenshot, I didn’t post it anywhere because I didn’t want to spoil.
Honestly I’m guessing for the story, I’m assuming there was a village because the farm can’t hold 16 people, yet there were, Talma had a neighbor, and when collecting the collectables there is playing with other kids on the playground, + telephone poles. No one would set that up for a small village of 6- houses etc.
A lot of stuff is implied and others I watched other’s playthroughs and re-read the letters and made a word document and sorted info from there.
Trails in the Sky was enjoyable experience. World building was done well. Perhaps one day I get to play the rest of the series (once my backlog is cleared :p).
I screamed at that ending, I was so blindsided and I wish I could start the second chapter right away but, My next 3-4 months are filled. Already have my big games chosen for my backlog.
Oh that scares me but luckily I always look at a guide to check before hand on what I need to do
I got that stars and snowdrops ignored but it sounds alright, idk how I would feel paying for it though for that length of time. At least you enjoyed it though
If you think you will enjoy it you probably will. It wasn’t the best VN in the world but the voice acting was really nice. You don’t even need to romance, it’s optional.