It's official:
Norn9 is my favourite otome game/visual novel so far. I've been glued to that game for a couple of days, gorging on it and gulping down one route after the other in a frenzy. This is a most pleasant development, all the more so as my expectations for that game were initially pretty low. Here's everything
Norn9 does right, a.k.a. the reasons it qualifies as a near-perfect game in my book:
Story: A true blue huis clos, rife with mystery and drama without being cheap or over-the-top. Here's the pitch: a bunch of youngsters with various powers travel aboard a ship headed towards an unknown destination under the guidance of a mysterious and elusive entity called "The World" — and that's really all you need to know, lest we trample on spoiler's territory. The writers were clever enough to stick to their premise and not deviate from it, and there's not a shred of
ad hoc or
deus ex machina in
Norn9's craftily woven narrative. Sure, the story is not perfect: The World's true identity can come across as a trifle underwhelming, and some routes are just plain stingy when it comes to revealing new elements and add painfully little to the overarching narrative mix. Nonetheless,
Norn9's story is expertly crafted and manages to be captivating without resorting to cheap plot devices, and that's rare enough in the realm of VN to be mentioned and praised.
Characters: I
love that crew — heck, if I were 20 years younger, I'd probably have written fanfiction or drawn fanart featuring them. On top of looking absolutely stunning — kudos to Teita for her outstanding work — they also manage to rise above your average anime trope and to come across as genuinely complex and original characters. Take for instance Sorata, the game's red thread: he's your usual genius boy allright, but he's also immature, broody and slightly antisocial instead of being the dedicated helper genius characters usually are (cue Ami Mizuno in
Sailor Moon). Or take Koharu: sure, she's meek and sweet like your usual otome heroine, but she's also quite blunt, socially awkward and prone to occasional bouts of anger, all due to her solitary life prior to boarding the ship. Mikoto could have been a prim-and-proper lady or a tomboy; instead, she's neither of these — or a subtle mix of both, depending on how you see it. She has a genuine sense of responsability and tries hard to behave like a lady, yet occasionally fails at it; but instead of moping or wearing her inability to conform like a badge of honour, she does her best to accept her limitations and work around them when possible. The same pattern goes for the rest of the crew: they are all surprisingly complex and much closer to actual humans than your usual impossibly perfect anime characters, and that makes them both endearing and easy to relate to.
Presentation: The cream of the crop, really. On top of Teita's amazing character design, we are treated to gorgeous background art full of lovely crystalline colours, making the whole game a delicious eye-candy. The soundtrack is also mesmerizing, completed by very convincing sound effects.
Gameplay: This is a VN, so there's obviously not much interactivity to be found there; but the little gameplay offered by
Norn9 is perfectly handled. For once thing, having three different heroines to choose from introduces a welcome modicum of variety to the routes on top of allowing for better-matching couples — it always struck me as odd and unrealistic that a single heroine could wind up with vastly different guys in otome games. For another, the game lets you kindly know when a guy's affection is going up, which saves tons of time and allows you to make a beeline for the good ending. Simple and unfussy, and perfect for an otome noob like me.
Atmosphere:
Norn9's
ambience is all at once subdued, contemplative, foreboding, grim, gentle and humourous, switching between all these moods on the fly and mixing them at will. The result is a pretty unique vibe that manages to be both soothing and heart-wrenching, a vibe that left its inprint in me and will definitely linger with me for a while. I can say with absolute certainly that I will replay
Norn9 to bask again in its subtle and entrancing atmosphere.
Norn9 is a game I wanted to cherish and treasure, a game I want to replay again — and lucky me, I have a physical copy that will allow me to do so at will. Coming soon are full run reports for all three heroines; stay tuned for more
Norn9 action, dear fellow gamers! Thanks for reading, and be my guest anytime!
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