Lily of the Hollow – Resurrection: A challenge

 

The aforementioned challenge is twofold, dear fellow gamers. The first part of it was to play the game until the (bitter) end; the second part is to find something to write about it. I cleared the first part already; so, I should manage to clear the second part and squeeze a couple of words about that game out of my brain.

 

Mind you, I came very close to giving up on the first part of that challenge. The reason is pretty limpid, and should be known to anybody who heard about LotH already: the text, folk. The retina-stabbing, grammar-forsaken, atrociously translated text. It’s not Google Translate bad; it’s much, much worse — believe me when I say that anything GT spouts sounds like Shakespeare compared to LotH’s wordy abominations. I swear, that text doesn’t sound like it’s been translated by a human being — or anything from that galaxy, for that matter. I could rave on and on about the mind-boggling crassness of all things textual in LotH, but the bottom line is this: it makes the game nearly darn unplayable. 

 

Should you choose to suspend your grammatical common sense and power through like I did, you’ll quickly notice that bad text or no bad text, the story is rushed and painfully lacking in all areas. Romance build-up is just glaringly absent as world build-up, making for a very unfulfilling VN experience; anybody who’s played LotH certainly won’t blame me for ditching the game after polishing off Claudia’s route. 

 

That’s a lot of flaws for a single VN; yet, not only didn’t I hate LotH’s guts, but it actually left a positive imprint on my gamer’s soul. 70% of that positive imprint is the work of the snowy landscapes in which the whole story unfolds. You know I’m a sucker for such landscapes, dear fellow gamers; and LotH’s pristine alpine vistas are some of the most gorgeous I’ve ever feasted my eyes upon in a VN. The remaining 30% can be proudly claimed by the splendid crystalline soundtrack, which perfectly complements the aforementioned vistas to create a most mesmerizing wintry atmosphere. 

 

Still, I cannot recommend LotH at all, even to the most hardcore VN aficionado. It would feel like daylight robbery even if it were free — let alone with an outrageous 5,99 euros price tag. Shovelware is strong with the Nintendo eShop indeed; and I’ll roam those uncharted territories with great vigilance from now on. I’ll see you soon with more gaming goodness, dear fellow gamers; until then, keep playing and take care!