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Review of Mono no Aware wa Sai no Koro.

SubjectMono no Aware wa Sai no Koro.
ByHelpfulness: 6
Vote: 8.5
demlune on 2020-11-19 last updated on 2020-11-21
ReviewSurprisingly a solid game with very interesting setting.
Nine players join a bizarre world of Sugoroku(双六), a deadly game of dice.
They all mysteriously suffered a complete amnesia: their identities, their origins, their pasts, They know nothing.
The only thing they know is to reach the goal to become the winner of the game, and get out of Sugoroku alive, or lose and "die".

Personally, it is a fine blend between Asairo and battle royal genre similar to Fate/Stay Night;
You will get to enjoying the exclusive atmosphere of autumn set right in the heart of Kyoto's famous spots,
and listening to obscure urban legends,
while watching the heated battles of wit&will between the players.
Saikoro handles all 3 main elements very well, enough to give me a fairly high satisfaction all the way till the end.

Saikoro has 4 routes in total: Misaki, Kohaku, Claire, and the grand route.
Each route will bring another different kind of an exciting game to the table right after the end of the common route. It will slowly reveal the heroine's secret, along with her attractiveness,
while giving a shining spotlight to another side character to become a worthy, engaging opponent.
Every game has its own charms and flaws, But I must admit all games are so well planned and the developments are too intriguing I had hard times putting it down. (just one more turn...)
Hence I can see why Fuyuakane Tom's later works have become big hits and he himself has become a highly anticipated writer. he sure knows how to produce big brain plots.

I also felt lucky to be able to read Saikoro right in the middle of autumn, because I can appreciate both real world and Sugoroku autumn's beauty simultaneously, which increased the immersion immensely and gave me quite a pleasant aftertaste. To anyone (in Japan) who currently can appreciate the beauty of autumn in real life, hurry up and read this one.

Recommended route order (MUST)
Misaki -> Kohaku -> Claire -> Grand

Pro
・The heroines are very attractive. But even more, side characters are very fascinating in their own way. Even our seemingly super medicore, fat guy eventually proved himself to be a chad I wish I could become fat like him.
・Great plot reveal. Honestly the climaxes in Misaki and the grand route were rather meh. However, Kohaku and Claire's exceeded my expectation and made me go WTF with wonderfully brilliant reveals.
・It was a fun game. Really.

Con
・Few plot holes are somewhat noticeable. In exchange for glorious climaxes quite few logic are sadly sacrificed.
・Grand route felt a bit flat compared to the others. A bit of letdown honestly.
・I know some fellas who can't handle many flashback scenes and few will quit on spot. Oh boys, this title will surely give them severe PTSD.
6 points
#1 by nihoshi
2022-04-09 at 01:25
< report >I also noticed the Asairo similarities. I agree that it's important to do Claire's route third but I ended up doing Kohaku first and it didn't harm my enjoyment of the game.

The lack of CGs was a bit of a letdown. There's so many violent, graphic and intense moments where there's just the text box and a character still on the screen. I'm left wondering how big the budget was for this game.

That said I enjoyed it immensely and it was much better than I expected.Last modified on 2022-04-09 at 01:27