Review of BALDR SKY Dive2 "RECORDARE"
| Subject | BALDR SKY Dive2 "RECORDARE" |
| By | Helpfulness: 5 Vote: 9.8Necoji on 2021-06-30 |
| Review | Without getting into spoilers, I can say that this game makes excellent use of its VN tropes. While you could talk about things that make the story clichéd for hours, that honestly shouldn't matter if the game executes those clichés as flawlessly as Dive. Having read games with similar plot twists and turns, I can really say that I would rather read Baldr Sky than any of them. Regardless of any of that, the story on display here is very well thought-out. Every emotional moment is earned. If nothing else, Dive is an achievement in scale, and Murasaki and Kikakuya demonstrate a true mastery of the art of scenario. The overwhelming scale of the story at play, along with the shocking depth of the combat system, create a sense of immersion unlike any game I've played. Being able to lose yourself in the training room for hours really makes you feel like the bad-ass simulacrum pilot that you wish you could be. Seriously, it's shocking how well the gameplay complements the story here, and I'm surprised more battle opera VNs haven't tried to emulate this. I'm not much of a self-insert person, but I'd be lying if I didn't say that I genuinely felt like Kou was simply a representation of myself after some of the more challenging combat sequences. The setting is definitely a highlight of the game, and is a fairly unique one in the eroge sphere. The cyberpunk city setting combined with the intense military-political drama creates an instant hook to the story. In the name of focusing on its characters and thesis, the game forgoes lengthy discussions of socio-economic ethics, and instead focuses on the pseudo-interpersonal relationship between man and technology—more specifcally, artificial intelligence. There are remarkably few contrivances in the plot here; the game quickly lays down the core physical laws governing how cyberspace works, and once the player has accepted those, Sky simply uses that ruleset as a playground to explore its many characters and themes. Kou is one of my favorite incarnations of Eroge Man to exist. Watching his growth throughout the game was immensely satisfying and by the time the final route comes around, it truly feels like he has earned every ounce of charisma and wit that he puts on display. Along with being an emotional anchor, he serves as a medium to communicate the game's core thesis, an answer to the relationship between a qualia-posessing human consciousness and raw information (I'll avoid explaining it directly, but it should become obvious after reaching Dive2). Kuu is another standout character, and her growth over the game's lengthy runtime is one of the most emotional character arcs I have ever read. Sky also happens to contain a wealth of excellent art assets. Seiji knocked it out of the park with his art direction, and the character sprites alwyas communicate mood effectively, not to mention being gorgeous to look at. Likewise, the CGs are a joy to take in. The pre-rendered 3D battle models hold up incredibly well, even 12 years later. H-scenes are plentiful, and while the adult content is certainly gratuitous at times, it is quite frankly also just *good*. There are some hilarious contrivances at play here to set up H-scenes, and I wish more games would take themselves less seriously when it comes what is already a rather absurd proposition of ero in a battle opera. The soundtrack, composed by an excellent selection of heavy hitters in the eroge scene, contains tons of memorable tracks, and the wealth of music means that there is a song for just about any emotion. The game also presents a primitive implementation of dynamic music, with many tracks evolving as a scene progresses. The recorded instruments in these tracks are very well-mixed and a joy to listen to, while the sequenced instruments provide that comfortable & familliar VN music vibe. There are quite a few negatives that are brought up by other readers, mainly regarding repetition, villain writing, and the final route. I'll be honest and say those are fair criticisms, but no way are they insurmountable. I didn't have much of a problem with the repetition; I can read school life stuff with my eyes closed at this point of my VN experience, and the game makes obvious enough when it's introducing new information via music & sprite changes. A big part of me even enjoyed Reminiscence; it was nice to go back to chill school life after the stressful routes 3 and 4. The villains... well, yeah, they kinda suck, and the solitary attempt to make Gilbert seem sympathetic during route 5 was unintentionally hilarious, and the priest is way too over-the-top in his mannerisms, and I could go on, but Sky is a story about Kou and his friends, and I think trying to introduce even more nuanced characters into the setting could have simply increased the bloat. Regarding the final route, I guess if you don't like the girl it might suck, but I was totally sold. I'll compare it to a similar VN, Muv-Luv Alternative. (MLA spoiler) While I certainly was fond of Sumika by the end of the game, I honestly didn't feel a strong emotional connection, and having the end consist of just watching all the characters I actually liked fucking EXPLODE left me feeling lonely and abandoned; Sumika was nowhere near enough consolation. In Sky, though, I simply couldn't wait to meet the R6 heroine. Also worth noting is that the final route brings with it an entire change in how Kou narrates the game, and it becomes a much more personal story at this point. The game posits that memories are the core component of a human being, and the story certainly did a good job of convincing me as such. Sky was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I will treasure forever, stored as memory and defining a part of my being. Yeah that's a cheesy-ass conclusion but idgaf. This game moved me in a way that no other has, and my score is just a representation of that. |
| 5 points |