Review of Muv-Luv Alternative
| Subject | Muv-Luv Alternative |
| By | Helpfulness: 2 Vote: 8.5htc89234 on 2023-03-09 |
| Review | MLA has some absurdly high highs. There were multiple points where I genuinely thought I was reading what might be perhaps the best thing I've ever read. There were points I couldn't stop reading and nearly ruined my work routine by pulling a near all-nighter reading 12 straight hours of MLA. There were points I thought I'd lower everything else in my list by 1 point because MLA was just hitting me that hard. Unfortunately: MuvLuv Alt also has some really stupid lows. Plain idiocy from some characters, infodumps that aren't that relevant or interesting to world building, an 18+ scene that is unwarranted, Takeru being way too dense over just about anything, the dialogue feeling like a complete slog at times, trying to make me care about some random characters that don't even have names, the list is large. There are other minor complaints, more like nitpicks - Much like MLU, MLA has forced sections where I can't even choose the pace I want to read. The game becomes borderline anime and I just sit there and read. It happens too often in the latter half. Also, this is essentially a kinectic novel; there are so few choices I wonder why they're even there anyway, because not only are they few, but they're also essentially meaningless. MLA can definitely pack some punches, but it can also fall flat and be predictable at times. Worse, the game feels very averse to "show not tell"; the game too often does a "show, then have another character imply it in dialogue, and then let's write 40 textboxes of our protagonist piecing it out to himself through flashbacks and monologue". Maybe it makes him more relatable and human, but to me, it just made the game start becoming a slog and kind of takes away the fun of the reader in these moments. The infodumps can at times be useful (the BETA comes to mind) and at times worthless (the TSF infodump is worthless and 99% of them don't even ever show up in the screen), to the point of even turning me off from reading entirely and making me take hours to pass what were essentially just a half-hour of reading at best. While MLA's writing makes it clear that MLA was always in the works, and even elevates some scenes from the original ML giving a few stellar moments, the main character motivation and drive feels a bit off during the beginning of the game, especially if you come into it hot off MLU. While they make sense in the narrative, it didn't quite feel like it was built up properly in the prequels (probably what, 50 textboxes in MLU total allude to the two main driving factors of the first few chapters?), and it leaves you feeling a bit disjointed - it makes sense, but simultaneously you kinda wish that it was shown more, especially with how much exposition the VN already tends to have to begin with. Speaking of the writing, Takeru eventually grows into a nicer character, but reading the same peptalk about guiding light and finding his pillar to support himself in and so on so forth is a scene that happened far too often in the already-lengthy VN and kind of diminishes the emotional impact of his growth. It's definitely one of those things that you look back and appreciate it as good writing because it was done in a way that it progressed naturally, but it can feel infuriating to a reader in the moment. Last but not least, that one 18+ scene was completely unwarranted and serves no particular purpose in the game other than blatant shock value or cramming an artists or developers fetish into the game, and no amount of heartbeat SFX or sad songs can make me think otherwise. I'm sorry, age. If I were to speak of my experiences with ML and MLA as a graph, imagine the following: My enjoyment in the moment of ML felt pretty much a constant 8 throughout. MLA varies between a 10 and a 6 (though admittedly, it stays in the upper boundary for most of it). I genuinely love MLA and it deserves its status as a Kamige. Pieces of it do make it one of the most incredible stories I've read. I love the story, the plot, the secondary characters, the setting, the worldbuilding. I loved the ending too, even though I can admit that this in particular might actually prove to be the biggest hit or miss point for most people. However, more than a few times the game made me dislike the way the story was being told. I'm sure, with time, I'll remember it even more fondly than I do now - and trust me, I am rather fond of it. The game got pretty close to making me cry several times. But I don't think I'll ever reread it in full. I, personally, feel there are two types of games: those that feel better when you're playing them and worse in retrospect, and those that feel worse in the moment, but greater in your memory. MLA to me is of the latter form. Perhaps, had I given a review a couple months after I finished instead of a couple of days, I'd give it a 10. At the end though, I can confidently say along with everyone else: MLA is, regardless of your preferences, a must-read VN. |
| 2 points |