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Review of My Merry Maybe

SubjectMy Merry Maybe
My Merry May with be - Regular Edition
ByHelpfulness: 2
Vote: 9
meirin on 2023-03-25
ReviewA great example of how a sequel should be made.

It has been a while since I saw a jump in quality this notable between entries. The original My Merry May certainly had some hints of brilliance here and there, particularly regarding its sci-fi themes, but for the most part it remained a decently enjoyable, if kind of forgettable, galge. This time, however, it feels like they literally took out all the fluff and massively expanded on everything that made that game good, while enhancing some areas where it sort of lacked.

The first improvement that becomes clear right from the start is the main cast of heroines itself, which, refreshingly enough considering the genre, consists almost entirely of adult women (with a couple of exceptions). This “age-up” makes the drama that happens on each of their routes feel a lot more natural and certainly not as forceful as it was in the original, where, in that one, the MC often acted like a total dumbass, causing silly and completely avoidable conflicts. But here, even the younger characters have proper reasons for their worries that make them just as interesting as the rest. Out of all the characters, Yuma has to be the standout. Her personality has a truly fantastic range, that swings between playful teasing and a convincing portrait of early adulthood and the concerns that period entails. On top of that, her VA was just incredible, the delivery of some of the lines was so good it often made me go back to the backlog just to hear them once more.

Another aspect that clearly received a lot of attention compared to the original was the approach to its humanist themes. This is probably the main factor that makes this sequel so good. It feels as if those occasional hints of neat ideas My Merry May had, My Merry Maybe straight up went and took them, amplified them, polished them, and put them front and center of the story, and as a result the plot became considerably more captivating. This new focus also had an impact on the individual routes, since those conflicts were directly but subtly related to the questions presented in the dilemma surrounding the Replis and their humanity. It's also really interesting the amount of themes that are being talked about here; things like motherhood, dealing with mortality, or delimiting the boundary between being a good person or a slave of compassion. And yet, while playing the game, you never get the sense it's overreaching, spreading itself too thin, or being overly pretentious about it.

The last point I feel this game did really well compared to the first, was the mystery, although to be honest the original had barely anything resembling that. Even so, I found it to be not only quite well developed, but the pacing at which clues were given to you between routes was just right. It was also a nice touch how the shipwrecked boat became something of a background décor. Always present, sitting right there in the middle of the sea as a reminder that the truth was yet to be revealed, yet at the same time being left completely ignored as the lives of the people of the town simply went on. Moreover, the story itself hid quite a few plot developments that completely caught me off guard. In that regard, I recommend skipping the OP whenever it shows up, since I feel it spoils some of it (and also try to avoid looking at lists of appearing characters, it will make things way more interesting).

There's only one thing I'm slightly torn on, which is the length of the individual routes. The game is actually split into three kinda-ish common routes, each of which is split into two individual character routes. But some of those routes are quite short. On one hand, most of the character development takes place during those common routes, and I appreciate the fact that it never tries to drag the drama for longer than it needs, but at the same time, I would've like to see the characters spend some more time together. But then again, the game is already quite lengthy as it is, so this is barely an issue.

To conclude, My Merry Maybe has been one of the most pleasing surprises I've had with VNs in a while. It was a well-crafted sci-fi mystery story that managed to deal with deep and interesting themes in a consistently engaging manner. The only main caveat I can think of is that, needless to say, playing the original beforehand is a requirement, but if you are into VNs of this era I think it's an easy recommendation.
2 points
#1 by vbzre
2024-02-17 at 22:50
< report >how did you play this? i cant find a place to download it anywhere?
#2 by onorub
2024-02-18 at 10:43
< report >Seeing from how he played it on PSP, he might've actually done it in real hardware. From what i searched there seems to be links for Dreamcast emulation, but i have no idea if that stuff even works.
#3 by PhantomSonzai
2024-02-18 at 10:48
< report >PS2/PSP emulation would be the most accessible way.
I wouldn't hold my breath on a port happening as pretty much every other KID game (bar Memories Off) is stranded on old hardware.Last modified on 2024-02-18 at 10:52
#4 by meirin
2024-02-18 at 12:33
< report >#1 Well, let's just say that there are some consoles that are fairly easy to emulate