Review of Subarashiki Hibi ~Furenzoku Sonzai~
| Subject | Subarashiki Hibi ~Furenzoku Sonzai~ |
| By | Helpfulness: 4 Vote: 1primate541 on 2020-11-05 |
| Review | Wonderful Everyday is a flawed visual novel that missteps in using its narrative and characters as a mere means to explore its themes, by repeatedly contriving scenarios in service of its goal. The game is structured into several chapters which reiterate mostly the same sequence of events that take place over a two week period from different character perspectives, occasionally flashing back to periods in the character's pasts to further contextualize what's been shown. There are portents that something of significance will happen in this period of time, and figuring out what or why it happens, or the meaning of it will only be revealed from reading multiple iterations of these events. The first several chapters reveal little and serve to mostly build mystery upon mystery, leaving character motivations and the reasons for their actions nebulous. Scenes are repeated chapter to chapter, sometimes almost verbatim with little new information, even if from another character's perspective. It takes too long for the story to show its hand. By the time the story does begin to unweave its mysteries, it's underwhelming both due to the length of what's come before it, and the extent of its excessive foreshadowing. It’s also presented in a very convoluted and incoherent manner, even though ultimately it’s an extremely simple story. A major issue with the game’s first act is that its most impactful moments are extraneous to the plot. Many reviews of this will mention the disturbing nature of its sexual and violent content. Though these scenes are at times disturbing, the real issue I had with the inclusion of these scenes was how gratuitous they were, being almost completely irrelevant. Yet due to their disturbed nature, and to how incredibly long and convoluted both the scenes themselves and the setup for them are, these protracted and often tasteless distractions overshadowed the narrative. At about the halfway mark of the game the story starts moving, asking the reader to accept its numerous conceits. In doing so it explores philosophical concepts such as subjective experience, nihilism and existentialism, and the juxtaposition of these values against those of religion and mythology. It's the game's central theme and is where it is at its most interesting. But it's unfortunately too often buried under the weight of the writer's excesses and lack of self-restraint. The narrative detours too often that as a theme it feels like it's often forgotten, to be reinforced in the game's climax rather than a thread woven into the game as a whole. The characters are mostly terrible, with far too many one dimensional characters. Characters frequently are doing really dumb things or things that don't make any sense. There are outliers, but unfortunately early on they’re the exception, though things thankfully improve in the game's second half. Here the game allows the characters to develop, focusing on the best of a small handful of the many characters introduced earlier. If only the game had opted for characterising its cast at the outset rather than creating outlandish scenarios with bland and unimportant characters for pure shock value (Asumi) or for the sake of pushing its philosophical discussion (Ayana), the game would have been better for it. On the technical side, the game has some attractive and detailed character art. Its music is mostly great, especially when it's trying to evoke emotion or mood. Its piano pieces are particularly evocative. Though there is voice acting, barely any of the male characters are voiced, a bizarre and seemingly arbitrary decision that comes off as unpolished. I admire the ambition of this visual novel in its attempt to marry its narrative to its philosophical concepts, even if it's ultimately unsuccessful. With some judicious editing of its excesses and a first half as good as its second, I’d think better of this game. But even then, the narrative being nothing more than a flimsy, plot hole ridden vehicle for discussions on philosophy rather than being an asset in itself would make it a difficult recommendation. As it is, those patient enough to get through this particular rabbit hole will find something unique, if not something that's enjoyable or coherent. |
| 4 points |