Update Three Hundred and Forty-Five: 7 November 2019
Empty Horizons
36 hours playtime, ~3 hr actual, 13 of 13 achievements
6/10
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Hmmm. You know, I might be falling out of love with ebi-hime’s work. The last couple of hers that I’ve read haven’t quite clicked with me, and, unfortunately, Empty Horizons continues the trend.
Long-time artist and collaborator SillySelly is continuing to improve and tighten up her painting style, which is lovely to see, and the UI is similarly unique and fitting the story… but the story itself…
It just doesn’t… DO anything. GO anywhere. I’m not expecting there to be a big moral of the story every time, but once the story plays out… the story does play out. This game is missing an element, just one, to augment the story and give it an interesting kind of tension, to have it, I dunno, SAY something.
I’m a sucker for people who bicker and eventually fall in love, but Mirielle and Lyon… just… don’t… they don’t seem to actually LIKE each other, or they only like each other because the VN demands it. So if the story is weak, and the romance doesn’t work very well…
It was an okay time, just ultimately disappointing. Hopefully my tastes will align with ebi-hime again soon - regardless, I’ll still keep supporting her when I can.
Next up:
See you soon!
I think Empty Horizons was too long for that kind of story… I did end up liking Round the Mulberry Bush more, definitely because it was shorter
Yeah, you hit the nail on the head. Typically I like when there’s a lot of fluff n shit (CLANNAD, Higurashi, even) but I realize that that fluff needs to be building TOWARD something, a definite change or twist or something, but ebi-hime’s stories lately have been TOO straightforward. They just kind of… happen. I dunno, they haven’t been landing.
Hee hee! You got me for a little bit, there. I’m sure I’ll really jive with a game soon!
But… but 6/10 is a good note, right? It’s above average, at least. Was the art that good in relation to the story being poor?
It wasn’t like the story was POOR… just… ehhh….
HMMM. You’re really setting me up to go and read it myself… fine! I’ll do it! …SOON™