Update Two Hundred and Forty-Four: 16 October 2018

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Brilliant Shadows begins on the day of pairing for almost-graduates of a school of magic. Necromancers and Paladins undertake a ceremony to pair with each other, Dark to Light. Necromancer Ash, your character, and her best friend Paladin Prude are bursting with excitement, knowing they’re going to be paired. Except… Prude is paired with a strange Necromancer who’d gone unpaired for three years… and no one can find who Ash is paired with.

This VN starts very strong but unfortunately doesn’t sustain that quality over its relatively short playtime. Funnily enough, I wish it were longer - character relationships grow largely offscreen (or we’re told that they’re different now) rather than organically coming about. As much as I liked the main character and her best friend, Prudence, the other characters feel more flat, and the third lead, Hektor, is really… really unlikable, until all of the sudden we’re supposed to like him now. Even an hour or two more time to breathe would be great, for things to grow organically, especially the ending. The ending DEFINITELY just kind of happens. A lot of things just kind of happen.

On the flip side, there is a TON of CGs for a VN this length, most of them very well done (though sometimes I don’t Love how the faces come out). They’re dynamic and interesting, and the style is a unique one. This is a decently near miss - still worth being picked up, but not as satisfying as it could have been.

There’s a sequel out for it that I’ll end up picking up, but there’s no spot for it on my VN masterlist.

Next up: Otome Wizard of Oz? Sign me up!

See you soon!