Update Sixty-One: 9 October 2017
The Lion's Song
18.7 hours, 84 of 86 achievements
10/10
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
I was only supposed to be playing the last two episodes, but achievements dictated I replay the first two in a certain way. I’m glad I did, because I got to see the full story come together as one piece, moving as one, with an added bonus of a few patched touch-ups for the older chapters.
The result? Spectacular.
I had enjoyed the Lion’s Song back when I had just played the first chapter when it was first released for free - I liked it enough to immediately buy the season. I’m glad I did, because the investment is well worth it.
The Lion’s Song is a game set in Vienna, Austria about a year before the outbreak of WWI. You follow three people struggling with their work - a composer, a painter, and a mathematician - with major themes around self-expression, inspiration, and truth. It’s gorgeous. The music is beautiful. The writing is sicknasty.
On the steam forums for this game, somebody made a recent post asking whether the game was worth it, whether it was good. I replied, and I’ll quote myself here:
“I’m not a SUPER big crier, but I am pretty emotional - this game plucked at my heartstrings and I’ve choked up/cried some at least once each episode, sometimes multiple times per episode. The combination of the gorgeous, understated art style, the stunning soundtrack, and the way the text is presented in a ‘lively’ manner (it jitters and waves with the emotion of the person’s voice without losing readability) presents a seriously impactful game.
I’d rate it a ten out of ten and recommend it, period.”
I never thought of it this way, but as I finished I realized in my heart that this absolutely qualifies as a VN+ - there’s some walking around and pointing and clicking and some very minor puzzles, but, by god, if the Zero Escape and Dangan Ronpa games count as VN+ then this game does, too. It has a deft use of choice - and that choice actually MEANS something. The stories are all woven into each other, and the impact is in how you see those choices come up again and again in different ways.
In light of this, The Lion’s Song easily gets a spot on my Visual Novel Masterlist. I hope you consider trying it - the first episode is free. It only gets better from there.
…. unfortunately, what this game is NOT is completed. For me, I mean. I didn’t complete it. There’s an achievement for getting all the ‘connections’ throughout all the different chapters involving playing and replaying and choices and there’s no completed guide yet and… it’s a lot. I had such a wonderful time with it that I didn’t want to make myself sick of it, so I will re-shelve it for now to pick up some other time. I guess this makes it a partial rewound? At least it’s moved from ‘unfinished’ to ‘beaten’.
Next up: Let’s consult RNGesus. It says to play -
See you soon!
I have the first part installed on my PC but never got around to playing it… you made me want to try it soon :)
Please do! The first episode is a lovely taste of what the others will bring, and the latter three really open up and do different, unique things.
+1 for just adding Lion’s Song to the wishlist! It looks awesome and your reviews makes me wanna try it even more! :)
Thank you very much, that makes me feel really good to hear! I don’t think you’ll be disappointed, M.
I never heard of it before (well apart from your previous post) but it really looks interesting, than you for the discovery!!
It’s a really sort of hidden gem that I hope gets more attention. It’s something special. I’m glad I could bring it to your attention!
Another one for the wishlist… thanks for sharing your impressions.
Thank you very much for listening to them! It makes me feel really good that I can show people something they might not have seen before that they’d like.
Aargh.
- I don’t tend to like pixel graphics (though there are exceptions);
- I don’t tend to like limited palette art styles like this one (though there are exceptions);
- I don’t tend to like games with very low completion percentages (though there are exceptions, and in this case it appears to be because lots of people only have Ep 1).
But this is such a glowing endorsement. I should want to play it, right? :D
Nooooooo Treeeeeeent!!!! Even as I was adding this to the VN masterlist, I was like ‘oh, it’s another VN+ Trent might like!’
I would say that if you’re going to play ONE limited palette pixel graphic game, it should be this one.
It deals with adult themes that I think you’d find really interesting - or, rather, adult themes that aren’t ‘sex’. It’s a grown-up-ass game in a way that a lot of other games - and VNs - aren’t. The way the game explores the themes I stated above - of self-expression, of inspiration and how to find it, and of ‘truth’ - it does from a mature place. There’s still moments of levity, but there’s a lot of gut punches that hit home.
Long story short: YES TRENT you should want to play it. Even if it’s just to try out the first ep.
LOL. Okay, ONE and ONLY ONE limited palette, pixel graphic, adult-themed, achievement nightmare, VN+ Steam game. That’s my max! :D
BTW, Perils of Man is on my wishlist. I’ll be interested to see what you think of it.
Never heard of it before, but I just read your post, watched the trailer and now it’s on my wishlist. Sounds and looks like an amazing game. And I’ve made the same experience with episodic games (or even sequels), the story is so much better when you play all the episodes at once.
I hope RNGesus picked a good one!
I’m so happy to hear that! And I’m inclined to agree - I put off Telltale games until all their episodes are out. I think I should do that with my other games, now. Make another separate category to know which games to go back to when they’re updated.
I just forget so many little details in the months that often go by until I play another part of a game…and often it’s the details, that set a game really apart from the rest. So the waiting is often justified in my opinion :)