Amarantus

Amarantus is a tricky game to write about. It does so much well, and I believe it is worth playing. The art has been rightfully praised; Amartantus is the most lovingly-detailed visual novel I've played when it comes to character expressions. The story is an interesting tale to unravel with some solid themes. I appreciate how the author trusts the player to figure things out. There's no exposition, which can be both freeing yet sometimes frustrating as characters allude to personal or political knowledge that they have but the player does not. Amarantus is tricky to write about because like the lack of exposition, many elements of this game both work for me and don't. This isn't due to a lack of vision. Amarantus is a passion project that's been in the works for years and years. If anything, I would say that Amarantus suffers from having been worked on for too long. This is a feeling that's difficult to describe. Let me try with a couple metaphors. It's as if Amarantus is a rock face that's been exposed to the water so long that grooves have been carved into it. Everything is well-polished, but in being polished so thoroughly it's as if some texture and vitality has been rubbed away. A common piece of advice for writers is not to show your work to too many people before the work is done, for risk of their feedback overwriting the writer's own voice. I think the same piece of advice applies to an author working with their future and past selves. Amarantus is the product of a decade's work, and I imagine that over a decade the author's idea of what the game is shifted, even as traces of old and new visions for the game had to coexist. Despite this subtle-yet-pervasive feeling that casts a malaise over the game, Amarantus is certainly worth playing for those interested in stories. Amarantus tells a well-crafted tale that does a great deal right. If I seem critical, that's because Amarantus is so close to being one of the truly masterful pieces of video game art, but it doesn't quite get there in my books. Games can be good - even great - without being masterpieces, though. Amarantus is not a masterpiece, but it's pretty great.

I love these goobers and their terrible life decisions.

Amarantus is a beautifully complex story on the messiness of revolution and even messier relationships. Every decision you make matters but it doesn't stray you away from making questionable decisions. All the characters are so layered and so dynamic, added by the animations. Amarantus pushes the medium of visual novel to the fullest extent and it makes it's world so much richer for it.

They weren't lying. Relationships are a truly messy affair. Oneliners aside, this is a great visual novel, crafted in an inspired artful spirit and a project that is definitely worth exploring.

It's a good small VN, the art is good, sound effects are good, music is OK, it move well, and it has the necessary QOL that every modern VN has now. The game really shines at what it sells : interesting dynamic and relationships between characters What's a little disappointing is that the characters are too one dimensional, with little depth. The main plot line is too simple, too short. I Think you are supposed to try each characters routes but honestly can't bother. Outside Reckon, which is a complex character, all the others are insuferable in their own ways.

WOW

[h1]色情度不足 Not my type 2/5[/h1] 剛開始玩沒多久就讓我心情複雜。劇情的鋪陳不足、節奏混亂、邏輯破碎、銜接不連貫，選擇和後續結果之間的關聯性更是詭異。還需要遊玩兩次才能補完完整劇情，我看不出有何必要。明明增加的東西放在第一輪也 OK，甚至於我敢說體驗會更好。 首先我無法理解為何這群人會主動自願跟主角踏上旅途。每個人的動機在一個稍微有點奇怪的時間點被拿出來討論，但他們的動機都有其他替代方案，根本沒有說服力。而主角的背景其實還滿不錯的，可是前面的鋪陳完全沒有拿出來講。只看到一個路邊的農民突然說要去推翻暴君，然後他媽的只帶四個人沒有任何長期計畫。認真的嗎？ 其次說到這個長期計畫更是可笑，要推翻一個暴君至少要先獲得民意吧？又或者需要時間獲得一些貴族、派系的支持。假設都沒有最少也要有一定的武力吧？NO，一個沒有任何背景的農民說走就走，沒有知識、沒有武力、沒有民心、沒有正當性。而且遊戲內從計畫出發到暴君面前好像才一個禮拜左右…… 處理暴君的方法有三（實際上到了真結局只有一個）——和暴君面對面談、殺了他、讓他下台。先不管那個看起來有點詭異的面對面談。你今天什麼都沒有，幸運的「推翻」暴君，你猜會發生什麼事情？馬上有人覺得你沒站穩好欺負，現在誰都可以篡位。更糟的情況就是被原有勢力操弄變成傀儡政權。 跟隨主角的那些伙伴基本上也沒有任何從政經歷或是能力，到底能幹嘛？然後這些問題全部都被一個非常「簡單」的理由給打發了，主角是[spoiler]暴君藏起來的兒子[/spoiler]。 說實在主角的背景沒有鋪陳或暗示就算了，他那個背景也不足以讓他無痛登上王位。或者說，我更不理解他為什麼最後只有[spoiler]殺了暴君[/spoiler]一途可選。而第二輪增加的「東西」更是有點……奇幻？這裡是這樣的世界觀嗎？ 遊戲裡所有的理由都很薄弱，感覺不出必然性，彷彿單純是因為劇情需要所以存在。 至於戀愛的部分，我覺得抱持著那種東西不存在的心態遊玩可能比較好。不提除了主角外其他四個人早就湊作堆這點，可攻略對象在很前面就確定了，而且還沒有任何提示。我知道遊戲介紹有說過不保證戀愛，但是老天，後面完全沒有挽救的機會。 另外他的選擇以「遊戲性」來講有點微妙，為什麼我選擇做事的方法會關連到能不能跟某人勾搭上？還同時牽扯到主角的性格。一般來講這三件事是分開的，性格影響做事時的態度或說話方式；而攻略對方的選擇會放在小支線裡，按照對待對方的方式來決定能不能在一起，而不是放在決定主角性格的選項裡。說實在我看不出主角性格跟攻略對象之間的關聯性。 再來不和角色談戀愛就不能深入了解對方，我覺得這點很可惜。要在不了解角色的情況下，決定以某種態度／方式去走對方的線？感覺不怎麼對。此外某些路線和伙伴的互動有點過於好，好到讓人覺得那條線是正史。 遊戲在一些細節刻劃和互動的部分描寫得很好。但是這些段落東一塊西一塊，並沒有很好的融入在主線中。除此之外值得稱讚的只剩下畫風還有立繪的小動畫，做得還算滿有趣的。

arte muito bonita e personagens muito interessantes assim como as relações interpessoais, mas senti que a história no fundo era meio... rasa? não sei se não entendi muito bem a escrita mas só me pareceu bastante estranha, como se eu sempre estivesse esperando alguma coisa a mais que nunca chega a acontecer.