Her personality feels realistic and consistent throughout the game, though it suffers during her ending where things wrap up far too conveniently. I found only Kotori to be of particular interest, though she only narrowly avoids the tsundere typing. They are a likable bunch, so it’s easy to forgive the obvious stereotyping. It will come as no surprise that character archetypes are found in abundance: Ageha the childhood friend, Amane the smart and clumsy girl, Asa and Yoru the twins with opposite personalities, and so on. Likewise, comedic elements such as a top hat-wearing duck, keep the game lighthearted, even through dramatic moments. With the help of Kotori Hanabe, a disabled girl bound to her wheelchair, Aoi learns to overcome the restrictions and fears forced upon him by his cycling injury. The plot progresses slowly, but it’s a relaxing ride. Instead, it chooses to focus on positive experiences and friendships. That said, If My Heart Had Wings never tries to be truly tragic like many other games in the genre. The story follows a predictable plot arc of trials and success, and it fails to deliver any real emotional impact at any stage. She did this in order to fulfil the wish of her old friend Isuka to travel above the clouds during a natural phenomenon known as “Morning Glory.” What follows is a story of friendship, romance and a charming tale of a group of kids working together to achieve a difficult goal. Until Aoi and his friends join the club, Amane had been continually repeating her final year of school to finish building her glider: a plane-like contraption powered purely by the wind. Retiring from cycling after an accident, Aoi returns to his home town after a long absence and is placed as the role of “dorm mother” (by his own mother who owns the dormitory) to a group of high school girls. If My Heart Had Wings follows the story of Aoi Minase and his involvement in his school’s Soaring Club, led by the “super repeat” student Amane Mochizuki. Perhaps this is a controversial opinion, but if it will help globalise the visual novel genre, then I hope other companies will follow in MoeNovel’s footsteps.
That aside, the game stands beautifully on its own, even devoid of sexual content.
If successful, this could lead to more Japanese companies seriously considering localising their games internationally. MoeNovel have attempted to open the visual novel genre and make it more accessible to those who may never have heard of it. It will likely come as no surprise that they received critical backlash from the gaming community for this move a reaction I believe to be grossly unfair and misguided. During their localisation process, MoeNovel decided it was in their best interest to remove all adult content from the game in the hopes of opening it to a wider audience. Before I begin this review in earnest, I feel that it is worth commenting on the controversy surrounding the release of If My Heart Had Wings.
0 kommentar(er)
