A Mundane Mystery
Visual novels and mystery stories complement each other like chocolate and peanut butter. Crafting a well-told one is an extremely difficult task, but when it’s done right, you’ve got an instant classic on your hands! Danganronpa, AI: The Somnium Files, and even Phoenix Wright are all fondly remembered by those who’ve played them. That being said, DareSora: Tears of an Unknown Sky has big shoes to fill! Created by the doujin group Anagram and published by Sol Press, DareSora is this development team’s debut project. Do they make a good first impression? Let’s take a look.
Story
“I will never forgive the one behind all this. Though I will most likely die before I learn the truth.” These words are the first you see upon starting the game. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an opening that reeks of so much irony!
DareSora is the first episode in this mystery visual novel series and aims to set up the setting and characters. Does it accomplish this? Ehh… kind of. The game takes place six weeks into some kind of event or game that the main character is involved in. You’re gradually introduced to each member of the main cast who’re all members of a vaguely described school club. And much like most visual novels, DareSora will require you to complete multiple playthroughs to see every character.
This is all tied together by a sense of unease. Your character will frequently monologue about something that will happen in the near future. This was intriguing and kept me somewhat invested. However, just when you think it’s building up to something huge, it’s an anti-climactic reveal. Not only that, but you’re thrust into the game’s epilogue. That said, the epilogue itself is easily the best part of the story, mainly because you’re introduced to the game’s most fleshed-out character.
For those of you who love creating multiple save files to see all the various paths, you’ll be hugely disappointed with what’s on offer. You only get one choice in the whole story and the only change it makes is which character you interact with. The ending won’t ever change regardless of the choice made. So, it begs the question of why you’re even given an option at all.
When you look at the narrative as a whole, it’s quite mediocre. We barely spend any time with the characters to flesh any of them out. The game’s pacing is also far too fast for an introductory chapter. I got the feeling that the writers wanted to get to the big reveal as quickly as possible. In doing so, it hindered the overall impact because there was no investment. I didn’t care about the characters involved.
As previously stated, DareSora is presented as an episodic story. Each one tries to deepen the lore and characters. We’ve seen this model used for the hugely successful Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni series. So, we know this can work for a visual novel. The problem is that this was the only episode to be released and what’s worse, all the first episode’s routes can be finished in just over an hour! If this was a free download or a demo to give you a taste of the full game, I would have no issue with that.
Characters
With DareSora being so short, almost all characters are shallow. If more episodes were ever released, I have no doubt we would have gotten more insight into each of their personalities and backstories. We don’t get that though, so we’re stuck with an incredibly generic cast.
If you’ve seen any Japanese media in the last decade, you’ve seen these archetypes hundreds of times before. There’s the male best friend, the innocent little girl, the androgynous pretty boy, and the meek studious woman. Though that last one is wearing an eyepatch, so that’s a little different, even if it’s never addressed.
Easily the best character in the game is Luna, but that’s only because we spend the most time with her. She’s implied to be the game’s main antagonist and she certainly leaves an impression on you! She’s playful, provocative, regularly loves to monologue and above all else, she’s memorable! There was a point in the game where she signs a coupon. I had this huge smile on my face with how charming the scene was. Some of you may think that her inclusion is worth the price point, but I’d disagree. I found her to be a bit obnoxious too, but I get the feeling this was the intent, so mission accomplished there.
Options
Despite its short length, you’ve certainly got a lot of options to personalize your experience. You can adjust the text window’s transparency, adjust various skip options, and change every aspect of the game’s sound. Yes, including the voice tracks for each gender. DareSora fully supports both English and Japanese text. The maximum resolution only goes up to 1600×900, though you can manually adjust the game’s window to find a comfortable size. Finally, you can adjust the font the game uses for the in-game text. So for those out there who like your VNs in Comic Sans, this is the game for you!
Presentation
If there was one thing I can fully praise, it’s DareSora’s presentation. This is a very pretty game and has sound to match its quality. Whether it be the environments, the event pictures, or even the characters themselves, they all ooze it. They also all have a wide variety of facial animations. So despite only having one pose for each, this is a forgivable omission.
It may be a nice looking game, but it’s the audio that’s the highlight. Other than the main character, everyone is fully voiced and their performances are quite good. Akino Hana as Luna easily steals the show, but that’s likely because she had the best dialogue to work with. Their performances also enhance the visuals. As each character talks, their expressions change with what’s being said. You’ll regularly find characters changing expressions multiple times per dialogue box and this really elevates DareSora’s overall polish. The music isn’t as strong though, with it regularly being distracting. I’m a huge fan of the piano used in video game soundtracks, but DareSora really doesn’t do the instrument justice.
Verdict
By their very nature, visual novels are some of the longest story-driven games out there. They are made to engross you into their worlds and become attached to their characters. DareSora fails in all of those aspects. It may look and sound pretty, but it’s only skin deep.
For those of you who are still curious, I have some bad news. DareSora can no longer be purchased on the Steam store, but honestly, you’re not missing much. There are an infinite amount of better VNs on the platform that are more worth your time and money.
DARESORA: TEARS FOR AN UNKNOWN SKY IS NOT RECOMMENDED
If you would like to see a recommended visual novel by Sol Press you may be interested in our review of Under One Wing.
Many thanks go to Sol Press for a Nintendo Switch review code for this title.
An anime/gaming aficionado, experienced content creator and lovable goofball. Name a game genre and Seamus has likely played it… yes, even that one. Follow him @TrueStorySeamus
