Curate of Curiosities

In the years since I first became aware of the medium, I have noticed that visual novels tend to be rather gimmicky, particularly those made by Westerners. Just to name one example, you have Lily’s Day Off, which, at first glance, is about a young man meeting his favorite pop idol, but literally every choice you make drastically changes the story. And this is one of the more interesting examples.

If you look in the visual novel tag on itch.io, then…

Huh, this seems downright typical...

Okay, this is closer to what I was talking about; a deconstruction.

How disappointing, I could have sworn that there were more of these on this site. Looks like a lot of them are just playing the medium straight.

Anyways this brings us to Moe Era, a game made by Russia-based developers Comfy Company. I don't remember exactly how I found out about this, but when I did, I immediately noticed something familiar about its presentation.

It reminded me a lot of Doki Doki Literature Club, the dating sim turned psychological horror, and I thought that it would do something similar.

Just look at it; its logo looks vaguely similar, and its trailer desperately tries to give off the impression of being a normal dating sim:

Fortunately, I can tell you right now that Moe Era does not abruptly turn into a creepypasta partway through. Of course, that doesn't mean it's still an ordinary dating sim.

Sections:

1. The Nothing-In-Particular Club
   The seeds of subversion get planted here. I don't have much hope for how the game will follow through.
2. The Self-Help World Tour
3. The "Date" Part of the Dating Sim
4. Completing the Circle
5. Final Words
6. EXTRA: Relative Normalcy
   Want to know what the deal is with the one male character?
7. EXTRA: Mo' Moe, Mo' Problems
   Or, the most underwhelming New Game Plus I've ever seen.