Curate of Curiosities

Final Words


So, that was Moe Era. As you might expect, I have a number of things to say about both its message and the way it delivers it.

First, the positives.

From the start, the game does a good job of maintaining a surreal, dreamlike atmosphere. This is helped by a soundtrack that's heavy of minimalistic synth tracks. It's intro and ending scenes taking place in a starry void also help.

The art and character sprites are well done, despite the clear visual similarities to DDLC. (A lot of Marta's sprites resemble those of Monika, just to start with.)

The premise had some potential, though, of course, it would require some considerable skill to execute it without it coming across as forced.

Which brings us to the game's drawbacks.

As mentioned before, the game is trying pretty hard to ape DDLC in aesthetic, if not in theme. Though at least, I can appreciate it for both a) committing to being a proper dating sim for longer and b) not suddenly turning into a horror game out of nowhere.

I have mixed feelings about the Internet meme references in this game. Most of the time, they were not too distracting, but other times, like in the intro scene, it nearly threw me out of the experience. I guess they're to make the game seem more relatable to its target audience, but still...

Last but not least, there's the ending. Yes, I know that the mythology theme was foreshadowed practically from the word go. The problem is in the payoff: once the girls' true natures are revealed, you are treated to one of the most drawn out, pretentious speeches I have ever seen in any game. This wouldn't be much of a problem if it weren't for the fact that at this point, the game has already beaten you over the head with its message. You don't need to be told some nonsense about the end of the cycles of man or whatever Bootleg Hecatia was talking about.

All that aside, the game's still worth looking at, and far from the worst visual novel I've played.