A Masterpiece
slough
The House in Fata Morgana surprised me over and over and over again, from the moment I opened the visual novel to the moving conclusion. Going into this, I was expecting something like Higurashi When They Cry. What I got was something far more heart-rending and it impacted me in a much more personal way. As far as atmosphere goes, this can't be beat. The art, music, and sound effects are all top notch, and there are a pretty large number of unique CGs for a non-H title. The GUI is beautiful, too. All of these things serve as a great accent to the very depressing but also extremely captivating story. I was worried at first when I saw there was no voice acting, but after completing the game, I think any voice acting would detract from the experience. I was also a little afraid that the non-moe style would grate on me, but I can't imagine this having cutesy art now that it's over. I don't want to spoil anybody because I do think that this is better left unspoiled (although if some content bothers you, heed the content warnings that are left in the link MG left on this page), but this game was really not what I was expecting at all thematically. It definitely deals with some heavy and taboo topics, but not in a tacky way. The twists were beautifully executed, not a detail was extraneous, and all of the characters are very deeply human, which makes everything that happens all the more impactful. I was so pleasantly surprised by the character beyond the fourth door, in particular. His story moved me to tears multiple times, and I will remember and think about him for a long time. Please do yourself a favor and pick up this VN. It's cheap and delivers a truly unique and intense story that will stick with you for a long time. Thank you so much, MG and Novectacle. Looking forward to A Requiem for Innocence!
