Utawarerumono, or the hero that was sung of, starts of with a very rustic hometown village feel in the original title. See Yuu Sanctuary’s earlier review on Utawarerumono.
Prelude to the Fallen is a remake of that version, years after the original. I started of this title as a refresher to Utawarerumono, and was pleasantly surprised that everything had been upscaled so much. The CGs, the art, everything looks so much better than the original which was made years ago. The gameplay, felt nostalgic, having liked it since I played it before.
The first title in the series starts of with a homey feel. Our main heroines are village children to a old and wise apothecary. A man with an unremovable mask wounds up at their village after found collapsed on the ground, and then leads the village to overthrow a corrupt government in battle after battle.
To be completely honest, the battles were fun, but they were one after another towards the mid -game that I got bored. There wasn’t enough character interaction or stories in between battles, unlike Mask of Desperation, its sequel. In Mask of Desperation, I could tell there was more effort done to pad the battles with more story and comedic moments that help flesh out characters. Mask of Desperation also felt like it had more character development, where the characters actually undergo conflict, and change. Spoiler: The princess vs Kuon scene.
I grew bored of Prelude to the Fallen, but having recovered most of my memories of the original title, I went on to its sequel, the Mask of Desperation. We immediately know someting epic is going down, when Kuon names our main character Haku, after Hakuowlo, the main character in the first title, even giving him the metal fan that was passed down from Tuskur, to Hakuowlo, to Kuon and now to Haku.
This title starts of on a more lighthearted note. Our main character is a little much of a clown, and makes playing the game all the more engaging. Immeditately we are introduced to a more modern setting, in a dystopian winter feel. Although the architecture of places still lean to the traditional, our main heroine Kuon swings by with enormous superhuman strength, and throws flash bombs. It is clear at once that this is no longer the traditional homey setting of the first title. Magic and traditional japanese baths still exist in this sequel, but the idea of simple warm countryside is perished. Our inhabitants in this title fight of monsters on a daily basis, and run away from Tatari, which are unkillable blood-red slime monsters.
What I love about the sequel, is the characters from the original title appearing in them. We find out a conenction the original title soon enough, when we realise that Tuskur, is the name of a neighbouring country of the place our story finds themselves in, Yamato. We meet again, characters Karulau, Touka, the twin archers, Oboro, and they all contribute the story in some unexpected ways. It is always so exciting when they make their debut in the sequel, because although they are no longer the main focus of the story, the way the story brings them in is natural and rewards the reader with some nostalgia that came from the first title, in how these characters have aged slightly, changed appearance slightly (Oboro got a moustache), but retained the same character.
Comedy was a highlight of Mask of Desperation. Haku brought some much needed comedy to the series, with his goofy antics along with the rest of the male cast. The speech bubbles during battles were also super funny and helped make the battles less dry.
Mask of Truth happens after the events of Mask of Desperation. Things get a lot more serious here, and our favourite comedy character is no longer there to uplift our spirits. The mood gets darker here, and is more reminiscent of the later half of the Utwarerumono series, where there’s fights between factions. They still remembered to give story throughout though, and it made the difference. We see character growth in our lazy, slacker princess Anju, she grows from useless to useful with the aid of Karulau passing on her sword in an epic act, and Kuon hammering in a lesson. We see Kuon grow, at first she thinks better to follow the logic and act from a station with higher power, but the feeling of wanting to be there by her friends wins out on that, so she learns to follow her heart and go where her feelings go. We see the struggle in Nekone and her current brother, Nekone struggling each night with self-blame and self loathing, her current brother struggling to help her overcome that. Their dynamics lull like the tide, at times all seems fine, but Nekone still struggles to come to terms with those passed. We see every character’s struggle, after their lost of our favourite comedy character. There is something more raw, more emotional in Mask of Truth, and yet more rewarding in the outcomes of their struggle.
I thoroughly enjoyed playing this series, and would strongly recommend it to anyone with an interest in tile-based strategy RPG, and visual novels relating to a rustic Japanese setting. While I’ve put off continue Mask of Truth for a while, I wished to recomemnd this to anyone who may read my posts, and put a slate to mark that I’ve played this series at this point in time before, in case I never get to finishing Mask of Truth.
Epic moments that made me tear:
—Yuu
Yuu's Sanctuary 