REVIEW : Viola: The Heroine’s Melody (PC)
Following closely in the footprints of predecessors can always be a double-edged sword. It can end in quality content but also experience a lack of uniqueness. Viola: The Heroine’s Melody takes a lot of gameplay features from many famous games while adding plenty of new ideas and charm and that it becomes a welcome and fresh experience.
This game at its core is an RPG and the way to explore the world is 2D platforming. The RPG mechanics and character growth, equipment, and turn-based fights aren’t as deep as Final Fantasy or Dragon Age, but they still provide for a lot of tactics and great choices. The platforming is a little bit more enjoyable than I suspected, the areas to explore are surprisingly large and some simple mechanics make traversal feel just challenging enough to not be tedious. Both these elements of the core gameplay aren’t innovative or profound, however, they are well crafted, taking inspiration from renowned games of the past. There are also musical inputs for various moments like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time that add to the musical theme of the game.
The game mechanic that makes this Viola stand out is that every attack and unique ability is performed through a short rhythmical sequence. The player will have to input things on a small “Guitar Hero like” track to have that move succeed. This could become irritating and very tedious, but the variety of different inputs, their length, and randomness keeps things fresh. Most importantly, a character’s attack or special ability will do more harm or healing the better you perform the inputs. It is a straightforward mechanic and makes every battle appealing. I’m sure it’s been done before, but it’s done smartly and makes fight far more active than most turn-based games.
The story is cute and charming. The classic fish out of water/lost in a mystic land story. However, the characters and dialogue are usually fairly short and sweet and charming enough to keep players entertained. If players want to skip through the dialogue, they won’t miss very much and can quickly move to the rest of the gameplay. I will say that players will miss out on a pretty impressive story if they choose to skip over dialogue, this has been one of the few games over the last few months that have engaged me with its narrative.
REVIEW : Neoverse (XBOX Series X)
