Haru To Shura (v1.02.1 & ALL DLC’s)

When Chihiro, an ordinary high school student, goes to the hospital for an examination, he is ferried to Eden — a mysterious land that knows no suffering. On the surface, Eden is peaceful and calm, but everything changes when he meets a mysterious man named Yoru… “Haru to Shura” is a lo-fi, pixel-based 2D fable about two young men in a dreamlike, gloomy world that hides a bittersweet secret. Explore the village as Chihiro, chat with the eccentric villagers, obtain items, progress the story through cozy, casual adventure gameplay, and uncover the truth at the heart of the peaceful, moonlit winterland of Eden. While it’s still a visual novel, I found that the story was still very rich, and if you’re a fan of visual novels you’ll probably get a kick out of this game. Pacing wise it feels more like a psychological thriller, think of games like “Saya no Uta” or “Steins;Gate” but instead of a typical visual novel UI, the UT controls a bit like village sections in games like Legend of Zelda II, or the village sections in Cave Story. The overall presentation/aesthetics are still presented as a typical studio pixel game, so much of the emotional core of the game is done through pixelated art, written dialogue and chiptune music. all of which present the game with a dreamy, fairy-tale like atmosphere. It can be a bit slow and boring at times where the pixelated art and music become a bit of a hindrance to the overall story, the actual written dialogue can also become a bit lumbering to read at times; many of the characters have to say what they feel because the pixel art doesn’t capture their emotions properly, and the MC is mute throughout the game.