I dunno how popular the visual novel genre is around these parts but I recently played through one in particular that utterly transcends anime tiddies to become a captivating tragic story about the beautiful and terrible nature of humanity while being a love story at its core. Themes of redemption, forgiveness and the lack of it, terrible abuse, and transcending it all to find happiness fit together to form one of the better stories I’ve read in recent memory, ignoring the fact that it’s technically a game!
This visual novel is called The House in Fata Morgana, and even if you’re not a fan of the genre I’d highly recommend the game if you read fiction. Like, at all.
The story starts with you, the player, as an amnesiac regaining consciousness in the ruins of an isolated mansion with a mysterious and ethereal maid standing before you. She calls you Master, and wishes for you to take her hand and let her guide you through the memories of those who lived in this house in order to regain your own memories and reclaim yourself. The first three chapters of the game focus on these memories; showing you sad tales of a young man and his sister, a beastlike man and his tether to humanity, and the insecurities of a young businessman regarding his wife. Naturally they all end in ruin.
The fourth chapter is where the main story starts gaining steam. You’re shown the tale of man exiled to a shuttered mansion, shrouded in darkness. The days, months, and years blend together as he receives the bare necessities from his estranged family. One day a knock at the door rouses him from his misery and rather than a servant delivering food a young cheery woman stands before him. Their year together is a careful and cautious dance of two hurt souls becoming close, and their chapter’s end leaves you wondering… is what you just read memory? Will you accept the previous three stories as well as this one, or is it too perfect to be real?
In the end, The House in Fata Morgana is a love story where the protagonists suffer terrible abuse at the hands of their loved ones, or ones they trust. The publisher, MangaGamer, posted a lengthy content warning on their blog for the game, but don’t let that make you think it’s crass and only for shock value. The game treads carefully around the content, showing these awful things with grace and respect. People are people, with motivations, weaknesses, and the strength to overcome.
The story’s conclusion ties everything you’ve experienced up until that point, leaving no gaping holes or dangling threads. It took me about 25 hours to complete without seeing every bad ending.
I also have to mention the wonderful and dreamlike soundtrack, sung in multiple languages.
Anyways, since I didn’t find a thread for VNs feel free to discuss other games here! I’ll probably end up writing something about the Zero Escape series as well.
I almost forgot to mention that there’s a demo and that it’s currently on sale on Steam as part of the Branching Paths promotion!
