Let's face it: World End Syndrome, one of PQube's many VN offerings, is seriously flawed. The unsuspecting player sees it right of the bat, when they're forced to clear the prologue twice in a row to be granted access to the main story. The flawed nature of the game is then cemented when the ever-so-slightly-suspicious player realizes that most of the dialogue choices don't matter whatsoever. Finally, it's confirmed when the now-blasé player stumbles upon wooden and unnatural scenes referring to events they didn't witness or ignoring fomer romantic developments entirely, just because the game operates on a 'one-time-and-place = one-fixed-scene' system.
And yet, World End Syndrome is also incredibly lovely. The unsuspecting player's retinas are in for a treat right away, upon discovering the gorgeous vistas and adorable character designs. The loveliness of the game is then further enhanced by the unique and mesmerizing atmosphere of the game world, in which the main locale is treated as a full-blown character. Finally, the now enraptured player is bound to be swept off their feet by the simple yet deeply engaging and moving story, and the blessed realization that the characters are so much more than the anime tropes they seem to be at first glance.
I love WES to
pieces; and yet, that love story might not have existed at all. I'll admit it:
upon starting the main story and discovering that I had to select places to
visit without the slighest shred of indication regarding who or what I may find
there, my heart faltered and I was a hair's breadth away from stuffing the
cartridge back into my dedicated Switch Unikeep binder (story for another post,
that.) Yet I was so enraptured by the art and the game's vibe that I decided to
forge ahead and perform a crash test run of sorts, picking up places at random
and seeing where this led me. Straight to the Worst Ending, that's where it led
me! However, upon starting a new run and discovering that already visited
places were marked as such, along with indications regarding who lounged there,
I realized that it was perfectly in my power to uncover every Route without
resorting to FAQs. The way was time-consuming yet foolproof: since there were
seven different places to explore, I just had to play seven runs in a row,
visiting every single spot at every possible time. Then, I'd simply have to
track each girl like a crazy stalker closely to end up on her route.
That's exactly what I did, dear fellow gamers; and not only did it work just
fine, but it also greatly enhanced my experience of WES. Apart from the
fact that uncovering all of a game's secrets by yourself is mightily
satisfying, watching the same vistas over and over engraved Mihate Town in my
mind, making it feel breathing and alive. I also got to understand and feel the
depth of the Protagonist's depression through the many scenes that simply
showed him wandering around aimlessly; as a matter of fact, some of my runs
showed him slowly sinking into apathy as such scenes and days went by, in a
striking and vivid way that stayed with me long after I finished those
runs.
I fancy thinking that I played the game the canon way by exploring all
possibilities. The story ultimately revolves around dealing with pain and
sorrow and moving on towards recovery; getting to witness the outcomes of all
types of behaviours, from the most involved to the most lethargic, really
drives the point home. I'm glad I forged on and poured so many hours into WES,
because it ultimately turned to be one of my best and most engrossing VNs
experiences ever. A full walkthrough is coming next; until then, dear fellow gamers, keep playing and take care!
Tehvidya29 October 2020 at 15:54
The images are fantastic. So atmospheric. No way I could play a VN in such detail though, so kudos to you.
Isleif30 October 2020 at 14:16
Why, thanks! I
fell in love with the game right upon seeing the first landscape picture; I
just love that subtly cell-shaded art style.
I'll soon post a tried-and-tested route walkthrough I put together; who knows,
that may motivate you to play the game. ;D
Kumiko29 October 2020 at 18:28
Wow, the
background art for this game is beautiful. Didn't realize it before since the
character art is fairly generic.
Seems a bit too complicated for my VN tastes; other than 999, I mostly pick up
VNs to have a simple ride as breaks from other games. So it's good to hear your
experiences on it since I won't play it myself.
Isleif30 October 2020 at 14:21
I know, right?
That background art is the stuff great VNs are made of. It creates an amazing
atmosphere, and it weighs heavily in my love for the game.
To be fair, WES is not really that complicated; it's just that there's a lot of
trial-and-errors, because you'd have to be incredibly lucky to hit just the
right milestones for each route when choosing your visiting spots randomly.
It's still a great VN, and I totally encourage to play it; if you do so, you
may want to use the tried-and-tested walkthrough I put together and will post
very soon. ^^
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