FINALLY Area-X is
released and ready to play! Like X-Note (If you haven't played it yet
– you really need too) the game is more about the story and not so
much the romance. Not to say there isn't any at all, but if you're
the type that likes to see the MC get at least a kiss you may be a
little disappointed with this game. None-the-less I would recommend
playing it either way – it's a great visual novel!
So... What is Area-X? For
those of you who don't know...
“AREA-X - A Time Traveling Otome Game
In the far future,
people live 1000 meters deep underground. Technology is abundant, but
life is a constant struggle. An organization sought to end this by
sending people back in time to recover lost natural resources. Elcia
is one of such people. As a Time Negotiator, it's her job to travel
across various dimensions and negotiate with people of the past.
However, in a strange twist of fate, Elcia
accidentally stumbled upon an unknown dimension known as "Area-X"
during her very first mission. Following its discovery, more bizarre
incidents and conspiracies awaited her one after another - all of
this eventually led to discovering the uncanny nature of the world
and how it all ties to Elcia’s very own mysterious past...
GAME OVERVIEW:
Area-X is a blend between a Visual Novel, a Dating Sim, and an Adventure Game. Follow the story of Elcia as she travels through time and unravels the true nature of her mysterious surroundings. The game spans six chapters, of which you can explore multiple dimensions, complete missions and make choices to determine Elcia's fate.
Developer: Zeiva
Inc Production
Spec: Flash, 170 MB, 800×600
Genre: Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction
Rating: Teen 13+
Release Date:16 June 2013 ”
Spec: Flash, 170 MB, 800×600
Genre: Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction
Rating: Teen 13+
Release Date:16 June 2013 ”
Just to warn you, this will probably have a lot
more spoilers than my other reviews.
You play as Elcia. She's young, beautiful, strong
willed and a sadist... Yep – that's right, a sadist and boy was it
fun to play as her. Elcia is also very special in several ways. First
– unlike most Time Negotiator's Elcia is able to stay in other
dimensions for a lot longer than most, she also isn't limited to
travelling to only one era. Throughout the game you will also
discover more and more secrets about her as you play through the
different routes but I don't want to give to much away right now.
I started with Belph and
if I'm completely honest, before the game was released he was the guy
I was least interested in. I didn't actively seek out his path but
seeing as you can only choose between him and Yuras until you've
completed both of their good and bad routes and I didn't really have
a clue what I was doing at first, it just kind of worked out this
way.
Belph is a pretty laid
back or should I say a 'lazy' guy who spends his free time either
playing video games or drinking.
He also attended the same
school as Elcia where they caused so much mischief that they got the
nick-name “Sadistic duo”. I'll leave you play the game to find
out why that is :3.
On Elcia's first day at
her new job she finds out Belph will be her operator, they spend a
few minutes “strengthening their bond” via jokes and laughter
much to Irina's (Elcia's best friend) dismay before Elcia heads out
on her first mission. Almost as soon as she reaches her destination
Belph makes a joke that a normal person probably wouldn't find funny
in that situation (although I thought he was great) then proceeds to
talk half-arsed nonsense before leaving her to do her job. By this
point I was already enjoying myself. His half-arsed, lazy but witty
attitude carries on like this for a little longer until Elcia finally
arrives back in her own era.
I don't really want to
write to much about the novels story as it might somehow discourage
some from actually buying it and that would be a shame, but yeah,
Belph's witty attitude really does give him a nice characteristic and
you can see that Elcia and him get along quite well.
Belph's bad ending was...
I suppose it was a little sad considering how it turns out but I
didn't really feel any strong emotion for it. You can see he's doing
his best to protect Elcia by sacrificing his own freedom in many ways
and still I only felt a tiny bit sorry for him – nothing more.
Belph's good ending
however, I found to be really fun, he's still mischievous but you see
it in a slightly different light. The bonus ending via sea path I
thought was amazingly done. It's a very small chapter but it brought
a smile to my face none-the-less. The Sadistic duo are together and
making the most of it. They are care-free, having fun and at the same
time, making the world a better place. This also has my favourite
Belph route CG in it.
Yuras is found in the Ice
ages and I think it fits him perfectly. He can appear cold at times
as he has very little to say and doesn't usually speak until prompted
too. He does however, speak truthfully without hesitation. Yuras is
a strong fighter and can dispatch jaguars instantly. The first time
Elcia meets Yuras is just the best. Believing her to be dead after a
jaguar attack he tries to bury her in the snow. Needless to say, it's
quite a funny scene. Even though Yuras doesn't speak much to begin
with, you do learn quite a lot about him, his past and his
relationship with his family. He's very close to his older sister and
is willing to do whatever it takes to protect her. I also found it
rather cute how, even though Yuras lives in a world filled with snow
he doesn't know what a snowman is, referring to it as more of a
monster yet he still loves to make them after Elcia introduces them
to him.
Yuras bad ending... I
think I was too shocked to feel much other than a great deal of
sympathy. You do really see a side of Yuras that you don't want to be
on the receiving end of. He's pretty brutal.
His good ending I liked
seeing his mature side as well as his childish side. He was so
adorable here. That's all I can really say without spoiling it to
much though :/
Rexus... Ah how I've been
waiting to romance you since X-Note. If you played X-Note you will
likely be pleased to find Rexus hasn't changed all that much. He can
still be found lurking behind objects much like he was with Essi in
the park but only this time he has to face Elcia when he's caught.
She doen't have a single problem teasing him with her sadistic humour
and I loved it when she can make him blush as red as a tomato. The
whole scene in ORZ Corporate at the staircase if you're on Rexus good
path is the best thing ever!! That tomato faced Rexus really is
something I couldn't get tired of swooning over... ahem. Again as
with X-Note he tries to act dumb most of the time but Elcia can
always see through him easily, telling him repeatedly that he isn't a
very good actor. If anyone is wondering, Rexus path really does fit
in nicely around his story with Essi from X-Note and it's done in
such a creative, unique was I would never have been able to guess
it... although maybe I should have been able too... I dunno.
Aaaanyway for something I've been looking forward to for quite some
time, this route really didn't disappoint. It may have made me go
“eh...?” in a few places but it comes together nicely and it was
really great to see all the old characters from X-Note too. I still
can't believe it was Elcia who made Anon who he is in that novel but
I'd really like to thank her for it heh-heh-heh.
I know I just said the
route didn't disappoint but I can't truthfully say the same for the
endings. I know Zeiva Inc isn't big on the whole happy ever after
romance thing but still, I couldn't help hoping for more here, maybe
that's because I've been wanting to seduce this red-haired hunk for
what seems like ages. That's not to say I didn't like the endings at
all – in fact the good ending is very practical... That's not how
I'd have imagined describing a good end to a visual novel but there
you have it!
We then come to Livan
found in the Middle Ages. He's obsessed with painting and refers to a
lot of things as if they were paintings. He's a generally nice person
and says multiple times how he receives joy from helping people –
He even willingly gives a thief his money knowing that they are lying
when they say they only steal because they are hungry. I'm always
curious about these overly nice types of characters as I'm always
expecting them to be secretly evil or something. I was even waiting
for him to poison the king while making cookies but they never
happens. I'm not entirely sure if I'm actually disappointed or not.
Livan's path has a few strange characters such as a king obsessed
with cookies to the point where he will end every sentence with the
word “cookie” and another man who is obsessed with bears and the
word “fabulous”. At the very least, they are defiantly amusing if
not a little annoying at times. I'm still not sure what to make of
Livan altogether though, because as soon as I started to think “Oh,
maybe he is just a generally nice guy” BAM I'm shown otherwise.
Where the hell was he hiding that personality? Even knowing this you
can defiantly see he cares a great deal for Elcia and he's willing to
do whatever he needs too to ensure her safety.
His bad ending I wasn't
too surprised by as the events towards the end played out. It really
made me feel for Elcia though.
His good ending was... not
really what I had expecting and it's nice to be surprised sometimes –
this is no exception. It's a very interesting end for a game and I
can say I quite enjoyed it even if it isn't the usual type of thing!
Ferim is the fifth and
final path in the game. He is located in a place called Area-X.
Almost nothing is known about this area and most Time Negotiators
that arrive at this place end up there by accident. Ferim originally
tells Elcia to call him “Time Manager” as he
is the being that transcends time and he is able to oversee all
dimensions. Ferim seems to be a complete mystery and is only willing
to give the utmost minimal information, encouraging Elcia to figure
the rest out by herself. Ferim's path is different from the others as
you don't spent your time solely in his era, instead, you spend some
time exploring the others eras. Ferim's path feels more like a way to
answer any last minute questions and a way to wrap up the game as a
whole. Having said this I still think he's well worth the wait.
Shortly after my personal most hated mission in the game you get to
see what Ferim actually looks like and damn... Why does he feel the
need to hide behind that hood? I found him to be the most interesting
characters out of the guys as he will sometimes admit to things he
probably shouldn't with a straight forward answer and what seems to
be pride. All around, he probably is my favourite guy – He's just
written so well!! Ferim only has one ending unlike the other guys and
it felt more like a reward for finishing the game. It's defiantly
what I'd call “bittersweet”.
Overall I quite enjoyed
this visual novel. The story through the different paths connected
together nicely and Zeiva Inc didn't forget about X-Note either. It
wrapped up nicely in each route and by the time I finished the game
all my questions were answered quite nicely. There were tones of
interesting characters, both old and new and I especially had fun
roaming around in the 'Present'. Although now I do feel a little
nostalgic and will probably dust of my copy of X-Note for another
playthrough pretty soon.
No expense was spared with
the beautiful CG's. You can find many throughout the game and they
are all very well done. I laughed at some, chocked up on others and
swooned a little here and there... >.> Sadly there isn't a
gallery in this version but I've read there will be one in version
2.0. The sprites are the same. Zeiva Inc didn't cut any corners. If
they needed a new sprite, they just got on with it and made a new
one. Even all of the old characters from X-Note got a nice overhaul
and while we're on the subject might I just point out that Loil
somehow managed to look even eviller even if he is covered from head
to toe in pink... them eyes man!
There were some issues I
had with the game such as there wasn't (at least any way that I
found) an option to skip only read dialogue so I ended up skipping
over some stuff I hadn't read before, especially in Yuras' path
because I couldn't for the life of me get his good ending for ages
and this just made me even more frustrated having to go back and read
most of a chapter again.
I also think the face that
you have a play through both the good and bad endings of Belph and
Yuras path before you could move on to Rexus and Livan might annoy
some people. I personally didn't have a problem with it. If that's
how someone wants you to play their game then so be it. But I still
wouldn't be that surprised if some people have a mini nerd rage over
it.
Before I finish up, I'd
just like to thank Zeiva for making yet another amazingly beautiful
story – It really has inspired me to try and improve my writing
skills!
So... would I recommend
this visual novel? Absolutely! If you're not convinced, you can check
out the demo and make your mind up from there. The full version can
be bought from the official Zeiva Inc website too.
