htoL#NiQ: The Firefly Diary

One Way in advance: This Game has a challenging Degree of Difficulty. Hotaru no Nikki aka The Firefly Diary takes you on the Journey of little Mion. A Girl with Horns who suffers from Amnesia. Woke Up in an unknown, lonely, Gritty place, Mion sets out in Search of Erination Fragments. It is accompanied by two Fireflies: Lumen, a green Fireflies that illuminates the Surroundings and Umbra, a purple Fireflies that always hides in the Shadows. Firefly Diary is a Puzzle Platform that cleverly Harnesses the Environment. The Controls are ... interesting. Mion is the Protagonist of the Game, but you don't control it directly. The Beidenfireflies Lumen and Umbra guide Mion through the Chapters. Lumen indicates the Direction to run into the Mion, you recommend to sit down and wait or show you where Boxes should be pushed. In addition, Lumen can influence the Position of Shadows through its Light. By switching to Umbra, which is possible at Any time, you enter the Shadow World. Umbra's Task is to trigger hidden Switches and Mechanisms, paving the Way for Mion. The indirect Control of Mion by the two Fireflies makes the Game more difficult. But more on that later. The Story is told by the Memory Fragments that are usually located in very remote Places in the Levels. If you touch a Fragment, the Style of the Game is landed in an isometric View With a Gameboy Advance Graphic. All Memories are playable, you should be called walking around in these Mini Levels yourself and exploring the Surroundings. Apart from the Tutorial and menu, The Firefly Diary goes completely without Text or Language. Once you've collected all 13 Fragments, you unlock the true End (Chapter X). On the Journey of the little Mion you get to See many Different Landscapes. From a Ruin to a Factory, a Forest and finally Mion'S Home. All look stunningly beautiful. The Background Music supports the Loneliness and Fear of the Protagonist. Only the Sounds of the Lumen constantly gives annoying after a While. Achja, the indirect Control ... Idea good, Implementation meh. Mion is incredibly fragile. A Scratch and she dies. How nice it is that Mion Is easily Delayed in Time to Luen's Instructions or can be controlled with Lumens later In the game and Mion continues to persevere After Lumen because you forget to command her to sit down. -_-She runs in Abysses, drowns, runs in Saw Blades, reacts highly allergically to plant Seeds, makes Acquaintance With the Shadow Monsters or is crushed by falling objects. There Are Sections where Mion gets an Umbrella With which She can float on Air Currents. Which, by the way, looks incredibly cute. ^^ The Controls don't make it any easier, though. There are Also sections where Mion grows a large Fungus on his Head, completely reversing the Controls. Mion is now running away in front Of Lumen. No one prepares one for the Madness of one when you combine Air Currents, Mushrooms and Car Scroller. Control of Mion? Almost Zero. And then there are the Moments when Mion is lucked out and Lumen is allowed To navigate through narrow Labyrinths. These are Car Scroller in places and don't leave you much Time, because when you touch a Wall, lumen explodes And you start at the last Memory Point. A few Words about the Boss Fights: While Chapter 1 Boss still relies on studying the Environment and memorizing the Patterns of the Shadow monster, the Bosses from Chapters 2 to 4 are very much focused on Chance. The Combination of the Bosse Attacks and the Peculiarities of the Surrounding area can put Mion in Situations where she has no choice but to bite into the Grass. Chapter 4 Boss is the Definition of Unfairness. > _ > Chapter X, on the other hand, is a nice Change. Here you can expect a Boss fight in the Tower Defense style. Conclusion: Despite the Difficulties caused by the indirect Control and Fragility of Mion and Despite the Fruit of constant death, I loved this Game. What's just wrong with me? XD Soundtrack: Not of this World. Optics: Stunning. Story: Disturbing but kind of appealing. Gameplay: Hell. And if you want to collect all The Achievements, you have to be completely Madly. Buy it.