Pawn reviews

A VN that confounds me.

 On the one hand...
 *It is available in French and English (cool!).
 *The story is very good, full of twists and turns and thrills.

 On the other hand...
 *I really don't like the music.
 *The images from Manga Maker ComiPo, for the characters, give me the bad impression of having in front of me a clone of "One Manga Day" and "Say Goodbye".
 *The images for the backgrounds are better, but meh.
 *The story is made with TyranoBuilder, so no option to control the volume, no full-screen mode, no easy way to switch from French to English, etc.

 In short, I have a very good story, but a "rotten" visual novel presentation. Do I recommend it? Difficult.
Translated by
Microsoft from French
Visual novel with French texts. Susumu returned to his hometown in Japan after long years of absence to take a teaching position that soon proved to be a cover for a police mission. The Mayor's daughter must be protected while the city is experiencing a disturbing series of kidnappings. The game allows to make some choices (not frankly decisive, apart to get all the successes and to unlock the different ends) during the investigation phases. Let's say that rather than choices, these are variants in the interaction to advance the story. We will be able to choose to investigate a particular character (but we can investigate all), choose themes to be addressed in the conversations (but we can all address them), photographing clues on the crime scenes (but it will be possible to leave only one Once the right clues are photographed). You can also search the files of the computer but we have access to it only at two moments of history and we can not note in-game what we discovered then it is not easy to remember all the information (but it is not so penalizing that to finish the e game). And then, at the end of the conversation with some people, we have the choice between 3 additional themes of conversation to target a "weak point" and if one finds which is interesting to deepen, we are entitled to new information. Graphically, these are still images animated simply by the appearance or disappearance of the characters with whom we speak. Nothing transcendent even if some decorations are a little better than others. The ambiance music, when there are, is the often frankly annoying and the sound effects are ridiculous. I liked the flashbacks that gradually give the story thickness but you really have to wait until the end of the game by testing the different endings so that the plot consents to reveal some secrets. It is necessary to have well saved when, at the end of the mission as a teacher, we have to choose with whom we want to spend his evening. I was disappointed that the survey did not have any more impact on the adventure. At most she gives us clues about the guilty person but without influencing the adventure. I didn't like the characters with the grimacing and hysterical faces as soon as it comes to expressing the slightest emotion. I found quite a few interesting dialogues, humour usually falls completely flat, the allusions to sex are heavy and childish, violent scenes of cruelty are visible. But hey, those who like the manga atmosphere will not be surprised. Finally, if we consider pawn well as a Visual-novel and not as a real game, it's not so bad. Lifespan: 5h, take it half-price.
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