On paper, Life Is Unusual developer Do not Nod pivoting to the visible novel style is sensible given its penchant for twisting, choice-based narratives. In apply, Concord: The Fall of Reverie is an underwhelming first foray into the area, missing the world-building vital to really promote a narrative informed virtually completely by way of phrases, that includes selections that evoke little greater than a shrug.
The story begins with Polly returning to her house city within the wake of the disappearance of her mom. Whereas in search of clues, Polly finds a magical necklace amongst mum’s possessions, and upon touching it she’s spirited away to the fantastical land of Reverie, which is inhabited by personifications of human aspirations, similar to Energy, Glory, and Reality. Polly — or Concord, as she’s identified in Reverie — is probably key to saving each realities, and the one being able to bringing the disparate aspirations collectively.
It is a visible novel by way of and thru, and you may spend most of your time listening to characters discuss over static backgrounds till you are given a call to make. The art work is commonly lovely, with placing locales and character designs, and the voice work is okay all through, complemented by a sparse however nice soundtrack.
You are shortly launched to a mechanic wherein Polly can kinda see the long run, with the story laid out earlier than you within the type of a circulate chart, much like ones seen in Detroit: Grow to be Human or Zero Escape: Advantage’s Final Reward, though some nodes on the chart are hidden till you progress additional by way of the story. It is useful, but it surely leaves the sport feeling extra such as you’re merely working in direction of a particular aim than organically shaping a world by way of heartfelt, sincere resolution making.
One other double-edged sword is the brevity of the sport. Whereas we might argue that a number of visible novels pad out the working time and get a little bit lengthy within the tooth, the eight hours we spent with Concord weren’t sufficient to successfully flesh out the world or the characters. That mentioned, the story strikes at brisk tempo, and we by no means discovered ourselves bored even when we have been generally a little bit confused.