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Karifean's Blog of Visual Novels

Symphonic Rain First Impressions

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So after a bit of a hiatus to catch up on some other things, I felt like jumping straight back into what I hope to be a beautiful storyline. Symphonic Rain, a story set in a small town where the rain falls perpetually. Supposedly the plot is very much focused on music.



OH MY GOD IT'S SO CUTE. This is Phorni, a fairy-like being called a 'sprite of music' who lives in one of the rooms at the protagonist's home. He is presumably the only person who can perceive her, something he considers a shame since her singing voice is 'angelic'. And yeah, Phorni has wings although she can merely float with them.


And what is this!? The main character has a girlfriend right from the start? What kind of galge is this? Well the main character is a male music student called Chris, and he's in a long distance relationship with his childhood friend, Ari, who's currently living far away. They communicate via letter every week, and they have the romantic promise that once Chris' drawer becomes full with her letters, he would return to her.

It really is pretty rare to have the main character be in a relationship right from the beginning. I think this is the first galge VN I've read that does this. I like it, it's a nice change of pace.



Chris plays a musical instrument called a "Fortell". It's a fictional instrument that supposedly requires a bit of magic to be played, and its sound is different depending on the emotional state of the one playing it. Playing the fortell is, in fact, a minigame, a little rhythm game where you hit keyboard keys at the right time. You can change the difficulty or even turn off the minigame entirely if you don't like it. I've been told failing the fortell sections in later parts of the game may get you a bad end, so this option is very much appreciated, although I do plan on giving it an honest try.



I hate that they penalize you for notes played at the wrong time though.

On that note it seems the first point of order is finding someone who can sing well to perform the graduation recital with. Enter Torta, the sister of Ari, Chris' girlfriend. She attends the same school as Chris and she's a pretty good singer herself, and promises to be Chris' partner should he fail to find another partner in time.



Is there a love triangle building up here?

From what I've heard there are three character routes followed by two routes that conclude the overall story. Just like AIR. I've been told to leave Torta's route for last, so I suppose I'll do that. Although I like her, she's a sweet girl.


Comments

  1. Pumpkin's Avatar
    Looks interesting!