This review does NOT contain spoilers for either Mask of Deception or the prequel. I have, however, played the new release of Utawarerumono, called Prelude to the fallen, before Deception, and my opinions are also based on that edition.
Plot, narration and structure
Thirteen years after Utawarerumono was published, Aquaplus releases the first of two sequels: Mask of Deception. Much has changed since, and a game that was indeed beautiful in 2002, now has some glaring issues. Mainly, it was a product of its times: huge and often pointless/long fanservice, and a plot surely intriguing and captivating, but a bit rushed. Can a VN of 2015 do the same thing? No, but it could have gone the easy way and just toss the prequel in the trash, acting as like the story didn’t particularly matter, or just using it as a base to narrate a new story.
Instead, Aquaplus goes the harder, but more satisfying way: make Mask of Deception an enormous “ball of worldbuilding”, so detailed and precise that it becomes the whole plot for most of the game, including parts of the story going forward. If Prelude to the Fallen made me appreciate the narration and the writing possibilities of the game itself, Deception takes the torch and elevates the world of Utawarerumono to new heights. I’m not joking when I say that the worldbuilding of Deception glued me to the screen more than the better part of the story of Prelude did. This is also the reason why Deception can be really slow at times… but it’s not something I regard as a flaw. Everything works perfectly, and the game create a really lovely atmosphere: easygoing and happy, lovely and warm. The characters interactions are a joy to read. The general plot is also very thick, and it delivers a striking finale that I’m not going to forget anytime soon.
Gameplay
As the first game, Deception mixes the VN format with strategic, turn based battles, very similar to the Disgaea format. Here comes a second point of clarification of my review: I didn’t directly play these parts, as a friend, who already played the whole trilogy, is streaming the game, reading it with me.
That said, the combat system is nice and enjoyable, albeit maybe not super polished (but it doesn’t make some character absolutely and insanely broken like Prelude). The hard difficulty is… well, hard, but nothing too drastic. Things change when you decide to take all the trophies and 100% the game: the grind is real.
The battles remain a nice bonus to the story, which is the part that truly shines: if you’re looking for just gameplay, then a Disgaea game will satisfy you. Again, that is not to say that the system is bad, because it’s not. It’s just not the focus of the game (it shouldn’t anyway).
Music
The OST is incredibly good. While there are not “groundbreaking” tracks, the music is intimately connected and ingrained into the story, and I assure you, some of the tracks can make you cry, relax or tense even after you’ve completed the game (of course, a lot of OSTs are the same for the sequel and some are used in Prelude to the fallen, too, so you might think that they are a bit overused… I don’t, but that’s a valid opinion).
Bonus points
First of all, I want address the absolutely STELLAR job Keiji Fujiwara did as voice actor for the main character, Haku: the voice tones for the protagonist are just perfect. While the other actors are really good at giving voices and distinct personalities to their characters, Fujiwara went even beyond, making Haku an unique and lovable character. He can carry the whole voice script by his own, and some scenes probably wouldn’t be as powerful, if Fujiwara hadn’t given his voice to Haku.
I also want to point something about the English translation: while it is extremely good as flow goes, the translation made some choices that I disagree with. Sometimes, the Japanese script cannot be adapted fully well in English, and I respect that. But a lot of times, the lines uttered by the characters were completely changed in the English translation, sometimes the words were totally different, sometimes huge chunks of text were added and in general, they made questionable choices. Maroro, for example, has a very distinct way to talk in Japanese: in English, they basically made him say super archaic and complex (sometimes I didn’t understand what the hell he was saying, and Japanese made more sense) and I don’t get why. Sometimes the text is very different, in ways that can affect the whole damn plot. I don’t get why it was localized in that way, and while I appreciate the good parts of the translation, I’m not completely satisfied. Of course, there may have been choices at the moment of translation that I’m unaware of, and my judging could be biased by missing informations.
The last thing I want to address is the art: thirteen years make a huge difference. The art style has evolved and has improved by leaps and bounds: not only the characters per se are really beautiful and with a distinct style for every of them (I feel that differences between women and men are particularly striking, especially with the eyes, but that’s no flaw in my book), but the background arts are way better that Prelude.
Flaws…?
Since I didn’t give the game 10/10, it has flaws. They’re very minor in my book, but they’re there. While the fanservice has been extremely toned down from Prelude, it is still present and sometimes it’s a bit too much for my tastes. At the same time, it has a function, important for the whole narrative structure, but I’ll talk about it in my (if it comes) Mask of Truth review.
The game is structured as a midway point between Prelude and Mask of Truth, and as such the story is not final: if you don’t like the huge worldbuilding and careful crafting needed to set the finale and Truth, it can get annoying. Even I sometimes just wanted the plot to go forward a bit more.
Personal final comment
I started this journey in January, when my friend proposed me to read the novel together. I underestimated how much this journey would grip my heart, and now here I am, writing my first review for a VN.
This probably feels messy, like a jumble of ideas I had while reading was poured on the word file: it definitely is. While I’m going to modify the review to be a bit tidier, it’s gonna be a flow of my emotions on the virtual paper. Mask of Truth is not very dissimilar to this: a flow of emotions gently seeping into you, cuddling you… before finally launching you into a whirlwind of feelings and tears.
I hope you forgive me for this messy review, and I also hope you’ll feel a particle of what I felt while reading the novel. Start this journey: you won’t be disappointed.
