RE: Alistair++
Platform: Mac, Windows, Linux
If RE: Alistair++ was a food, it would probably be a sugar cookie. One decorated like a pink bunny. The first offering from newcomer developers Sake Visual is a visual novel centering around Merui, a young girl who gets a valuable item stolen from her in a popular online role-playing game. The thief, Alistair, promises he'll return it... if she can figure out who he is "in real life". In no time, Merui has her suspects... but you'll have to balance her school work and her social life to untangle the plot. With five different endings and three "bonus" endings that can appear if you spend enough time with certain people, RE: Alistair++ is a surprisingly fun and polished little adventure with a lot of replay value, and even some bonuses to unlock. Oh, and did we mention it's completely free? Yeah, thought you might like that.
Interaction is done simply by clicking on whatever option you want when it pops up. Each day, you're given three opportunities to decide Merui's schedule, and depending on what you pick, you'll run into different people, or affect her stats in various ways. Merui's intelligence, social and network reputations all play a role in how the game proceeds, so you'll need to pay attention to what bonuses you get when you perform an activity. If you really want to get the most out of your activities, you can simply take advantage of the game's ability to save anywhere and reload if something doesn't go your way. Of course, that would be cheating, and I would never recommend that, except when I do, such as right now.
Of course, the emphasis here is on finding out Alistair's identity, but that probably won't be a problem, since the plot is fairly easily figured out. You can only confront Alistair at the end of the month, so you might as well make the most of the time you've got. Make sure to spend time with everyone, but don't neglect your school project, or your after school job; earn enough money and you can buy different items at the mall that can have an effect on your stats, or on certain encounters.
Analysis: Basically, I am very hardcore and I don't play girly frilly sweet kawaii games. Except games like RE Alistair ++, which are super, super cute and fun. Of course, these days it isn't enough to just be adorable, and fortunately the up-and-comers at Sake Visual have put together a piece of work that looks astoundingly professional from its clean art down to its menus. After looking at the screenshots and then running the game, I had to double and triple check the word "demo" wasn't hidden anywhere. There's no voice acting, however; more's the pity, since the high, overly-dramatic, anxious voices made popular by many an anime series would have been the cherry on top of the presentation.
The plot is exceedingly simple, and you're probably familiar with the archetypes each character represents by now; there's Mature and Aloof Guy With Glasses, Flirty Sporty Guy With Ridiculous Hair, and Quiet Shy Guy Who Studies Alot. This is not the story of the century, but simple, enjoyable fluff designed to make you smile. Merui, despite having an oddball name for no apparent reason, is actually a fairly likable protagonist; spunky, but realistically so. The cast could dearly have used some fleshing out, since Merui and the three boys are the only characters you'll ever see; tossing in a few minor characters here and there would have gone a long way towards alleviating the "Ghost Town" vibe the game occasionally gives off.
The game's biggest flaw is actually the curse of repetition. Because of how small the cast is, you'll spend a lot of time just grinding on various stats, or trying to earn enough money to buy an item that might unlock an extra chunk of dialogue. Figuring out just what you can do to make the most of every encounter can take a bit of guesswork, especially since the various items at the mall may (or may not) have an impact. It can be frustrating to go long stretches of time where nothing happens, especially with a deadline looming.
Light but sweet, cheeky, and fun, RE Alistair ++ is a polished offering from a talented new group of indie developers you should be keeping an eye on if you're a fan of the genre. Alistair's identity is always the same, unfortunately, but depending on your choices throughout the game there are a surprising number of endings to uncover. If you plan on replaying the game to try for an alternate ending, enabling text skip in the options menu will blur you right through all the dialogue you've seen before (stopping for choices) and drop back to normal speed at new bits of text. While your first playthrough probably won't take you more than an hour, and subsequent playthroughs even less, it's a remarkably well put together game that promises great things from its developers.
Windows:
Download the free full version
Mac OS X:
Download the free full version
Linux:
Download the free full version
Walkthrough Guide
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I know I'm wayyyy late to the party, but I just played through this game and after taking the trouble to buy all store items just to see what stats they affected, have made this probably useless list:
Boundary's Books:
Notebook - $12, +10 intelligence
History of Greece - $35, gets you an extra CG with Shiro and boosts his affection
Planetost - $15, +20 social reputation but -6 intelligence, boosts Derek's affection
Rivenwell Online Official Guide - $35, +10 network reputation
Diary - $20, +6 intelligence and +7 social reputation
Encyclopedia - $70, +25 intelligence
Classic Literature - $25, +13 intelligence
Cookbook - $30, +10 intelligence and +12 social reputation but -4 network reputation
The Divide Clothing:
Evening Gown - $65, gets you an extra CG with Derek and boosts his affection
Spring Dress - $35, boosts Shiro's affection
Grey Sweater - $25, boosts Travis's affection
Tank Top - $17, boosts Derek's affection
Pink Shirt - $40, not sure what this one does (maybe just there to bring the item count to 8?)
Butterfly Skirt - $30, boosts Shiro's affection
Track Pants - $25, boosts Travis's affection
Trendy Capris - $45, boosts Derek's affection
Gamego:
Imperialon - $50, +15 network reputation but -4 intelligence
MovieManiac - $30, +5 intelligence and +9 social reputation
Diamond Moon: Final Phase - $50, boosts Travis's affection
Other Saga - $35, +9 social reputation and +7 network reputation
Monochrome Diet - $35, +12 network reputation but -4 social reputation, boosts Shiro's affection
Demon of Edo - $35, +10 network reputation and gets you an extra CG with Travis
Walk This Way - $20, +10 intelligence
Rock Festival - $60, +15 social reputation
Shiro was my favorite; I guess I just have a thing for shy and sweet guys. Travis comes second, and I didn't really like Derek in the other guys' endings, though he does become more sympathetic in his own ending.
Posted by: Rosemary
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April 30, 2011 4:37 PM