Princess Evangile is a solid Japanese VN with a fun enough premise and excellent character-writing, brought down somewhat by poorly executed and inconsistent plotlines. The basic premise isn't too unique among VNs - a male protagonist enters an all-female school - but school itself is quite unique and quirky in its culture, which leads to many fun situations and character interactions.
A lot of the plotlines in the common and heroine routes feel quite weak and annoying in multiple aspects. Often, darker or more interesting subjects are touched upon, only to be resolved in very unsatisfying manners - despite this, it's still fun to read the character interactions within the routes. Princess Evangile one of the few VNs where I would rate the characters and routes differently:
Characters: Rise > Ayaka > Ritsuko = Chiho (the gaps in are relatively small)
Routes: Ayaka > Ritsuko > Rise >>> Chiho (the gaps are larger, especially between Rise and Chiho's routes)
The biggest problem I had with the plot is how overly magnanimous/forgiving the protagonist, heroines, and student body in general, are towards some of the terrible deeds of the antagonists, many of whom get off with little-to-no repercussions for their actions. For a specific example, during the common route one character pretends they got raped to defame the protagonist, and yet once exposed, the severity of the issue is handwaved - they still remain one of the most popular girls in the school, and receive no punishment other than a light scolding.
Some of the antagonists are at least written to be somewhat sympathetic, but the aforementioned issue is also the main reason I dislike Chiho's route so much. The villain of her route is comically evil, with no redeeming traits - the kind of person who sees an attractive young girl on a street, and their first thought is "I wonder how much money I could make if I kidnapped and sold her into sexual slavery?" The extent of their character growth is admitting "wow, I really do suck, huh?" once they're stopped in the end (or rather, when the they stop themselves by literally tripping and falling on their own knife). Despite this, the protagonist, Chiho, and other characters still act like the villain is somehow sympathetic. It would be like saying "maybe Hitler wouldn't have been so bad if he had been accepted into art school", or something like that - the ham-fisted sympathizing with such characters is frankly ridiculous.
I feel the main cause of the over-forgiveness issue is the religious backdrop of the game. The fictional school was founded by French Christian missionaries during the Meiji era, and while most students are secular, a lot of religious analogies/symbolism/stories are brought up. The actions of the protagonist and his friends are compared to those of Jesus and his disciples multiple times, which I feel directly correlates to them turning the other cheek towards all the shit the antagonists pull.
The cast in general are all well voiced, unique, and very cute. The character writing helps carry the game, despite the issues with the plot.
The art is top notch, and music is solid for a Japanese VN. H-scenes are standard for Japanese visual novels - static images with some changes as they progress. No animations.
Overall, I liked reading Princess Evangile despite its flaws, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend others read it. It's kind of like a show you get into, and keep watching because you like the characters, even when the plot starts getting worse. I'd give it a 3.5/5 if it were an option, but I round-up my reviews when this is the case.
A lot of the plotlines in the common and heroine routes feel quite weak and annoying in multiple aspects. Often, darker or more interesting subjects are touched upon, only to be resolved in very unsatisfying manners - despite this, it's still fun to read the character interactions within the routes. Princess Evangile one of the few VNs where I would rate the characters and routes differently:
Characters: Rise > Ayaka > Ritsuko = Chiho (the gaps in are relatively small)
Routes: Ayaka > Ritsuko > Rise >>> Chiho (the gaps are larger, especially between Rise and Chiho's routes)
The biggest problem I had with the plot is how overly magnanimous/forgiving the protagonist, heroines, and student body in general, are towards some of the terrible deeds of the antagonists, many of whom get off with little-to-no repercussions for their actions. For a specific example, during the common route one character pretends they got raped to defame the protagonist, and yet once exposed, the severity of the issue is handwaved - they still remain one of the most popular girls in the school, and receive no punishment other than a light scolding.
Some of the antagonists are at least written to be somewhat sympathetic, but the aforementioned issue is also the main reason I dislike Chiho's route so much. The villain of her route is comically evil, with no redeeming traits - the kind of person who sees an attractive young girl on a street, and their first thought is "I wonder how much money I could make if I kidnapped and sold her into sexual slavery?" The extent of their character growth is admitting "wow, I really do suck, huh?" once they're stopped in the end (or rather, when the they stop themselves by literally tripping and falling on their own knife). Despite this, the protagonist, Chiho, and other characters still act like the villain is somehow sympathetic. It would be like saying "maybe Hitler wouldn't have been so bad if he had been accepted into art school", or something like that - the ham-fisted sympathizing with such characters is frankly ridiculous.
I feel the main cause of the over-forgiveness issue is the religious backdrop of the game. The fictional school was founded by French Christian missionaries during the Meiji era, and while most students are secular, a lot of religious analogies/symbolism/stories are brought up. The actions of the protagonist and his friends are compared to those of Jesus and his disciples multiple times, which I feel directly correlates to them turning the other cheek towards all the shit the antagonists pull.
The cast in general are all well voiced, unique, and very cute. The character writing helps carry the game, despite the issues with the plot.
The art is top notch, and music is solid for a Japanese VN. H-scenes are standard for Japanese visual novels - static images with some changes as they progress. No animations.
Overall, I liked reading Princess Evangile despite its flaws, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend others read it. It's kind of like a show you get into, and keep watching because you like the characters, even when the plot starts getting worse. I'd give it a 3.5/5 if it were an option, but I round-up my reviews when this is the case.