VN - Others - Completed - Salthe [Final] [Soiree]

Salthe is a very good visual novel that leaves me a bit unsatisfied
I will split this review into three parts:
Art/ "Art", Game Design and Story. The "Story" part will be heavily spoiler ridden and marked as such.

Art/"Art"
Salthes art looks pretty good, there is a decent amount of CGs for the (relatively short) game and they are well done. As for the sexual part - there is a decent amount of scenes to collect (22 to be exact). The game is completely voiceacted and to my ears (I do not speak Japanese) it sounds good. The hentai scenes heavily involve rape and all the endings (even the "good" one) involve physical violence in the form of torture. The depictions involve blood but are not as brutal as in some other infamous games (which will not be named here because Reviewing Rules).

Game Design
Well, it's a visual novel. It has auto- and configurable skipmode, sound mixers for every VA and other comforts of modern VNs. It overall feels pretty polished (haven't noticed any obvious mistakes in the translation either). My personal guideline to measure a high quality VN: If it has an Opening movie with an actual opening song, it's probably decent ^^

As a quick addendum if you didn't find the "Walkthrough" in the thread:

Story
Here we are. Let's do the first part without spoilers.

I liked the story, it has a pretty predictable twist and it didn't blow me away but it's decent overall. As other reviews mentioned, the personalities of the characters are well fleshed out and seem believable . To conclude the (almost) spoiler free part:
No, the tags are not optional, you will see all of them, no matter what you choose.

Now on to the part that involves spoilers and where I state why I am not feeling fully satisfied, full spoilers for the story ahead:

I saw there wasn't many reviews for this so I'll give my take. I believe this VN is pretty interesting because how the plot plans out this isn't your typical fap and forget VN due to how the story is portrayed through the character because the entire thing is a plot twist. It is good because of this plot twist .
Pros:
Good plot
Short
Art
Voice Acting
Impactful Choices
Cons:
fast corruption: the corruption is fast and she goes from someone who is resisting to instantly someone who gives in with one choice.(So those who prefer slow corruption this is not for you)
The "Good Ending/Full Ending" (not really a good ending) feels like it is missing something, although I wouldn't say its bad but it left me desiring something more

From the perspective of an H-game, Salthe is a good visual novel. It has great CGs. Its sex scenes are well composed (albeit heavily rape/humiliation based) and strung together by a story.

"A" story. Yes. That is an actual description. What else do you expect from a H-game review? Well.. for a very short story, the storytelling is effective. The plot line is coherent -- as long as we permit some blending of memories across characters but that is also a part of the premise. (As simple as this comment is, this is actual spoiler that you should avoid until you have finished the game.)

Only very few characters are depicted and, to that end, their personalities and the back stories that make them are depicted effectively. At the end, we have a protagonist with a credible character and who has gone through a credible life struggle. The princess persona that was probably designed to serve the sex scenes is also a part of the character that has foundation.

And so, the sex scenes are well composed. The first ingredient to make them interesting is the personalities, which are in turn presented via their interaction with their assailants. The dialogues and inner monologues are well written to bring the personalities to life and to make "interesting" rapes.

Indeed, the sex scenes are heavily rape-based. If rape turns you off, Salthe won't entertain you. (For example, If the word "glorifying" rape is among the first that comes to your mind when you think of fantasy rapes in H-games. Salthe may offend you.) It's the kind of rape where the intent of violence is conveyed clearly but the female recipients of the rape are nevertheless dominated by physical pleasure. That's Salthe's second ingredient to make interesting H-scenes.

Adding to that, the scenes are creative. Not in how many positions they incorporate but in the context that leads to the scenes -- the many different triggers that smoothly lead to the many different ways our protagonist is toyed, violated and soiled.

The CG quality is high. It is very high among all H-games but just decent among VNs. The voice acting is good. There is not going to be over the top moaning, say, like Eternal Torment. The more reserved voice acting in this suits the personalities and the situation as well as the general world setting of a fantasy medieval world. The background panting/moaning from time to time adds to the atmosphere as well -- which is particularly handy when you fast forward and then pause to check the storyline. The male lines are important in the overall delivery of the scenes. So if you really hate male voice lines, you may enjoy Salthe a little less. But some skipping should help you along.

It's also worth mentioning that the storytelling heavily relies on a juxtaposed narrative order: flashbacks that are re-animated mental pictures which an afterlife supernatural being is able to bestow upon the protagonist. Salthe is at the end of the day a very short story. Without the play on narrative order, the story would have probably come off as mundane and the sex scenes contrived. The mystery reveal at the end would certainly not have been possible without breaking the chronological order of narration. Not very into literature myself. But for what it is worth, I think the narrative ordering makes a good feature in the storytelling. The afterlife dialogues are a bit cumbersome though. I found myself mostly skipping them.

All in all, Salthe is a good H-game. In it, you will find a high sexual content VN that has:
- a story
- a very short story
- good storytelling
- character development
- good writing and general directing in the sex scenes
- good CG quality
- good VC that contributes to the scenes and the overall story
- a narrative order that breaks up regular chronology which is probably a great feature and one that enables the presentation of sex scenes upfront while preserving a coherent and interesting story
- heavily rape based H scenes
- rape scenes that feature female recipients of rape being unable to deny themselves physical pleasure from the acts (domination? corruption? humiliation?)

For such a short game, the only reason not to try it out would be if you are deterred by the rape premise.

This really ain't that good.

The H is alright if you like rape. That being said, it's pretty much just the same thing over and over. Exact same rape scenario in different positions etc.

It's the story that really drags this down ,though. Lots of bloat, very little plot development. The little talks about comedies and tragedies is psuedo-intellectual nonsense. The whole 'theatre' overarching plot seems to be done purely for one plot point. The game would've been so much better if it accepted it was going to be a short nukige. Little bits of build up between the H scenes, then bam, climax.

I'll admit, it got me with the twist at the end. But

A great story all in all. A Tragedy turned 'Comedy' in a story that has enough twists to keep you reading. While there are a few gory scenes, all save two are skippable if you play your cards right. The gore is for only when you mess up. Over all a good read, and not too long. Good if you want to think about how no one is ever truly good or evil, or if you want to realize:

"Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot. "
– Charlie Chaplin.