VN - Others - Completed - Swan Song [Final] [FlyingShine]

Swan Song is a VN with some impressive moments, interesting themes (thought provoking, as people usually refer to it), and one particular ending left a powerful impression, that lasts to this very day. Remove these propositions from the table, and you have an average title for most of the duration, that is not hurting or helping you. In essence, you read Swan Song for the "highs", and it's never a problem to make progress, and finish the VN. Personally, there's dozens of of other options that don't achieve this effect, so this one gets "a pat on the back".

Positive:
- Premise and the depiction of Humanity, when order crumbles - Honestly, it's difficult to say, how much of it would fall into a "lifelike" classification, (some characters are excessive) there's no doubt however, that some people would run wild without rules. In my opinion, chaos can be satisfying at first, but at some point humans always crave order and stability. That's what's missing here (evil behaviours feel simplistic).

- Emotions and "Aroe" - Her portrayal ended up resonating with me, not because of common mentions (traits, depth, development, likability...), but on account of interactions, and how they have trouble understanding her (breaking their own preconceptions, see things for what they are). I have no real interest in the condition, it's just another worthy mention based on a distinct feeling.

- POVs - Not all of them are welcome, individually speaking (generic, long winded, exaggerated). Looking at "the whole" leads to a different conclusion, and each intervention can help you gather more info, to draw your conclusions on the happenings of the VN. It's important to note that many VNs fail to have relevant POV switches, so Swan Song is doing something well above average, character conduct aside.

Negative:
- The positives are the exception, not the rule - To clarify the intro: Swan Song is a plain for many hours, but every now and then it delivers high quality. Most people pick up on what makes this VN interesting (premise appeal, setting/atmosphere and character perspective), and yet they forget to mention the dullness and conventional, being the vast majority of the title.

Score: 6.5/10. From my perspective, there's no question that you read this for specific "junctures", and the score translates to adequate payout (on the emotional side). Overall recommended, do keep in mind, that most of the VN is "just standard".

It's a great VN, that captures you for the story, not the sex.
The h-scenes are censored and meh, mostly rape and a few vanilla ones.
The story, though, it's an apocaliptic world.
Interesting and fun to read, well written, even though when it gets too philosophical it bores me a bit, some might find it entertaining.
4 starts because it's not what I came here for, but it's an enjoyable time (prepare hours to put on it).

Objectively, one of the best VN ever.
Very mature, dark and depressing. Is recommended for anyone who is in the mood for such dark and uncompromising story. If your life is in sh*t this can really drag you out and also it could make you cry, if you're ready for it.

An excellent Christmas themed visual novel that will leave you with all the feels. Highly recommend this if you are into festive stories about surviving in a winter wonderland.

This has to be the most depressing VN I've ever read. Turn back and do not touch this game if you're looking for any kind of uplifting experience.

There are a lot of stories out there that can be heart wrenching, infuriating, and disgusting, but this one really goes the extra mile to make you feel terrible. There aren't any happy endings, and it seems even the more lighthearted and bittersweet moments are only there to make the bad ends and eventual outcomes that much more painful. That sounds pretty melodramatic but it's accurate. Even the "true" ending with an epilogue and rolling credits will probably leave you with a bad feeling in the pit of your stomach. Most of the alternate "dead" ends are even worse.

The writing isn't perfect, but the story is pieced together very well and the characters are developed in a way that lets you like, relate to, and hate them simultaneously. There are a lot of very tense and exciting moments and twists to go along with them. The artwork is great and there are a good amount of sex scenes (unfortunately censored) but you really have to enjoy darker fetishes if you want to fap to this. Either that, or you have to disengage yourself from the plot and the fucked up situations these characters find themselves in -- which is doing a disservice to what is an extremely bleak but ultimately well-told story. It starts out pretty tame but the descent into madness becomes more and more apparent. If you've read any of the countless gore-ridden or NTR infested visual novels out there, you'll have an idea of what I'm talking about, but like I said before: this one seems to go the extra mile.

The thing is, it's not just a self-indulging, masturbatory story that seems to be there just to shock you. It's filled with dialogues and situations that make you think on a deep level about a lot of things. Everything from how people (normal and disabled) work on a psychological level, to how societies function in regard to militaristic, religious, and interpersonal situations. Most of all: what can happen if things start collapsing around us.

There's some potential trauma waiting here if you're prone to getting invested in stories or have ever dealt with depression and toxic relationships, but I still love it because not many VNs are able to express emotion like this, even if that emotion is negative and showing the darker sides of our thought processes.

While I personally don't like playing as multiple characters, this VN does a great job of making your decisions important and building an amazing world. All of the characters are fleshed out nicely, and I feel that human nature is very well depicted.