VN - Others - Completed - Tsukihime [Type-Moon]

Tsukihime is a mixed bag in 2021 or even beyond. So... if you read this vn these days, you should know and expect that to be the case. It has exceptional character writing with, very little world-building and rule setup. And while there are some great routes in here, nearly every one of the so-called "true route endings" has huge problems. This sadly goes for both "near side of the moon" and "far side of the moon" routes.

The bad first:

The character with the biggest story related issue is for sure Akiha in it her true ending.
Short version of her route follows: There is no explanation in the whole game, not even a hint of this being possible in the setting anywhere to be found! It comes out of nowhere and across as the writers doing this for the sole reason of "having a happy ending" for these characters. Another character having something similar happening would be Ciel, just in reverse in her true route ending.

But i think one spoiler example should be enough to just make a brief point of the tendency of this vn to do those things - for no good reason at all. This is not an exception, btw, it is the mo of the entire game. Magic seems to be used as a "save everything and all" deus ex machina in this. What all of this happening over and over again does to the stakes and consequences in this vn should be pretty obvious.

On to the good:

This vn has exceptional character writing! It would not be an overstatement to say they shine brighter than anything else in this game, even after more than two decades! So while I can see the glowing reviews for this game if you only look at the characters themselves. I sadly do not think the rest of this game holds up very well.

Conclusion:

I do see how this game might've been something special back in the 00s for its trend setting. The magic abilities and science combining elements. (I'm very much convinced we would've never gotten the Sci-Adv series or many others without this game existing.) Even the twists and traits of some of these characters and their route outcomes seem to be far ahead of it's time. Still, at the end of the day, I sadly have come to the conclusion that most of this game falls apart under critical scrutiny.

6 / 10

Amazing classic in so many way, it may be amateurish and imperfect but it's very worth playing, the art is really unique, i really love it, it has some of my favorite music of all time, the girls are cute and each really interesting.

The plot is at time great and at time kinda of a mess but i still really enjoyed myself from beginning to end !

I would absolutely recommend it but i don't expect most people to like it as much as i did, it's flawed by cause of being the first thing type moon ever did but there is a tons to love !

Probably my #1 or #2 favorite VN of all time. This is how a VN is supposed to be written. Each route peels back layers of the true story, showing different perspectives rashomon style. Each girl is gorgeous and appealing and is instrumental to helping develop the main character as well.

Art is an absolute gem here. I love the combination of RL backgrounds with filters and anime avatars. The anime style is a bit dated since this is a 2 decade old game but it's still better than most of the indie stuff here currently. There's going to be a remake at some point but I honestly have a hard time it can be better than this. This game already is perfect as it is.

A classic of the visual novels. The story would catch and won't let you go until it ends. Better yet, it has a lot of replay value considerating all the multiple endings it has. What else is left to say... awesome characters (a bit clique though) The only problem it might have is that it doesn't have voice acting. But once you get the hang of it you'll enjoyed to no end. Just like any good visual novel, you're bound to have good memories from this one.

Tsukihime, the game where Type-Moon began.

This is a game that focuses on plot, first and foremost and porn is kind of an afterthought. That being said, every single character in this game is deep and will require you to see all the routes to truly see the depth of their characters.

That being said, if you're not big on reading or if this is your first Type-Moon experience, be warned, Type-Moon is known for extremely complex characters and info dumps galore.

Graphics-wise, Takashi Takeuchi-sensei has come a loooooooooooong way, that's for damned sure. The characters are expressive but the graphics of this game is kinda held back by the engine it's running on so there's no getting around that part.

Music-wise, sadly I can't remember a single memorable track in this game, but it's not that it isn't good, it does it's job well, it just isn't one of those types where you'll put it in your mobile device to listen on the go kind of thing.

Overall, the game is good, but not that great. Still waiting for that goddamned remake of this that they promised all those years ago, to be perfectly frank XD

PS: Curry-senpai is awesome