Others - Completed - Utawarerumono [Final] [Sting & Leaf]

This game never fails to make the list of gameplay eroges, so I finally gave it a go.

On the gameplay side, I was a bit disappointed. It has a tactical RPG combat system, but it's quite rudimentary. I believe the sequels and non-hentai remake improves upon the gameplay quite a bit, but what we see in this original version is quite simplistic.

I played on normal which was a mistake because it's way too easy. There isn't much strategy involved. You just rush in and kill everything. Enemy AI is non-existent and they just target the closest thing they can hit 99% of the time. The character building is pretty one dimensional as well. It's serviceable for what it is, but it's certainly not gonna hold a candle to the likes of FFT/Tactics Ogre/Disgaea/etc.

That said, what I was actually captivated by was the characters and story. The plot itself is quite interesting, but what really stands out is the cast. The characters are extremely endearing, and there are many sections depicting humorous slice of life shenanigans. I'm honestly not one to actively go looking for anime-esque stories like this, but I do enjoy it nonetheless when I get into it. As far as I could tell, there was no routes or any missable content, so you don't have to stress over the order you view the events.

Let me just say this straight up though. This is not a porn game. It's not really even an adult game. The scenes are extremely few, and it's not even close to the focus of the story. What the story builds up is kinship, friendship, and familial bonds rather than lust, sex, or even romance really.

P.S. This is an old game that gets wonky with modern multi-core CPUs. The battles run really fast which makes it super hard to hit the timed presses to do combos. Like the other reviewer said, you should use Cheat Engine speedhack to slow down the game.

P.P.S. You should absolutely use the voice patch. It adds so much to the characters. The OP of this game thread doesn't have the voice patch and it seems kinda convoluted to even English patch it. Look at page 2 of this thread to download the with the voices.

The best of the Utawarerumono series. I love the characters, although the art is noticeably dated.

Gameplay: 5/5, easy enough, hard enough.
The gameplay is challenging enough and really fun. You click to extend combos and manage an extra bar that will add an extra bit to your combo. It's not complex, but there's enough depth and challenge, and environmental conditions that apply correctly to certain characters. Won't say what since, spoilers, but...

I will say the sequels combat is more fun, but this games combat is perfectly serviceable.

However, you almost NEED cheat engine to slow the game down. Because it's for older versions of windows. Without the cheat engine's gamespeed option, the game runs EXTREMELY fast. Like, "slow movement" and the rings for combos move FAR TOO FAST if you don't have it slowed down. For me, personally, I halved the speed which seemed to work perfectly fine.

Story: 5/5, Characters are amazing.
The characters are genuinely interesting. Nothing too anime or weird. There's depth to them, and feelings. I can't go too much into detail otherwise I will spoil minor events, but... There's a scene with one of our characters and a baby, and her troubles. That's what really made the game feel different. Again, I won't explain more about it since spoilers, but it was a sad scene.

Minor scenes/plot points help to bring depth to characters and help keep this casual life feel to it. During major events, there aren't any of these, but when there is no war, there are these scenes, which helps keep pace with gameplay and story. I genuinely, GENUINELY believe that this games story, characters, and character development is a league above it's sequels.

The game is maybe 30 hours? Shortest of all the Utawarerumono's.

Art: 4.5/5, Good, but slightly antiquated, and some are... Hm.
I'm not gonna lie when I say I chose this version because of the hentai. However, I have to say, the scenes feel a bit rushed and out of tune with the rest of the game. And the CGs look... Strange, compared to others. Like the arms, or proportions of limbs... I just don't vibe with.

Other than the H-Scenes however, they're really good. Men obviously have smaller eyes than women, because, anime, but you know... It's good. You can see it with your own eyes.

Music/Sound: 5/5, All Really Good.
I love the music, and sound effects. Fate ~Sadame~ and Ab Kamiw or however you spell it, are notable songs. Not nearly as many as it's sequels, but... Good. No VAs though, so those who want to hear "canon voices" must play Utawarerumono: Prelude to the Fallen.

TL;DR; play it.
Play it. It's a good, good story. Has meaningful moments, and might help you think about your life. A little bit depressing, yes. Better than the anime, I think. Gameplay might be a bit lackluster, however.

I'd say it's my favorite out of all 3 Utawarerumonos by a long shot. It's that good. And I have high standards, I'd like to believe.

A personal favourite and classic. I watched the anime first, so imagine my shock when I found it was based on a game (this was before I knew about how many LN and VN got anime adaptations), and my surprise when it was an eroge.
This is a NV through and through, almost an isekai before it was even a defined genre, but there is strategy RPG gameplay (think fire emblem more than disgaea).
The romance scenes aren't that unique (mostly missionary/cowgirl/doggy), or intsne (excepte for drugged reverse rape, but it's not rpesented in a traumatizing way) but it's the characters and what the scenes themselves mean for the characters. (Touka best girl IMHO)
With the series as a whole soundly leaving any +18 content in the past, with it's sequels and remake leaving any baby making off screen, this game will have to remain the sole pillar of the great (if at sometimes bonkers) and sweet (if sometimes bitter) eroge that will always be Utawarerumono.

I love this game. It has a really interesting story with gameplay that is unobtrusive but helps break up the monotany of reading a visual novel for an extended period of time. if you're on the fence about playing this I'd recommend that you watch the anime. there's enough content that's only in the game to make it still worth a play and the anime is a good watch.

A great classic, seen the anime a decade before playing it and this was really good, i'm a big fan of the art and character design, the mc is cool despite having amnesia, the girls are somewhat cliche but all pretty cue and likeable, great music and a story that goes up and down in quality but for the most part stay entertaining.

The sex scene are really short and the build up to them is really lacking, can be a deal breaker for some but this is far from being just a game you play for the porn so it doesn't matter in my opinion.

The gameplay is pretty cool, nothing new or that deep but entertaining.

Recommended, a great classic !