Perceptions of the Dead 2, Episode 2, 3 & 4 Review (Visual Novel DLC)

Perceptions of the Dead 2, released on Steam on June 2018, is a light-horror visual novel by Ithaqua Labs, a team whose titles stand out from the usual output of Western VN studios through their unique, vibrant artstyle and full voice acting. Soon after the game’s initial release, I’ve reviewed its then-available first chapter, Misty Mournings. It was an hour and a half piece of content tying together all the stories and characters from the first, freeware Perception of the Dead, with the main storyline revolving around nulls – mysterious ghost-devouring creatures that pose a mortal threat to both spirits and human mediums. This, however, was meant to be only the beginning of the game’s story, with three more chapters promised in the Kickstarter campaign and scheduled for release over the next year. With the fourth story, House Haunting, now available and Perceptions of the Dead 2 experience complete, I’ve decided to revisit the game and take a closer look at all that additional content. Did it maintain the positive impression I’ve got from the first chapter?

 

The game’s unique artstyle and creative visual design are still among its greatest assets

 

Perceptions of the Dead is a strange series in that it’s made of relatively short episodes telling interconnected, but ultimately self-contained stories with a very limited overarching narrative. While some could expect that to change with Perceptions of the Dead 2, a larger and commercially-oriented project (while the first game was more or less a collection of Ithaqua Labs’ early works in a shared universe), the new chapters also take their own paths, exploring the game’s world and characters only in vague connection to the events of the initial story, Misty Mournings. Episode 2, Undercover Undead, features a brief section exploring the fallout of the previous events, but focuses on Jill and Tyrone investigating disturbing paranormal phenomena in a sleepy town. This leads them to infiltrating a local high school and discovering a threat way over their expectations. It is also the first time Tulip, the ghost of a teenager which haunts Tyrone, plays a major role, and the largest of new chapters – over an hour of reading with significant branching paths. Episode 3, Garage Reverie, features Jill talking at her home’s garage with her childhood friend. This gives us the opportunity to learn about her backstory and the ways she copes with the discovery of the supernatural world turning her life upside-down. Episode 4, House Haunting, briefly explores the developing relationship between Marcus and Ripley, the other major characters of the series, and reveals the true origins and nature of nulls. Those last two offer around 30 minutes of content, making all the post-launch chapters together offer a similar amount of reading as the game’s initial build.

The overacted VA and annoying personality of Tulip take quite a lot of appeal from the second story, but is the only major issue I had with the new chapters

 

While, at this point, I could complain about lack of any grand narrative within PotD2, the episodes themselves are rather enjoyable and it’s hard to not appreciate the variety they offer – from the genuinely-interesting mystery plot of the second episode to the long, nostalgic dialogue sections of the third one, pretty much everything the game has to offer is enjoyable in its own unique ways and adds to our understanding of its world and characters. Jill and Tyrone and still very good protagonists, both likeable and relatable despite their involvement with the supernatural. Art is still a joy to look at and is often used in a way atypical for VNs – for example, Garage Reverie uses panoramic, mildly animated drawings and comic-book-like dialogue clouds to present the conversation between Jill and her friend. More dramatic scenes are often portrayed with interesting visual tricks and distorted images fitting the mild Lovecraftian theme of the game. Voice acting is top-notch as always, with one glaring exception – Tulip, whose lines are nearly universally overacted and annoying. This was at least partially by design, as her dialogue makes it clear the writers wanted her to appear as an irritating brat over-the-top obsessed with Tyrone, but the substance of her lines could easily communicate that without making them unbearable. This contrasts strongly with the overall very solid direction of the voice acting and leaves a very unfortunate taint on my whole impression from PotD2’s new content – the role Tulip plays in Chapter 2 is crucial, especially in one of the story branches, making it significantly less enjoyable. I’m still surprised that a studio with such a strong record in this department let something like this slip through.

The length of the second and fourth episodes might be disappointing, but all four stories together create a rather compelling experience and a good value proposition

 

In the end, though, I think the new content for Perceptions of the Dead 2 offers some very solid additions, making the game and overall satisfying and well-priced package (currently sitting at $7.99 on Steam). It’s still a very unique and peculiar title that might not fit into people’s expectations: it plays on horror tropes and contain some grim/disturbing moments, but is ultimately fun and light-hearted (and distinctly colourful when it goes to visuals). It also puts quality over quantity, making even the really short episodes work thanks to their unique style and well-written stories. The 3-4 hours of reading time for the whole game might seem like relatively little, but most of what is in there is way more memorable and fresh-feeling than your usual EVN content. Of course, I can’t completely ignore the tiny length of the final two episodes and the aforementioned problems with the VA, thus making my final score for PotD2 new episodes slightly lower than the one I gave to the initial release – however, I still wholeheartedly recommend giving it a chance, especially if Lovecraftian themes and horror-comedy are something you usually enjoy.

Final Score: 3/5

Pros:

+ More of great artwork and fun, creepy story

+ Interesting and varied storytelling

 

Cons:

- Tulip’s VA

- Short episodes with little overarching narrative

VNDB Page

Buy Perceptions of the Dead 2 on Steam or Itch.io

Sable's Grimoire – Tix's Route Review (Visual Novel DLC)

Sable’s Grimoire was, in my opinion, one of the most interesting and enjoyable OELVN releases of 2018 – the expansive, story-driven VN with a very unusual approach to the theme of monster girls impressed me both with the sheer amount of content and the stories it told. Featuring various mature themes but essentially devoid of sexual fanservice (if you didn’t read my original review, check it out here – it also includes a lengthy interview with the game’s developer, Zetsubou), it was a rare kind of uncompromising project, which didn’t really cater to the reader’s expectations or insert elements that would help it become commercially successful, but rather followed its creator’s particular vision, to a very compelling and fresh-feeling effect. Even with the basic premise – a human student entering a magic academy dominated by demi-humans – sounding relatively standard, the VN itself was, in many ways, unlike anything I’ve read within the EVN scene.

            Another significant detail about the Sable’s Grimoire, signifying its relatively non-commercial nature, was the promise of free updates from the developer, which would expand significantly on what was already an impressively-sized VN (over 20 hours of content) with additional story routes. First of these was meant to be the story of Tix, a short-tempered, but cheerful pixie, who because of an administrative mistake becomes the protagonist’s roommate – a route originally planned for the main game, but cut out because of the already-prolonged development cycle. In January 2019, 8 months after the game’s initial release, the promised update was finally made available, adding around 4 hours of new content and full heroine arc for Tix. So, how does it compare to the rest of the game and how much does it add to the already awesome value-proposition of Sable’s Grimoire?

Tix’s route’s leading themes makes it slightly more „spicy” and romance-oriented then the most other ones in Sable’s Grimoire, but it’s still very far from becoming an eroge

 

Tix, while not one of the main heroines of the base game, was still a memorable and important character, acting as one of the first characters Sable meets in the Amadronia Academy and sharing a room with him through much of the story. Interactions with her were a significant part of the game’s narrative and certain decisions by the protagonist could even make her quit the Academy altogether, signalising that player's choices had real consequences in the game's world. Like most other female characters in the story, she showed a lot of personality (making up for her small size with a fierce temper and effective use of physical-augmentation magic), while also having an absolutely gorgeous visual design, definitely among the best ones in the game. The old content also provided the basic premise for her story – the expectation, brought by her race’s dependence on “foreign” males for reproduction, to quickly get pregnant and return to her community, with Sable, as one of the very few humans in the Academy, being the prime candidate to sire her children.

            The route itself, quite predictably, also centres around Tix being torn between her ambitions of learning magic and rising above her socially-assigned role, and the (frequently and categorically expressed) expectations of her family and people of her village. Sable, caught in the middle of this conflict, does his best to help Tix achieve her dreams (while refusing her repeated advances), while predictably misunderstanding some of her issues, misinterpreting the peculiarities of the fairy culture and at times making an even bigger mess of things through his meddling. As every other arc in the game, it’s solidly-written and includes a few (minor) twists, while also staying true to the general tone of the story. It focuses quite a lot in exploring the modern-fantasy setting, while Sable is still driven nearly-exclusively by his ambition and thirst for knowledge, and being an utterly unromantic individual because of that (which is particularly visible in the context of Tix’s growing affection for him). 

Tix is a fun heroine on her own, but the theme of her route is probably among less surprising and interesting ones in the game

 

However, while this arc is not drastically less enjoyable or consistent in quality than the previously-released ones, it’s probably still the least impactful of them all. While Eth & Rei’s route was mostly comedic, it seriously surprised me with some of its character developments and more bittersweet moments. Other routes relied on mysteries, with sometimes multiple reveals dramatically altering their tone and putting Sable through some really extreme challenges. Here, the story wasn’t able to excel in either of those departments, turning out surprisingly straightforward – not necessarily a bad thing by itself, but in the end, it makes the whole route relatively forgettable, especially considering its linear structure (there's no branching aside from some quick bad endings). Tix also proves to be a rather whimsical and inconsistent heroine, frequently changing her decisions and attitude towards Sable – something that is inherently written into her character, but also takes away much of her agency throughout the route and makes her less sympathetic than most of the other girls.

            However, considering this route “relatively underwhelming” has to be set within the context of generally high quality and enjoyment factor of Sable’s Grimoire – while I wasn’t satisfied with it as much as I was with most other arcs, especially the “darker” and more dramatic ones, it’s a worthy addition to the game’s story and something I had genuine fun exploring. I simply hope that if we’re going to see another addition to the story, it’ll bring us something genuinely new – maybe a bond in which Sable will show a bit of his romantic side (which is not completely non-existent), or face a kind of challenge he never dealt before. Tix’s route simply introduced too little in this regard to be really compelling, at least when read as the last arc in the game. 
           It might be a while until we see another major update or continuation of Sable’s Grimoire, while Zetsubou is working on other projects, but maybe certain gorgon might still earn her place in the spotlight… For now, Tix's route is a fun-enough addition and the game itself is, of course, no less worth playing than before and presents an even more amazing value proposition. If it sounds like something you might enjoy, I strongly recommend giving it a chance.

Final Rating: 3,5/5

Pros:
+ Tix’s visual design and personality are (mostly) on par with other SB heroines
+ Solid additional drama and world-building
 
Cons:
- No interesting branches within the route
- Sable is just as unromantic as ever...


VNDB Page
Buy Sable’s Grimoire on Steam or Itch.io