Yandere Translations

Muv-Luv series review: 2 of 3
This review will review Muv-Luv Unlimited, the second half of the game Muv-Luv, made by age.

Overall score: 7/10

Plot summary:

Shirogane Takeru is leading a normal life when, one day, he wakes up in a different world. The town is in ruins and a robot has broken down on top of Sumika’s house. Takeru thinks it’s a dream and heads for school, but the school has turned into a military base. He starts doubting that it’s a dream when he’s actually captured and sent to prison. Kouzuki Yuuko lets him out of prison and informs him that humanity is at war with “BETA” (Beings of the Extra Terrestrial origin which is Adversary of human race) in this world. To survive in this world, Takeru accepts this world and starts his life as a soldier in training. He finds out that everyone he knows in the original world exists in this world… with the exception of Sumika. Takeru must now figure out the truth of this world and the fate which awaits him…

*Play time: About 20 hours total.

Characters:

Shirogane Takeru: Main character. Random, dense, typical eroge protag.
Kagami Sumika: Cheerful, clutz. Childhood friend.
Mitsurugi Meiya: Rich, noble girl. Long ponytail.
Sakaki Chizuru: Responsible class rep. Glasses.
Ayamine Kei: Quiet random type.
Tamase Miki: Short loli. Innocent, puppy-like.
Yoroi Mikoto: Random cheerful girl. Boy-ish
Kouzuki Yuuko: Smart, mature, calculating.

Story: 7/10

The story turns completely around in this half of the game. Instead of peaceful romance, the people in this game are determined and are ready for death. It shows a big contrast to the Muv-Luv Extra world where peace is taken for granted. In this world, people have to fight for their peace and everything they have. Most of the story revolves around training and missions, and they are interesting enough to make you keep reading the game. This half of the game is more concentrated on mechs, training, and hot battles. I liked the whole story, but there are several things I did not like. First, the story is very linear and the story is exactly the same no matter who you end up with. (You can skip the epilogue for everyone else after you’ve seen one ending) Second, the story does not show BETA. The game freaking manages not to show the very enemy they’re fighting against. Third, the game leaves a lot of mysteries unsolved such as Alternative 4, who Yashiro is, and what the brain is. Yes, they’re explained in Muv-Luv Alternative, but there’s just too many unsolved things for this game to end with the player satisfied. The game is interesting enough as a standalone, though. Lastly, the main character is still detestful, at least for me. He’s too carefree and immature for me, personally. The comedy in this half of the game weren’t that good, but it makes up for it with action.

Graphics: 7/10

The graphic is good. I don’t see anything wrong with it. There was a lot of small rough sketch-like scenes for comedy. The robots are pretty cool and the backgrounds are drawn well.

Music: 8/10

The music in Unlimited is better than Extra because there are more battle music which comes with how the story turns out. I thought the battle music were hot. The BGMs really helped create the atmosphere of the game.

Effect: 9/10

The effects are just as good as in Extra. There are camera movements, background scroll, sound effects, character sprite movements… so much to enhance gameplay experience. The effects really help when the robots are moving. Again, the only downside is that some scenes force you to be on autoread, which, in my opinion, is slower than average reading speed.

System: 3/10

The system is the same as Extra, so let me just copy paste it from Muv-Luv Extra review…
The system is terrible. It doesn’t have serious bugs or anything, but it can’t be any worse when it comes to user-friendliness. First, it has sound mode, movie mode, CG mode, and recollection (H) mode from the title. This is fine, but the format it’s in is terrible. It’s like trying to navigate through choices, and the CG menu is the worst. You can’t just right click to exit, the CG list automatically scrolls when the curser moves to the bottom/upper part of the screen, meaning you can only click on CGs in the middle. The in-game settings are much better, but I have to say there aren’t enough things you can change. It has text speed, character speech colors, among other things. The worst is how to save/load. You can’t save/load with one click and you’re forced to comment during saves. There isn’t return to title, or skip ALL effects. Overall, it was very annoying.

Ero: 3/10

Each character gets one scene (in addition to Muv-Luv Extra) with two CGs. Again, the scenes itself are short, but decent. Nothing more.

Overall: 7/10

This is a game with military setting with mechs. There’s nothing special about it, but again, this game instantly becomes a must-play after considering the fact that this game is an introduction for Muv-Luv Alternative. It is enjoyable by itself, and consider it a background before playing Muv-Luv Alternative.

Recommended for: People who like mechs, people planning to play Muv-Luv Alternative, and people who can stand the main character.
Not recommended for: People who want ero, people who want everything explained, and people who want differnt outcomes for each girls.