Yandere Translations

Muv-Luv series review: 3 of 3
Here is a review of Muv-Luv Alternative made by age.

Overall score: 9.5/10

Plot summary:

3 years after the main character, Shirogane Takeru, wakes up in a parallel world where humanity is at war with “BETA”, he wakes up yet again in a different room. This time, he wakes up 3 years in the past, ending up in the same time and place when he first came to this parallel world. Takeru is disappointed that he is not back in his original world, but he resolves not to let humanity suffer the same fate and decides to join the army again. He joins unit 207 and uses his 3 years of military experience and memories of future events to fight against the BETA and the inevitable fate of Alternative 5.

*Play time: About 40 hours total.

Characters:

Shirogane Takeru: Main character. A bit more mature.
Kagami Sumika: Cheerful, clutz. Childhood friend.
Mitsurugi Meiya: Noble girl. Very determined
Sakaki Chizuru: Responsible, strict girl. 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: 10/10

The story is pure awesomeness. I can say with confidence that everything was a buildup for Alternative. Still, the story has its downsides. First, it has a very bad tempo. It describes things into too much detail, and they keep scenes dragging on. Next, (it also has to do with the first too) there are too many explanations. I really hated it when they were in critical situations when every second counted, but when they kept on talking as if they had all the time in the world. Lastly, I could not like the main character. Yes, he did mature from the previous Muv-Luv, but I still hated how he would get depressed again and again, and it seemed like he had no definite will of his own.
The story has many downsides, but I am still going to give it a 10 because its awesomeness more than makes up for the shortcomings. Characters come alive, the actions scenes are hot as hell, and it has great drama. The game has enough “power” to keep you reading all night.

Graphics: 7/10

The graphic is good. The mechs are drawn in detail, and they actually show BETA in this game. There are much less moe CGs and the graphics concentrate on action scenes. Together with the awesome effects in this game, it really brings out the best in this game. Oh, but the sprites of the laser-shooting BETA sucked.

Music: 9/10

The music is excellent. The BGMs build up the scenes really well. The exciting BGMs go great with the action scenes, and really bring out the atmosphere. The vocal songs are very good as well. The game gets so exciting when a vocal song plays in the background at special scenes. The only bad thing is that this game does not have a music mode, so I can’t readily listen to them.

System: 2/10

The system is actually worse in Alternative. There aren’t many in-game settings, annoying save/load function, no return to title option, just like in the previous Muv-Luv.
And if that’s not enough to annoy you, Alternative has no CG mode, music mode, or recollection mode. This game does not have bugs or crash on me, but it is the worst when it comes to everything else.

Effect: 10/10

The effects are awesome. The effect move character sprites all over the screen and it makes it seem closer to a movie than standstill pictures. The effects really come to life in the fighting scenes. The effects in cockpit are great as well. It helps that the screen is wider than normal eroge. It’s hard to describe, but you’ll see once you actually play the game. It even makes fate/stay night look boring in comparison. I don’t think any other game has as good an effect as Alternative. Again, the only downside is that some scenes force you to be on slow autoread.

Ero: 1/10

There are only 2 scenes in the entire game. One is normal, and there is absolutely nothing special about it. It’s just like a Hscene in Muv-Luv Extra. But the other Hscene is terrible and uncalled-for. The game would have been better without it.

Overall: 9.5/10

I have not played this game until recently because I do not like mech stuff. Boy, do I regret that. I should’ve played this game right when it came out. Alternative is a must play eroge for anyone. There is just so much in this game. I can’t say enough good things about this game. This game is a masterpiece.

Recommended for: People who want action, people who want military stuff, people who like mechs, people who want an awesome story, and anyone who can get their hands on this game.
Not recommended for: People who hate stories with bad tempo, people looking for ero, and people who can’t stand gore.