06/01/2018

Utawarerumono-Mask of Deception: A bouncy ride


I'm not sure where this game and its story are headed, but I'm kinda happy to be part of the ride. Utawererumono: Mask of Deception (referred to as UMoD from hereon) is a strange beast of a game, a meaty visual novel with intermittent battle sections that doesn't seem to know exactly what kind of story it wants to tell and what kind of atmosphere it wants to craft. Things started ominously enough, with amnesiac hero Haku waking up in a completely foreign world and being rescued in the nick of time by mysterious lone ranger Kuon. Ensued a bunch of terrifying events, such as attacks by giants insects and bandits, and the introduction of a couple of interesting characters; combined with Haku's glaring disconnect with his surroundings and the burgeoning of a quiet yet intense relationship with Kuon, we were seemingly headed towards a intense tale of mystery, love and recovered memories.

A couple of hours later, things have derailed pretty severely. Ever since Haku and his small crew set foot in the Yamato Imperial Capital, the story has shifted focus from Haku's lost memories and attempts to understand his new foreign world to mundane events such as bath-dipping, chatting with merchants and cooking sweets. The game has also deprived me of my sweet intimacy with Kuon by throwing at my face tons of new female characters that eat a lot of screentime and have pushed my lovely Kuon into the background. For all intents and purposes, my intense tale of mystery, love and recovered memories has slowly but surely morphed into a slice-of-life harem anime. How did it get to this? This is not what I signed for, and this is certainly not what the game's early stages led me to expect.

Mind you, I wouldn't mind that change of tone that much if not for the fact that the new female recrues are all unsufferable brats and that the story is now brimming with the worst clichés under the anime sun. Tsundere teenage b*tch who despises the hero? Check. Unwilling peeping at naked female characters in the bath, followed by hefty punishment? Check. The hero being blamed by all the girls for a bad turn of events he's not even responsible for? Check. The list goes on and on, and so does the parade of annoying characters the game is throwing at me. Like, I've hardly gotten used to bratty tsundy Nekone, and now the game is pushing first-class spoiled little minx Anju on me, who is ten times the brat Nekone is! Can you please let me catch my breath between blows, game? To add insult to injury, Haku, and by extension myself, must endure a nearly constant assassination of character by this bunch of nasty broads. I'm routinely called a pervert, a slob, a bum, and blamed for this, that and the other. Heck, even loving and protective Kuon has joined the fray and started unwinding at my expense, going from a dignified mother-like figure to a grumpy teenager in a matter of chapters. And mind you, those girls are far from being perfect enough to judge me. Like, how dare Nekone, of all people, call me a pervert? Hey, I'm not the one lusting after my own brother here, b*tch. And how dare Rulutieh look down on me for having scantily clad females in my entourage, when she owns stacks upon stacks of graphic yaoi manga? Typical case of the pot calling the kettle black, if you ask me.

But hey, let's chalk up my dislike of the narrative's current style to the fact that harem manga and anime have never been my cup of tea; and let's heartily move on to the game's positive sides, the main one being the battle segments. Those battles are more than mere diversions: there's a real, solid fighting system at work there, with levels, skills, attack ranges and the like, and it makes those engagements really engrossing. Even better, you can actually level-grind by fighting free battles! Needless to say, I overindulged in said free battles, especially when the story got on my nerves. Cherry on the cake, steering my crew on the battlefield and seeing their awesome fighting prowess helps me forget their annoying antics and tantrums and makes me love them more. Other highlights are the great soundtrack, the easy-on-the-eye character design and the depth of the game world, which was given a lovingly crafted set of customs, myths, folktales and the like — heck, even confectionaries have their own dedicated entries in the glossary. And there's also the whole atmosphere — that is, if we ever get out of those slice-of-life, harem-ish meanderings and go back on track to pursue Haku's lost memories.

So here I am, enjoying the ride while fervently hoping that UMoD won't pull a Steins;Gate on me by bastardizing its own narrative beyond repair. I've been playing for roughly 15 hours, and if internet lore about UMoD is to be believed, I still have a good number of playing hours ahead. See you soon with more Utawarerumono tidings, dear fellow gamers! Thanks for reading, and be my guest anytime!

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