Yu-No: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of this World might not be a catchy title for a Japanese visual novel, but this remake of the beloved PC-98 classic is an important watershed for the genre as a whole. Originally released in 1996, Yu-No tells the tale of Takuya, revealing the nature of his father’s disappearance through the use of a device you get early on in the game that lets you hop between different, branching timelines. This Switch remake was originally released in Japan in 2017, and features brand-new character designs, a new soundtrack and a bit of a lick of paint.
Originally set in the '90s in an idyllic Japanese seaside town, Yu-No immediately inspires an incredibly unique atmosphere. The game shifts from beautifully illustrated screen to screen, where you’re able to observe any and all of your surroundings. When interacted with, the game then launches into lengthy prose where you’re able to learn more about the place and time you’re inhabiting. While these seemingly pointless passages do end up with you reading lengthy paragraphs about the smell of the air, it goes a long way to establishing its atmosphere. You’re able to do this multiple times, further adding to the text, which can sometimes give you a tip-off to the location and intent of its characters.
You might get seven or eight of these per screen, varying between observations about your surroundings, the character you’re speaking to, or the objects on screen. The game often comes to points where you have to exhaust every bit of text in these observations, which then, in turn, unlocks a new option to proceed. Instances like this are pretty limited and go far with layering on the presented atmosphere, dialogue and internal monologue of your player character, Takuya Arima.
Takuya’s character is one of the more frustrating points of the game. You’re inhabiting his mind, seeing his thoughts, feelings and reactions to everything as you play through the game. He immediately comes across as nothing more than a perverted teenager with some pretty terrible behavioural problems, but as you trudge through the game, you do start to see flashes of deep character development. He might not be the most tolerable main character of a visual novel that we’ve ever seen, but the strength of Yu-No’s lengthy 40-hour scenario makes this less of a chore.
It goes without saying, Yu-No is from a different era of visual novel, and the original PC-98 release features some quite explicit scenes. This rerelease of Yu-No has been noticeably toned down in terms of racy content, but despite this, the game has incredibly sexual overtones – and that’s noticeable right from the start, opening with a gratuitous panty-shot less than 5 minutes in. Dialogue between characters is also laughably bad, with characters quipping to each other about sexual topics with all the maturity of a 12-year-old. You can perform actions while talking to female characters where you can observe them. Often you find some that are just named “breasts” – ahem. Unfortunately, these old-school dating-sim aspects are an important part of the scenario and story of the game.
Still, lead scenario writer and designer Hiroyuki Kanno wanted to show the world that visual novels were more than just vehicles for smut, and Yu-No was a seminal work in the genre that attempts to strive against those elements. While we’re not going to veer into spoiler territory here, Yu-No is incredibly engaging, and its ingenious branching timelines make the game incredibly fun to play through.
Having said that, while Yu-No is now looked upon as an incredibly important work in the genre, to us, it looks like the game has a bit of an identity crisis. You can’t separate the dating-sim elements of Yu-No away from the main scenario. While the game does indeed have an incredibly impressive, grandiose narrative, it seems like it’s often being weighed down by its own dating-sim elements. In addition to this, what may have originally come across as daring character writing in the mid-'90s now comes across as nothing more than a handful of female characters that just check archetypal boxes all along the way, built for nothing more than childish titillation.
This isn’t helped by the fact that while this remake does indeed have some stunning background art, its character redesigns have been adapted for modern tastes. This definitely loses elements of the atmosphere and setting of the game, which has a distinctly mid-'90s vibe. Ultimately, this comes down to personal taste, but the '90s character designs seem to fit a lot better with the game, which has unfortunately been reduced to a standard, generic low-budget anime look. Especially when looking at the effort put into the character portraits in the PC-98 version for the purposes of this review, we can’t help but feel a bit disappointed.
Conclusion
Yu-No: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of this World was clearly once an incredibly daring visual novel, but some of that sense of mystery is done a disservice when revisiting the concept via this remake. Games like Steins;Gate or the Danganronpa series have since eclipsed it. That said, there’s nothing as expansive or daring as Yu-No’s branching timeline system, which still comes across as impressive even today. Despite all of its archaic design elements, cringeworthy perverted dialogue and now-bland characters, you can’t refute the fact that the modern visual novel genre would simply not exist without Yu-No. It's just a shame that this remake feels like it has lost some of the soul of its original release, with nothing but bland character designs to refresh it for a modern audience.
Comments 49
Using too pervy to play on the bus as a con is equal to using violence in an 18+ rated title as a con because its too violent to play on a bus.... The game sounds fabulous, too bad the English release has an image censored compared to the Japanese Switch release, because the localizers didn't bother doing a difference between the Switch and the PS4 version. But still on the fence, maybe put it on my wish list for Christmas or wait for a sale later.
"Definitely too pervy to play on the bus"
You guys should play the original, that one is a true no go on the bus.
That aside I agree with the generic anime style, the original had it's charm but this loses most of it (it looks good enough)
Another issue is that while I don't care about H scenes, removing them even while obvious (total no go on consoles) when it did fit the story and felt like a part of the game changes how certain events come over in my opinion, this remake of course lacks that but the story itself even while not complete (in my opinion) is still fine.
The score is fairly legit here, I'm slightly sad with this release because the original was good, for people searching for some good Visual Novels on the Switch try Steins Gate or WorldEnd Syndrome, or the original release of this game.
Sad this failed, but I already expected this to happen.
The artwork here is absolutely fantastic. It is way too subjective to put in the "cons" list. Seriously, what was the reviewer thinking?
@MARl0 While I do agree with you that the artwork looks nice, at the end of the day a review is an opinion. If a reviewer thinks the art looks bad, they are more than allowed to say so in their review. As readers, stuff like artstyle is an element we actually can disagree on without playing the game.
@tobibra
Whataboutism is a surefire way to ensure you lose an argument. Yeah I wouldn't play a super violent game on a bus around others either, but that doesn't make public softcore porn any better. These aren't my types of games but I'm fine with their existence, but I get so sick of these weak ass arguments to defend them. Play them, ignore this review if you don't agree with it, and move on.
The list of 'cons' is another fine example of why this is about the last site I trust for games like this.
A game that was an eroge considered too pervy? in other news water is wet.
I played the original and that game is way better looking than the new remake truly a testament to use everything at your disposal to create stunning visuals for its time.
Name one visual novel that is safe to play on the bus. Seriously.
@PBandSmelly Every single one that I've played. But I doubt this is any exception either.
@PBandSmelly how about the Ace Attorney series?
Meh, I think I’ll pass on this game.
It's a pity there's not a toggle to switch to the art from the original PC-98 version. I've looked up clips of that version online, and, aesthetically, it's VERY clean and attractive. Certainly better than the style adopted by this remake.
I was going to get this but the anime has turned out to be such a convoluted mess that I have since changed my mind. I'm still a little conflicted though, because I want to encourage Japanese studios to bring more VNs outside of Japan.
However that con about "too pervy to play on the bus" is not only silly but hypocritical. As @tobibra it's like saying a game is too violent to play on the bus. Oh wait, western moral hypocrites never say that! Gotta drive home that sexy = bad but violence = good!
The idea that implied sex is offensive but it's fine to have games where the entire focus is killing in great detail... That is what is really offensive!
And to be clear, I'm not saying that violence should be censored, I'm saying we shouldn't be censoring "pervy" things or acting like boobies are worse that decapitation.
Game ratings exist for a reason.
“Definitely too pervy to play on the bus”
Maybe, if you’re a coward.
@Spudtendo Careful! That type of reasoned, logical take on a review isn't looked too kindly upon 'round these parts. In NL's comments, it's reactionary double standards or GTFO.
The reviewer obviously doesn't know the definition of "moe".
@Spudtendo
"Whataboutism"... sigh
You must be from resetera. Only they use this fallacy in a serious argument. What's next? "False equivalences"?
pfft
The remake of that revolutionary game may have its downsides due to some changes, but at least it has a good translation that can almost be on par with the fan-translation from 2011. Also the dating parts of the game really adds to character depth, even the short back and forth teases between the protagonist and the girls.
@Heavyarms55 The anime adaptation was way too rushed, with the plot having been altered in parts. The prologue, which normally lasts about 2 or 3 hours in the game was crammed into a 23 minute episode, to give an idea of how much flavour was lost.
@Tirza
Whataboutism is a widely used term outside of videogames, and I've never used resetera. The only thing I know about that site is that right wingers sure do hate it, so it's probably right up my alley.
@Heavyarms55 I don't think the reviewer called for this game to be censored. He probably just isn't into pervy games and gave his opinion on it. You're assuming he's into gratuitous violence and that's on you, not him.
@Spudtendo Trust me, Resetera is not a place you want to be up your alley
@Spudtendo Alright, go hang out on Resetera. Just don’t say I didn’t try to warn you.
@Anri02
Just did a little research on it and its users are very progressive (which I'm all for), but very negative, they complain about everything, and seem to be pretty intolerant of people who don't quite share their mindset and politics (which I'm not for). I might disagree on things with my right-wing friends and family, but I love them and can be civil about said disagreements. Thanks for getting me to look this up, can't stand today's outrage culture.
@Spudtendo I'm not assuming he is or isn't into anything. My point was a general one. Not only with regards to this site, but in general people always tolerate violence in media so much more than anything "pervy". No one ever says something like, say, Sniper Elite is too violent to play on the bus, even though it's literally a game focused on killing people in a highly detailed and comparatively realistic manner. Yet we get an anime game with a couple panty shots and wildly unrealistic pervy situations and people always "get offended" by it. Its nonsense.
And a good reviewer would at least add the disclaimer that they have a personal opinion influencing their dislike of an aspect of a game rather than treating their own dislike as an actual con.
I personally don't like 1v1 fighting games, but I'm not gonna down a game just because its a genre I don't like. If I review it, I'm gonna judge it on measurable, observable things like functionality, character roster, technical aspects, music and graphics. Not "Well this game has too many muscular men, so it's bad"
@Spudtendo
Whataboutism is Fallacy 101, typical from americans, who think that they are always right.
@Tirza But we always are?
@Tirza
God bless the USA.
@Heavyarms55
I get what you're saying mah man, I do think the reviewer is letting subjectivity cloud his judgement. Like, he could comment on the game's pervyness without actually putting it in the list of cons and lowering the score because of it. The game's badly written dialogue is a fair criticism, however.
@Spudtendo I agree. I would have put it like this "The admittedly perverted nature of some of the scenes in this game may not be to everyone's taste, we encourage player discretion"
As to the dialogue, I haven't played the game, but if the story is as convoluted as the anime turned out, I wouldn't be surprised if the people who localized the game just couldn't handle the job.
@BenAV i agree these reviews on these games on here are a joke wen it comes to fanservice
I think NL’s staff gets excited for these type of games...
They know that they can get a lot of clicks by just adding a snarky comment in there and rile people up.
@Snaplocket And you're fully entitled to your own personal opinion on that. I understand and respect it. But there is a difference between personally not liking something and reviewing it as an inherent negative. You don't like it, but others might. But labeling it as a negative they way they did, they are effectively labeling that who opinion as bad. It is the reverse, but the same as if I tried to say you shouldn't dislike it. That disliking sexually themed content is not good.
A review should judge the game based on measurable qualities like production quality, graphics, game play mechanics etc. Reviewers should strive to set aside their personal preferences and evaluate a game as objectively as they are able to do. Or when they need to state their own opinions on an issue in the game, make it clear that is what they are doing.
@TheDanslator @Spudtendo That weak-ass argument as you called it, was more ment to point out that con was silly than to defend this game. If they review a game I'm interested in, I will likely coment on it. I shouldn't have to agree with the review to be allowed to comment.
@tobibra
Fair enough, fair enough. I think I'm just on edge with these reviews because if a reviewer even mentions perversion, even if he doesn't use it as a con, people here usually jump down his throat. It's okay to find these games distasteful. I don't really think he should be lowering the score because of his distaste for the genre, though. You know what you're getting into with these games.
What if you never take the bus?
"Definitely too pervy to play on the bus". You could argue this is a pro for some people.
@Dezzy I wouldn't play in my car either (for different reasons), but it would be fun to play this at lunchtime at work.
@Rayquaza2510 Haha, thanks for the measured comment. It's an interesting one though, isn't it? They tried to tone the H elements down for this release, but it wasn't really enough to go in line with things like Steins;Gate, Danganronpa, or AI: The Somnium Files. It's a bit of a shame, because the game clearly has the backbone of a great story and branching mechanics, but it's just let down by some really really weird changes from the original release
@PBandSmelly Steins Gate and Utawarerumono Mask of Deception and Mask of Truth.
Technically 3 games.
I could also count Persona 4 Dancing All Night because that's half Visual Novel and half rhytm game.
@SayemAhmd True, the problem is that in this case removing stuff from the game, even while needed wasn't that great idea.
The reasons why Danganronpa or Steins Gate are great is because of their gameplay (Danganronpa) and solid story (Steins Gate and Danganronpa), and in case of Steins Gate the original artwork plays a role too.
To name another example Utawarerumono Mask of Deception and Mask of Truth are great games too, have fantastic music, great story and simple but solid artwork, however all these games have 1 thing in common that they don't really lack any story elements in their western releases, Yu-No had H scenes and those played a role in how the story presented itself, both Utawarerumono games, Steins Gate and the Danganronpa series never had any H scenes so they lack them because they never existed, they also were never build around it so the makers focussed more on different stuff in those games which makes them so great, and which wasn't censored in the west (they probably changed some stuff but that happens a lot and is different from removing stuff)
Then again I played a lot of VN's on the PC and from my own experience lack of H scenes doesn't hurt 99% of them (I even prefer lack of them) but Yu-No is that 1% that does suffer from lacking it, but the game has more issues than that sadly but is still solid enough story wise (and even while it lacks H scenes it is still a 18+ game in EU for a reason)
Same reviewer who gave Code Vein a 2/5 on other site. Not surprising.
I agree, game looks cheap and that level of “virtual sex” in games is just cringeworthy. We all have a good image in our minds of who plays these kinds of “games”; the ones you prefer not to invite to normal social events. (Freedom of speech I’m only saying what we’re all thinking)
@Spudtendo hi spudtendo! You seem like a decent person, don’t let others here bully you out of your opinion (something I’ve noticed from right wing folk of late). Your avatar reminded me of something that happened when I was recently playing that Links Awakening Switch port - I wrestled with that tall cactus trophy in the crane minigame, finally I got it onto the dropping conveyor belt at the end however it didn’t roll off it so I couldn’t pick it up! I saved a clip of it. Was so annoying! (Now links awakening is a perfect game. One of the best ever made, so happy now the Switch has the three best Zelda titles - LTTP, BotW, Awakening. Love this platform! Recognised that early on which is why I helped produce and invest in some early and well received titles).
If only there were more good games like those and less like this gross mess. As I say, we all have a good impression of the type of “person” that likes those strange underage sex novels.
No mention of the Switch exclusive day one edition DLC side scroller game? Or I missed it sorry.
Removed - offensive remarks
@Tirza At least I'm not having problems leaving the Extended Universe
5/10? seriously? I just played through this game on the Switch - its a much more intriguing game than at first glance. Yes the art is not quite as charming as the mid 90s Japan vibe of the original and the dialogue is pervy, but underneath all that is an incredible Steins;Gate type sci-fi game - the Epilogue in itself could be thought of as almost a distinct game in itself as Takuya basically inhabits a totally different world with different characters. Also the use of the reflector is still a pretty unique take on visual novels today as well. There's a LOT of endings as well, as well has hidden endings for each character. I have a feeling the author never really played through this game.
@gofishus Same. I can't tell if the reviewer has finished any version of the game. Those cons don't warrant that final score, and to call the characters bland just because of the art is silly.
Here are two better reviews: http://www.digitallydownloaded.net/2019/10/review-yu-no-girl-who-chants-love-at.html
http://www.rpgfan.com/reviews/Yu_No/index.html
This game is absolutely 10/10. Just not the remake. Especially western release.
The main reason why I will always recommend original version is the translation. Fan translated versions are generally far superior (especially this particular game). Official translations are usually (in most cases to be precise) a complete garbage. Omitting things like honorifics, many cultural aspects or even reversing name order (seriously I will never understand why games that are not getting the butchering called dubbing are still reversing name order it’s ridiculous and really jarring when you’re reading it) is just pathetic, especially if we are talking about super niche market like visual novels which has pretty obvious audience.
Not mentioning that Spike Chunsoft has long history of censorship and terrible translation choices.
Of course, sex scenes are important as well in this game. They are adding more depth to the story and makes it way more memorable.
The artstyle is arguable to be honest. I love original character design, but (thanks to anime adaptation) I started to like new design too. Mio and Mitsuki especially.
And the soundtrack. Original soundtrack of Umemoto Ryuu has a soul that cannot be replicated.
Spike Shitsoft even changed Sayless name.
Then don't play on the bus, idiot
@RiasGremory I wonder how the reviewer would have reacted to the original version with H scenes and everything, lol
Yu-No is one of the best visual novels of all time and this review is laughable. I get that at the end of the day reviews are opinion pieces, but this just wasn't a good fit. It's about on par with the infamous IGN 3/10 review for God Hand. Shame this won't gain as much infamy as -lets face it- nobody cares about VNs in the west.
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