VN Preview: Cradle Song

 

Whew, it’s been awhile. College has been busy this semester, so I haven’t been able to post much. I figured I’m going to bring you a preview for a visual novel that’s currently in the process of being made, with a hopeful release date later this year. I recently read the preview demo, and I’m absolutely sold on it. Read on after the jump for more about Cradle Song…

Plot:

Cradle Song is a visual novel created by Dischan. I’ll take the plot summary directly from Cradle Song’s website.

“Cradle Song takes place in a desolate world. A world that has slowly deteriorated over hundreds of years.

But Nathan has no idea about that. His life revolves around trudging to school, listening to lectures, and walking home after having failed to ask Ciri out once again.

Many people live this way: hidden within Virtual Realities and completely unaware of the world outside… though they aren’t there by choice.

Nathan and these others are special sorts of people. People referred to by laymen as “power users”.

They have the potential to use supernatural abilities, thanks to a stroke of evolutionary luck. However, after Nathan’s sponsored escape from his virtual world, he quickly discovers that potential does not always transition into reality. Out of all of his fellow escapees, he is the only one left powerless.

Now, with boundless possibilities before him, will Nathan embrace this new and unstable world, or will he be overwhelmed?

Real life starts now.”

The story is really good so far, from what I’ve read. It has a lot of potential to really be good. The majority of the trial seems like it’s normal, everyday school life…before it’s quickly ripped away from you. The entire transition is done extremely well. In addition, the characters are really likable, and the writing is top notch.

 

 

Gameplay

The gameplay is that of a typical visual novel style. If you’ve never played a visual novel before, it’s the equivalent of a book with music, art, backgrounds, and sprites for the characters. Many of them also include choices that branch off the story into different varying routes.

 

Art

The art in Cradle Song is amazing…that’s about all I can describe it as. They have amazing artists working on this project. I highly recommend checking out their character bio pages on their official website and their blog to see a lot of great examples.

 

Music

Again, the music in this game is equally stunning. They have a really cool ambient vibe to a lot of them, but the tracks can move anywhere from calm, to sudden trance, to a heart-pumping futuristic beat. Here’s a couple examples of their stuff:

 

 

 

Overall

In summary, Cradle Song is a visual novel that is being done by a ludicrously small amateur team (only like 7-8 people?), yet they’re churning out an absolutely stunning product. The story is promising thus far, the art is amazing, and the music is really well-done. I’d like word of this game to spread as far as possible, as I feel they really deserve it. The full version of the game is not available yet, though they’ve mentioned a possible release shortly after July 2012. A demo of the game is currently out on their website, if you want to download it and try it.  I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

Cradle Song Official Site: http://cradle-song.com/index.php

Dischan Official Site: http://dischan.org/index.php

Dischan Blog: http://dischan.org/devblog/

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