Norn9 Vars Common Review

Platform: Playstation Vita

My Playtime: 60+ hours

Genre: Visual Novel

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Sorata Suzuhara was on a school field trip when he was suddenly transported to the past!  By happenstance, he bumped into a girl name Koharu.  She told him she was going to meet a ship and that the people there might be able help him return back home.  But he did not realize it was going to be an airship!  This was the past, right?  But as they progressed to their destination, things weren’t as they seem.  With a traitor on board the ship and the hidden truth about the World, can Sorata really find his way home?

At the start, the plot was kind of confusing by how everything fit together.  It felt a little convoluted, slow and vague.  Of course, I found that after going through one route, things start to make sense.  The plot was really interesting when you finally get the whole picture.  I like the fact that I can honestly imagine this kind of event happening in our distant future.  And each character’s personality and story line was different enough that you were not replaying the same scenario over and over again.  Now what was unique was that instead of one heroine, there were three you can be – Mikoto, Koharu and Nanami.  Each girl has three heroes.  Altogether, there are 9 routes.  And you can unlock Sorata’s route after finishing these routes.  Each route (if you read everything and not skipping dialogue) takes about 5-6 hours to finish.  And if you are like me, trying to get 100% in the game, you will do the same route another 2 more times.  So that’s another 1-2 hours.  So expect at least 60+ hours to finish the game.  My favorite ‘ship was Mikoto/Natsuhiko – their story was so sweet and hilarious.  I replayed this route at least 10 times.  I can’t get enough of these two.  Least favorite was Nanami/Ron – their relationship did not really make sense to me.  It felt too force.

Who is this game for?  Make no mistake, this is visual novel.  This is in NO WAY an adventure, action or RPG video game.  So, don’t buy this game if you are not into visual novels.  It is reading and making crucial decisions when prompted.  Personally, I love otome games and I was super stoke to finally play this one.  However, I did find that it took me an hour of playing to really get into the game.  So, don’t give up if you don’t like it right away.  I started with Koharu and she kind of annoyed me.

 

Now, for the technical stuff.  Japanese audio only.   All characters had voice acting except during inner dialogues.  The voice acting was spot on.  English subtitles.  My only critique would be that there are a lot of spelling errors.  I do know Japanese and the translation was good.  Some wording was not exact but close enough.  There was no lag time.  Things ran pretty seamlessly.  My game did get stuck once when I was exiting from the Norn9 Quest Mini-game.  The style art is gorgeous.  Especially the guys.  Totally fell in love with them all.  Graphics is your usual standard. The characters are 2D and their expressions changed to fit the scene and line.  I like that their mouths move when they talk.  There were some extras to unlock.  There was a retro style mini-game to earn more points to spend at the Norn Store.  You can spend points on getting the lovely BGM (not the vocals though), stills, funny comics and extra funny scenes.

I fell in love with this game.  It will make you smile.  It will make you sad.  It will definitely make you laugh.  If you are a fan of visual novels, get it now.  It will be a good investment of your time.

Warning: Possible Spoilers

1) Koharu & Kakeru - This is a very interesting route.  Kakeru has a lot of depth despite his sadistic nature.  I like how Koharu's love for him changed him for the better. Their ending was really cute.  Their route does have implied bedroom scenes.

2) Koharu & Senri - I hate Senri.  Honestly, I can't hear what he is saying most of the time.  He is a really weak character and he is not as mature as Koharu and that is saying a lot.  I don't like their route so much.  I couldn't wait to finish their story.  

3) Koharu & Masamune - Okay.  I have a thing for older guys.  He is responsible and gets drunk off sugar?  Too adorable.  I wouldn't call this route romantic since Masamune tended to keep her at arm's length for ethical reason.

4) Mikoto & Sakuya - Sakuya in any route is hilarious to me.  The perfect gentleman and hating on Itsuki, he is the perfect foil to Mikoto.  Their love is fated to end badly and because of this, there is a lot of tension from keeping their feelings from each other.  And it does if you get the bad end.  The only way for this to end was to actually do a Reset.  This was the only timeline that really went through with it.
5) Mikoto & Natsuhiko - MY FAVORITE!  He kidnaps her and eventually develop feelings for her.  (In other routes, there was implication that Natsuhiko always had a thing for her.)  Mikoto doesn't want to like him, but respects his ability and his reason.  What she doesn't agree with is that he wanted to kill all her friends for being Espers.  They are the most lovey-dovey and most funny in comparison to other routes.  Plus, you get a chance to leave the Norn.  This was the only route you didn't spend much time on the Norn.  Check out Natsuhiko's extra scene in the Norn store and tell me that is not sweet.  There is an implied love scene here as well.    
6) Mikoto & Itsuki - I like Itsuki's character.  He has a lot of depth despite the charm he exudes.  Not one of my favorite routes.  The bad ending made me sad.

7) Nanami & Heishi - I expected a light-hearted route but it was the total opposite.  Nanami has a complex ability that made her hesitant to form connections.  When she was forced to use it on Heishi, she just couldn't go through with being with him.  The ending was okay.
8) Nanami & Akito - Due to their past, this route was a tough one to get through.  He hated her and she wanted him to kill her for her sin.  I would call Akito a tsundere character.  He is all talk but really cares.
9) Nanami & Ron - I HATE this route.  Ron, in small doses, is okay.  He added comic relief when he can't remember people's name and events.  But he is very complex and very mercenary.  He has no problem killing someone.  Since he never show anything but meanness, why did Nanami fall in love with him?  I don't get it.  Their ending was probably the most tragic.  So, leaving this last was my mistake and I couldn't wait to finish this one.