Utawarerumono: Prelude to the Fallen (2020) [PS4]

“The golden age has not passed; it lies in the future.”

-Paul Signac

Much has been said, written, tweeted and YouTubed about the state of games in the modern era. For my money, we’re living in the best age that gaming has ever seen. There’s a few arguments I could make to support this. I could talk about the fact that, given the saturation of the market, the problem for many players tends to be finding time to play all their games rather than not having enough games to play. I could talk about how the indie games scene, digital storefront competition and the rise of subscription-based game passes make it more affordable than ever to find something to play. I could talk about the unprecedented level of interaction between the industry and the average player; even if this has led to irritations like crowdfunding demands for cash and influencer astroturfing, the fact remains that if you care about games, you can learn more about them today than you ever could from the payola magazines of yesteryear.

Know what, though? I’m not going to talk about any of that. Instead, I’m going to point to one big reason that I think this is the best era we’ve ever seen for video games: if I want to play any of the main-line Final Fantasy games, I can do that. They’ve all been localized. If I want to play the Persona series, I can, because they’ve been localized and they’re readily available. Newer or more forgetful gamers might not remember how, even a decade or so ago, we were still wondering whether or not certain games would make it over from Japan. Remember, it was only in 2010 that we finally saw beloved RPG classic Xenoblade released in English for the Wii, and it took a fan-led campaign to even make that happen. Today, the prevalence of digital distribution and a greater acceptance of Japan-loving gamers means that it’s easier to find games that have bizarrely been localized for a seemingly nonexistent audience than games that should have been brought over years ago.

My point is that Utawarerumono: Prelude to the Fallen almost certainly would have remained in Japan ten years ago. That’s doubly true for its sequels and spinoffs, several of which were localized before this first entry came West. Whatever you think about visual novels, strategy-RPGs, JRPGs and so on – and don’t get me wrong, there was an extended period where every mainstream reviewer wouldn’t hestitate to let you know exactly how much they disliked all of these genres and ding them a few points – it’s a good thing that in the modern era, high-quality localiztions are common, if not prolific. All that aside, though, how’s Prelude to the Fallen itself?

 Narrative: 9/10

As mentioned, Prelude to the Fallen is the first game in the Utawarerumono series, originally seeing release in Japan in 2002. We follow Hakuowlo, an amnesiac man who awakens in an unfamiliar world with an unremovable mask stuck to his face. The inhabitants of this world have animal traits, the ability to use magic and a questionable grasp of science; Hakuowlo’s knowledge from his own world, such as irrigation techniques for farming, proves invaluable and makes him an anomaly in the new world. Eventually, this leads him to take on a leadership role in a rebellion against an oppressive emperor.

Utawarerumono is primarily a visual novel, so there’s plenty going on here with regards to the plot. Hakuowlo and the other characters he interacts with are fully realized and, given the sizable length of the game, you’ll come to know them all pretty well. There’s almost a little too much going on, but mercifully, unlike many similar games, while there’s decisions to make that can affect how our hero interacts with others, there aren’t any multiple endings and it’s easy to go back and check out the bits that you might have missed.

 Gameplay: 6/10

The other aspect of Prelude to the Fallen consists of tactical RPG-styled combat. This is, by far, a secondary concern compared to the game’s storytelling, to the point where one wonders why the developers bothered including it at all. Characters aren’t very customizable, you can rewind moves that didn’t go the way you would have liked…Utawarerumono, for its part, seems to recognize that getting hung up on a battle would probably take some of the fun out of the experience. Strategy RPG fanatics who’ve played through Final Fantasy Tactics dozens of times are likely to just be a little bored with the whole affair, but if you’re here primarily for the plot then you’re not going to find yourself stymied.

 Visuals: 9/10

As a visual novel (with sprinkles of strategy RPG here and there) it should come as no surprise that a lot of time and love has been put into Prelude to the Fallen’s visuals. It’s pretty much gorgeous anime-styled goodness all the way through, though combat uses a slightly chibi-fied aesthetic that may put some players off. There’s also a CG gallery available to check out the art if you’re interested in doing so.

 Audio: 9/10

You probably won’t be surprsied to hear that Prelude to the Fallen doesn’t have an English dub. One imagines that most players who are inerested in this game wouldn’t use such a dub even if it were present, so that was probably a smart cost-cutting measure. Voice acting aside, then, you’ve mostly got music and sound effects, all of which are fantastic for the genre.

 Challenge: 4/10

As mentioned, while Utawarerumono is unusual from a visual novel perspective due to the fact that it has combat, that combat isn’t really challenging nor especially engaging. It almost serves as a means of encouraging the player to become invested in high-tension moments by giving them a part to play…but at the same time, it’s also almost guaruneed that the player will succeed. Challenge, then, isn’t really the goal here…

 Accessibility: 9/10

…but accessibility might be. They’re two sides of the same coin. As mentioned, gamers who are familiar with strategy-RPG mechanics aren’t going to have any trouble progressing through Prelude to the Fallen’s battles. That’s a good thing from the perspective of visual novel-loving gamers who came for a great story or players who aren’t especially great at tactics. Much like the recent Sakura Wars reboot, Prelude to the Fallen wants you to get what you came for, even if that means you aren’t going to have to fight too hard to make that happen.

 Uniqueness: 7/10

If we’re going to talk about the unique aspects of this game, we’d want to keep in mind that it’s a game that was originally released in 2002. Even then, visual novels were commonplace, even when they included light combat elements. Still, from the perspective of high-quality visual novels that have made it to the West, Prelude to the Fallen is up there with classics of the genre like The Fruit of Grisaia and the aforementioned Sakura Wars. It could also be considered somewhat related to the modern isekai trend in anime and games, which makes for an interesting point given its original release date.

 Personal: 9/10

Visual novels, as always, aren’t for everyone. Even when they try to extend a hand toward players who want a more interactive experience, games like Utawarerumono: Prelude to the Fallen probably aren’t going to make anyone fall in love with the genre. That said, if you’re already a fan then you know that this is a series known for quality. Prelude to the Fallen is a fine example of that quality and it’s a must-play if you had a good time with earlier Utawarerumono titles Mask of Deception and Mask of Truth.

Thanks to NIS America for offering us a copy of Utawarerumono: Prelude to the Fallen for this critique.

Aggregated Score: 7.8

Cory G. believes the pen is mightier than the sword…well, depending on how sharp the pen and sword are. A child of the ’90s and a prolific writer, he strews his work about like Legos made of words, just waiting for your brain to step on them. He enjoys a devilish challenge, so when it comes to talking about some of the more difficult games out there, you might just run into the Infernal Accountant Mage. Some advice: hold on to your soul around this guy, and don’t sign anything. Read more at popzara.com.