If you could look to the future and visualize the most immediate consequences of your actions, would you be able to make the best decisions, or would the weight of your past choices still hold you back? Fall of Dreams skillfully microscopically captures this idea by giving you the power of foresight to make conscious choices about which direction the story will flow during linear dialogue. It took me several hours to read through all the necessary descriptions before Harmony really hooked me, but the story it finally unravels is a must-see visual novel. It does an eloquent job of blending the classic decision-making style of choosing your own adventures with modern bets that effectively reflect events in our world.
Developer Don’t Nod’s first foray into the realm of deft visual novels is told from the perspective of Polly and her alter ego Harmony, who wears the title of “Oracle” in a place called Reverie. The Reverie is an alternate dimension that exists above our in-game equivalent of the real world, in which the spirit-like desires of humanity harness their essence to quietly shape the growth of human history. shaping. Switch between text-heavy story passages and time-bending visits to the Orgular to face the next decision that guides the narrative path. It’s the only thing you can work with, but this simplicity creates a relaxed rhythm. Aside from an initial cursory explanation, he has only one major problem. That said, Polly comes with a load.
Polly assumes her Harmony identity and enters the spirit world, giving her the ability to see the future using her Orgular powers. The literal map shows the consequences of certain choices and is reinforced by her Egregore, a dreamlike blue essence produced by the multidimensional manifestation of humanity’s ambitions (an important metaphor throughout Harmony’s campaign). used as). But Polly, not only shutting down her future possibilities, but almost always haunted by the past.
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The story is divided into five main acts plus a prologue and an intermission and takes approximately 5-10 hours to complete. However, if you are a fast reader, you can easily read on. This pacing simplifies things considerably on paper, but that’s not a bad thing. Easily navigate between story segments or return to the Augural menu to plan your next move on the board. The few opening cutscenes do a great job of setting the stakes quickly, but the density of character backstories and descriptions of existing relationships leaves you wide-eyed in your first playthrough. bottom. But once I learned to make sense of all the jargon-heavy drama, which was made easy thanks to the built-in codex and the ability to read summaries of previous conversations, I eventually settled in and really understood what it was all about. It is now possible. human A story I found myself embedded in.
Harmony is also a visual treat. Aside from a few brilliant cutscenes that connect the main story branches, much of the story is told through text and basic visuals, although I longed for an animated TV series set in Reverie. Prominent voice acting and meticulous character writing still do a lot of the heavy lifting during key moments, giving my imagination plenty of room to fill in the details.
life is erysium
Polly’s hometown of Athina, like Polly herself, is characterized by its contrasts. The miasma of indifference around us was palpable, and few bystanders looked up from their terminals when I first stepped into the bustling Southern European city, clearly inspired by Athens. But despite the fact that Polly’s feelings for her mother are understandably complex, the warmth of the community center that serves as Polly’s mother’s home is equally palpable. Don’t let the name fool you. Harmony is all about its conflict, and while it’s suitably subtle at first, it’s ultimately subtle, with another character’s personal ambitions emerging in the wake of the death of an important character. come to the surface in some way. It’s most evident when supporting characters tackle one of the better portrayals of collective grief I’ve witnessed in video games.
As in the real world, nothing in Athina or Reverie is as simple as having parallel stories come and go, but there are always parts of the bigger picture that are overlooked when you focus on one path. But you have to commit. Being able to see the future only heightens the tension when the path you think you are on leads to an outcome you did not anticipate or intend. In subsequent acts, the choices I thought would unite the community of Athina only seemed to work at first until the unforeseen consequences set in, and the decisions I made made them disappointing. There was no way to turn a blind eye to the results. no Make early. In hindsight it might seem like a shoehorn, but it turns out to be actually more real than I expected from a video game where the central mechanic could see the potential consequences of my actions. liked it. In this sense, Harmony offers a wise commentary on the nonlinear nature of our real lives and the shortsightedness of evaluating only a single point of view.
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Indeed, it took me a few hours before I really started to feel the effects of my choices on the mother-daughter relationship that I could not fundamentally change. Regardless of the consequences of my own actions, this is a relationship where everything on this journey will boomerang back. Unfolding in the world around me. Ursula is played out of whack, as if detached from the emotional impact she has on those around her. Considering her and Chaos’ literally romantic relationship, this makes sense. Still, I couldn’t help but get annoyed on Polly’s behalf when Ursula took control of her story from her, which has happened many times.
face this world
The Augural menu itself is easy to navigate and clearly communicates the short-term impact of your decisions. You can also zoom out further on the heart view to see how far you’ve progressed in collecting the crystals that correspond to each of the six aspirations. These personifications also represent her six major endings. However, there seems to be a secret ending that I’m not qualified to watch, but just knowing its existence adds a bit of replayability. The end goal is to slowly gain enough crystals through decisions to “buy” the desired ending, but in reality this is less binary than it sounds. In fact, many of the story sequences that make up the Critical Path can qualify and disqualify me from other paths at unexpected intervals, often telling me to mix one type of crystal with another. In exchange, forced to give in to the aspiration itself or indulge in the adjoining. The road narrowed as politics among the Aspirations grew more tense in relation to the events taking place in Athina.
There is an unpredictability here that is not always pleasant. Especially since I had my heart set on a particular outcome from the early on when I became attached to the coveted Bond, who seemed to offer the most peaceful route, at least in theory. There were several times when I had to sit short and he weighed two lose or lose options. I often knew in isolation how the direct consequences of each option would help or hinder my goals, but I could rarely visualize those consequences in tandem. was. As for other decisions I have made or have yet to make. It can be frustrating, but it kept Harmony exciting at the same time. Even as a dreamer oracle, Polly can still cause significant destruction through her poor foresight, and this is treated with appropriate weight throughout.
Each of the five acts has its own theme, changing both the tone and script of the soundtrack. In the first few acts, you’ll want to keep the volume up to hear the uplifting synthetic sounds that mask Athina’s dark underbelly. The music then becomes appropriately solemn with a more blues, piano-driven score as the cast faces inevitable uncertainty. our existence itself. Luckily, things end well and satisfactorily, at least with the ending I got. And this soundtrack did a great job of keeping me in Polly’s shoes throughout.
