Belle Automata: Chronicle I [RELEASED]

Worth of time

Long-form review here, for the curious!

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I love sci fi, nonhuman characters, and questions of humanity and ethics, so this game was absolutely up my alley! I was a Kickstarter backer, and have actually been hyped for this game for several months. After finishing the first Chronicle, I am pleased to say that this game absolutely lived up to my expectations, and I enjoyed it immensely!

The writing for this game is excellent. The dialogue was fun and relatable, and the voice acting was stellar and fits perfectly with the writing. I am glad the creators were able to include the full voice acting, because it is beautiful and adds so much to the game. I don't play many games with full English VA, so it was a treat to hear everything in my native language. I especially love our voiced MC!

For the overall plot and theming, I would call this a sci-fi slice-of-life. The character interactions, and character development are where this game really shines. The world building is not the focus of the game, and while there is some to create the setting, it is on the less developed side. This was especially obvious in the endings, which wrapped up well but did not necessarily explore the world. (This may be touched on more in the additional DLC routes! I do hope so, for while I don't feel that every sci-fi story needs to be an epic adventure, I am partial to them myself )

This first Chronicle contains two routes, Victor and The Nightmare Prince. Both routes were really lovely and well done. My personal favorite was Victor, TNP was a great route but ultimately not my type.

Side characters include Diego, Zaffre, Roman, and Klaus. These are all characters that will receive routes in future DLCs. They do have a strong presence in these two routes, hanging out with Aureve as well as each other which results in strong bonds across the cast - something I always appreciate in visual novels. They are also teased just enough to make me very curious about their routes!

I would be remiss to talk about the game without speaking in Aureve! She is a wonderful heroine, and I really enjoyed stepping into her shoes. She is kind, levelheaded, and has a fun sense of humor light spoiler, but she likes to [spoiler]tease the LIs[/spoiler], which I adore). She is also incredibly beautiful, and I love seeing her change her hairstyle!

I really enjoyed the art, and think the sci-fi theming is really well done. The sprites are honestly stunning, and have a good range of expressions. The backgrounds are clean and fit the theme. The cgs are sweet, but a little stiff at times.

I do want to note that this visual novel is quite difficult. There is no in-game indicator of correct choices nor is the text always clear which answer is 'correct', and the good ends are somewhat difficult to get. I expect that there will be fan-quides available shortly after release so this might well be a non-issue, but you will want to be prepared to reference one to get that sweet, sweet good ending rush!

Overall, this is a lovely story and well worth playing. I can't wait until the next chapter!

Okay!! I officially have a playthrough of TNP and Victor's route under my belt and I enjoyed both immensely.  I even more excited (and impatient) for Chronicles 2 and 3 😙

I love everything this team does, but Belle Automata exceeds all expectations. It's a gorgeous and emotionally impressive story with an amazing diverse cast (I cannot get enough of all the melanin on my screen). 

I like a challenge, so stiff butler Victor is my all time favorite. He is just so much fun to tease, but I am super curious about Zaffre's route (he is hilarious as a side character, I have to see how his full route turns out).

omg the designs are so cute, I love.

Great game! Aureve is very beautiful! <3

I can tell this is going to be a masterpiece, your writing is simply amazing and the characters are so intriguing! I am dying to know more about the Nightmare Prince. ;) Good luck with your Kickstarter!

Really hope the kickstarter will be successful, this game honestly just deserves to be fully released it's already too good!! I already love the art and the voices of each character so much 

Victor seems just like the type I like to see flustered. :D The Nightmare Prince sounds mysterious too. I hope the kickstarter will be successful!