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Now, for those who are wondering, the reason I chose to play Baldr Heart first is fairly simple... it is the VN most anticipated this month, at least by the people I talk to. Baldr Heart is the fourth game (if you count the Skydive and Zero games as a single game each) in the 'primary series' started with Baldr Force. This series follows the evolving interrelations between humans, the net, extreme VR, and AIs, storywise. The gameplay in all the games is a relatively fast-paced battle mech action system that evolves a lot of explosions and bullets flying. Except for Zero, the series retains a pixelated appearance that is reminscent of the ps2 or psx eras for its gameplay. The series tends to be heavy on the dystopian elements, as well as transhumanism. Zero's setting in particular is horrifyingly dystopian, with children selling reservations for their own body parts and dismemberment videos in advance to strangers on the streets. Baldr Heart doesn't go that far... though it definitely strays into the area of mad science. I can't really say a whole lot about the setting without spoiling Skydive and Zero, sadly. This game is based 200 years after those games and the events in them are the base upon which the entirety of the society in Baldr Heart is constructed. Now, I feel a need to address the biggest complaint from those who were looking at this game. The fact that most of the characters are students... a definite divergence, as the series has in the past had most of its main characters in their early to mid-twenties, save for a few rare exceptions. That fact is one of the series' main attractions for many readers, as many VN fans go to the Baldr series specifically to escape the slice-of-life-in-a-school-setting that plagues most VNs. So, in the eyes of many fans of the Baldr series, this was a huge betrayal... or at least a turn-off. Typical of a Baldr game, this element, that would normally have been a simple way to dumb it down for the 'mainstream' (as so many readers name it contemptuously) is actually used to accentuate the sharp differences between the Baldr world and the modern Japanese settings of most normal VNs. While it is true that Sou isn't as bitter and broken as a lot of Baldr protagonists either begin as or end up, he nonetheless has his own share of horrifying experiences in his past, and he has taken lives in combat before. He is a mercenary who returns to his homeland after receiving a brain injury trying to save a young girl trapped in the net. There is a play order to this game... Tsukuyomi>Mao>Yuri>Nagi. With each successive path, more of the game's mystery is revealed, until you reach the core of things in Nagi's path. I'm going to be blunt... if you thought Yuri's path was a bit screwy, Nagi's is even twistier. The Baldr series loves its mindfuck plot twists filled with pseudo-science and philosophy, and in that sense, this is the Baldr series at its best. However, this story structure means that Tsukuyomi's path, in particular, is fairly unsatisfying since it reveals next to nothing about what happened in the past or what is going on during the story. I also felt that the game fell back on emotionalism a bit too often for my tastes... while it almost always comes down to that in any given Japanese game, I honestly thought the 'Fay' were going a bit too far that way. I know they were probably searching for a new theme after Zero, but I still found it a bit trite. That said, this is still a Baldr game, and thus a mix of filthy human desires and high ideals stain the world crimson with the blood of thousands along the way, leaving me satisfied that Giga didn't abandon the series core precepts. They were just a bit too obvious when they designed the setting and theme, lol. Overall, this game will get mixed reactions from Baldr fans while being perhaps slightly more accessible for those who might have had trouble with the much darker atmosphere of the previous games... in that sense, I think Giga probably made a mistake, as that dark atmosphere is one of the series' attractions. As a VN, it is very well written and smooth to play... showing off the skills of Giga's writing staff to their fullest. It reminds me of why so many who read Giga games say 'Giga is great... if you just play the Baldr series.'

Welcome guys This is a casual review of Air - standard edition, having played all 3 heroine routes plus "Summer", and "Air". The translation I used is by Sheeta, and not Gao-gao translations (sorry). I have seen the anime version a long time ago and I barely remember any details from it. I heard that the VN is better and so I tried it. After finishing the VN, I double down on that statement. Some background: Air is released by KEY after Kanon, and before Clannad. I'd classify the game a Nakige, much like Clannad After Story. The game has the theme of Summer, compared to Kanon's winter. I'm not sure if Clannad had a season theme. Art: Key style. I personally like KEY style. I cannot really comment on the intricacies of the art and the CGs. I do think the number of CGs are quite few but I'm just spoiled. Music/Sound: It's ok. There are a couple of memorable and catchy tunes (Minagi's theme) but nothing too bad, nothing too fantastic. Story: I don't like the fact that I'm forced to play the other two heroines to unlock Summer+Air. Kano's route felt like a massive filler. Minagi's route is decent, while Mizusu's route felt just like Little Buster's Rin route is when playing it for the first time --- stopped short of the climax. Overall the heroine routes suffer from an unbearably SLOW development. I drowned on slice-of-life with what seems like 80% of the game. Literally felt like only 3 sentences out of a day in Air contributes to the advancement of the plot. It's quite anachronistic to make this comparison but, Air feels like an unrefined Clannad. If you are a KEY fan, you will see elements of KEY style in Air. The humor is hit-or-miss, not as good as Clannad or LB. Tension build-up was way too slow in Air, which is something they vastly improved in Clannad in my opinion. The highlight of the whole game for me was Summer route. It contained tension from very early in the route and kept me hooked from start to finish. I'm not sure if going through two unrelated filler arcs was worth getting to Summer. But I would say this route even trumped the final route "Air", and is the main bone of the game. Summer is very impactful. Most of the final route "Air" was mostly a repeat of Misuzu's route and it's quite unpleasant to go through the slice-of-life elements again with barely any change on the narration... The story line outside of "Summer" arc only spikes in drama at the end. Tension in the mid-route is almost non-existent. The mysteries are so-so. As for themes, I'm not really good at analyzing but I will try. The setting takes place on a rural town, and as such cell-phones and modern technology doesn't exist as much. By playing Air, you get a sense of the laidback countryside, with its elderly. The setting is so simple there's nothing eyecatching or interesting. But simplicity in itself seems to be what the setting conveys. Sky and flying are the main aspects of the story and there are countless references to it in-game. There are some great quotes all throughout the game, but I wasn't engaged too much with any kind of philosophical stimulation. I'm sure there are countless other themes that the game conveyed but I won't bother brainstorming at this point. Scores: I'm not going to try to come up with arbitrary number for every category but I will give this VN an overall score of 6-7; meaning I will put it in the AVERAGE category. I have played or watched so much slice-of-life stories that I'm just numbed to the majority of the scenes here. Usually at that point, if there are no main plot developments happening, then humor is the only one that keeps me going. Air's humor is spotty as I mentioned before. Will I recommend this? If you like other KEY titles and its narratives, and are a fan of drama --- then yes. If you are a beginner or new to the Visual Novel scene, play this one later. There are countless numerous other better VNs than Air. Part of the reason I have survived through this game was because I was already a huge fan of KEY (having replayed Clannad like 4 times). As a standalone game it's so-so, not a bad VN, but not superb. And so I leave you with a few more quotes.