The House in Fata Morgana

The story in the first few hours is excellent and horrifying. Unfortunately once the truth is 'revealed' later on, the story loses its psychological horror elements and becomes much less interesting and much more cliche. It's still a fine visual novel to the end, but it was something MORE than a 'good visual novel' in the beginning so it's a shame it didn't fully capitalize on the tension that it created. It also drags out several hours too long in the final act, and it was difficult to keep up enthusiasm to play given how linear it is (there are barely any choices; the few choices you are given are almost entirely between an instant bad ending or continuing the story).

I deducted one star because the PC version here is limited to 800x600 resolution. Looks pretty small on my monitor, but I imagine that is something many GOG-ers can tolerate. There is a PS4 Remake that is in 4k resolution, but it has not made its way to PC. That version has also not gone on sale for less than $40 on PSN and was only released as a Limited Run game in physical form. The game still has beautiful art though, and a compelling story. It just seemed worth noting that a superior version does exist.

This is a kinetic visual novel, there aren't really much in the way of choices, they esentially don't exist. Despite that though this is one of the most emotional and meaningful works of art I've ever experienced and has changed the way I think about people outside of it. It's dark, gritty, filled with some of the worst feelings one can feel and some of the best. I know I'm being vague, but that's because I don't want to spoil even the smallest crumb of this game. Go in blind; it's a slow start, but you won't regret it.

Let me make something clear: this one is difficult. If you don't open yourself enough to experience it fully, you may be bored with a slow pace and a sorrowful, historical surrounding. But from the other hand, if you are brave enough to follow this story with open heart, you'll suffer with its heroes. I don't exaggerate using the word "tragic" in the review's title, Fata Morgana uses every possible way to hurt its characters, and believe me, it hurts them deeply. That question was with me throughout the whole game – is it possible to make it any worse yet? And they had become obvious really soon – I had no idea how much worse. But after all of that, every happy event, even the smallest, starts to be like a breath of fresh air. Only to be followed by another tragedy... Because The House in Fata Morgana asks a very important question – could all that suffering be worth anything? To make it more serious (and by that more dramatic) it uses a whole palette of emotions to examine that. And Fata Morgana reminds us, that we'll all humans. Complicated, conflicted, broken, but with capacity for overcoming a lot and protecting important things for us, however difficult that may be. In my opinion, that's not only a masterpiece of VN medium, but in the same time a real gem of any kind of storytelling. Including amazing music, good visuals and some VN engine surprise, we have an amazing piece of art here. Just buy it and play, because it's worth it.

What a blast. This is, by far, the best visual novel I ever see. The atmosphere and the characters are memorable and the dark, gothic, themes are wonderful. I have no more to add to the countless positive reviews.