The House in Fata Morgana

In 30 years of gaming, I have very rarely experienced a story as emotionally moving as this one. The House in Fata Morgana takes a serious, mature look at some very dark subjects. It will make you squeamish, sad, angry, upset, and despite all that, in the very end it has an uplifting message and might make you look at some things in life differently. I know I'm being vague, but it's impossible to talk about this game's story without mentioning spoilers. Whatever you think the story is about based on the product description, you're wrong. The writers intentionally set out to create specific expectations and then smash them, and there are several times that you will think you've got the mystery figured out but then be proven completely wrong. The story takes a little time to build up your expectations, but after it starts tearing them apart, the twists and turns don't stop coming until the very end. If I can sell you on the game's story, I hope I've already done so. That aside, it has a unique and detailed art style and a hauntingly beautiful soundtrack. The gameplay is pure visual novel all the way through; occasionally there are choices you can make that will lead to bad endings, but there's only one true ending. If you've ever played a VN, you need to play this one; if you don't have any experience with VNs but are interested, this might be the one to get you hooked.

Without a doubt this is one of the best VNs in the market right now (This include Japanese only ones too). The music is great and fits perfectly in every single scene and so does the art style which is unique and also superb. Not to make the art and music trivial but where this VN really shines is on the plot itself, this is a magnificent crafted story that last more than 60hs It touches very serious themes, such as discrimination, bullying, depression, violence, family issues, religion, sexuality, love, morality etc you name it, every single time in a very adult way (since there are many VNs out there that touches these themes in a very childish or ridiculous way this is not one of them), alongside with some amazing crafted characters with such a great development for each one of them makes this story just outstanding. It also has some very good humor, this is however a sad story overall, you could say it's depressing. If I should point out the flaws of this masterpiece it would be the slow pace of the narration, not always but it does tend to drag on a little bit at times and the fact that it doesn't have voice acting. Without this is a pure gem that everyone should read, on par or even better than some great books too. Yes this is one of those cases where you can say that a VN can fight one on one with a book and even beat it.( I know comparing a VN to a book or vice verse is unfair and kinda pointless but I will make this claim anyway) A must read/play 9.5/10 P.S.: Once the side story comes out in GOG (Hope so) called Fata morgana no Yakata -Another Episodes- that one it's a must read too, maybe even better than the original game.

I own this game through Steam, and it is easily my favorite visual novel to date. Unlike many other VNs, it doesn't have a lot of menu options, and is more a display of the art, audio, and writing team's fantastic talent. Full of twists and turns, but easy to set down and pick up without losing track of the overarching story.

Definitely the best visual novel I've read. Fata Morgana is a gothic suspense story and I'll not say much more than that, since the storytelling is best experienced blind. Hell, I'd suggest not even looking at the store page or reading the game description at all since it gives some of the plot away. If you are the slightest bit interested in vn's just buy it now and look forward to reading it. I usually can't get into vn's that don't have some type of gameplay element, mainly due to a mix of the writing not being good enough to stand on it's own and my aversion to high school settings, wish fulfillment scenarios, bland lead characters, dating game stuff, etc that make up 90 percent or more of the genre. The soundtrack is great and very different, though a bit overwhelming at times. The game frequent uses tracks that feature vocals and it can take a while to get used to reading text while hearing vocals. It's definitely worth it since the soundtrack is top-notch and adds a ton to the experience. The art is a mixed bag. Character design is quite impressive, though some have some weird sprites, like various characters' "shouting" model. Background are a different matter. They look like real-life pictures with a ugly filter applied to them. They're very basic and and stand out as the game's weak link. In short, Fata Morgana is a visual novel that's great for people that don't like the basic stereotypes associated with the genre. Great writing, excellent translation, awesome soundtrack and solid art make it a must read for anyone that's interested in linear video game storytelling.