EVE: Burst Error Review

Contributed by Unicorn aka J. Sarunski

Genre:
This game (as most C's-adventure-games, I know) is a visual novel with a behaviour like an adventure. It tells a story and leaves the player options to choose, but only if the player makes the according choices does the story continue. There is no way the main character would die, but it is possible and on some occasions likely to get stuck in the storyline.

Story:
The story has two main characters: a private eye named Amagi Kojirou and a government agent named Houjou Marina. Each receives a different assignment at the start of the story from differnt sources, which seem at first sight quite unrelated: Kojiroh has to search for a picture that seemed to be stolen by a burglar, Marina has to play bodyguard for an abassadors doughter.

In the cause of the action, both cases overlap, the main characters meet each other frequently and sometimes even help each other out of dangerous or difficult situations (for example, at one time, Kojirou saves the ambassader's daughter from an attack by abductors while Marina is busy at another place).

In the end, all turns out much more than just the sum of both cases, having to do with the succession on a throne and also adding some elements of a SciFi-Thriller, as the secret about Eve is revealed.

Gameplay:
As said before, this game is a visual novel with the behaviour of an adventure. Most of the time, the player has to find the place to go and the action to perform there in order to continue the story. The story is told from the perspective of both main characters. Before starting, the player has to choose one of the main characters as the currently active one and follow the story from this characters perspective. Every time, the player is able to choose an action for his current main character, although it is also possible to switch to the other main character and leave the current active character at the current position behind.

More difficulties are added by the fact, that both characters are acting simultaneously, even though each main character usually does not know what the other is currently doing (from start, the main characters do not even know of each others' existence) and at some points, the action to unlock the continuation of the storyline of the current main character has to be made by the other character, so if the storyline of the other character is not developed to the point the current character is at, no progress is possible for the current character.

Sound:
The music is above average and always matches the mood of the current situation. Also, the original japanese voice-acting is pretty good. All characters the current main character talks with have voices during the whole story. Only the currently chosen main character will never hear his/her own voice from his own point of view. So, only the voice of the currently not selected main characters will ever be heard, when both meet and talk to each other.

Graphics:
The Graphics have a similar quality as usual in C's games ("Desire", "Amy's Fantasies"). In order to make this game "not-adult", all graphics containing sexual content beyond lingerie or panty-shots were removed and the graphic display stays blank at that moment these graphics would have been shown. However, the textual display and voices continue through such scenes.

Animations:
Besides the opening video of the game, some key-scenes within the story are also animated. Animation quality is quite similar to that of "Desire", but the animated sequences here are longer and show more of the action. If a scene is animated, it is sure to be important within the story (not like Albert from Desire running across the airfield).

User Interface:
As usual in graphic Adventure games, the screen is split into a big upper area, where the graphics and animations are shown and a lower part, where either the current text or the current choices the player may pick from are displayed.

My personal opinion:
This game has one of the best stories I ever played through. It may be even better than some books of currently popular authors. I enjoyed playing it a lot and feel really obliged to thank Cs for ever releasing it, especially in this new form containing the animations and the voice-acting. I think that it is a real bargain to get the voices and the animations in exchange for the left out H-scenes (which may never have been demosaiced anyway).

The way, how the decision between the "normal" and the "real" ending was made was one of the biggest surprise this game had in for me and I still could not believe that the way, that took me to the "real" ending was right, even after I saw this ending.

By the way: The diary of Mayako and the "real" ending were really touching. I just again watched them through and I believe they do not have to fear a comparison with one of the Giniro-stories.

Even though the main challenge in this game is to read through the entire story, I consider this game as a real masterpiece of bishoujou-gaming, especially if I refer to the definition of bishoujou-gaming given by our late bishoujou-goddess Kawayama Kumiko. It is just a pity that a gallery for the already seen graphics and animations, as in Desire, is missing.

Another point that appealed to me, was that some characters from another Cs-game ("Love Potion") appeared again in this game. It was like meeting old friends that moved far away and you thought you might never again even hear of them. Also, some characters from further games appeared in graphics, even though they did not really play a part in this story (especially "Butter-Rolls Emi" at the banquet-scene on the "Tristan"). For me, it's always nice to meet a familiar face.