Pygmalion - Review

'Are you jealous?'
'Of a character I created? No way.'

'You have power over hundreds of people. People read your stories. People send you letters, and even gifts, without even knowing you. People have their lives changed by you.'

Although the Pygmalion myth has been retold many times by different authors, even showing up in another Visual Novel (as an important part of one characters’ path in a very highly regarded game), Pygmalion presents a relatively original, well told version, with a strong basis in real-life. The historical links this VN has with the myth are evinced through the inter-textual references made to other re-tellings, such as Andrew’s pseudonym being Higgins.

In some places the art is a bit rough, but it is always highly expressive. Andrew’s poses are extremely diverse and serve to express his internal emotions very well. Having the protagonist pictured on-screen as a sprite outside of CG’s is rather unusual – but it could almost be suggested that the statue and Andrew are both protagonists at these times. Besides, it’s much more interesting and effective to see Andrew, as opposed to the statue. The music is also very expressive and fits the story well – for example there are different tracks for Victoria depending on which personality you have ‘given’ her.

If you haven’t heard of the Pygmalion story before, it’s probably better to play the game before reading about it in the extras (or from any other source). For me, what was especially interesting about this retelling was the basis that it had in reality – Mr. E mentions in the extra notes about meeting someone whose had 'modelled' their personality after Sakura (from CLAMP's Sakura Card Captors). Although I’m no sociologist, for better or worse, there seems to be an increase in the number of people creating alternative personalities, or crafting themselves after existing ones. Personally, this was the most interesting aspect of Pygmalion for me – that the myth was presented in a 'real' situation.

It’s a question that’s well worth thinking about. The statue seems to point out to Andrew, and indirectly to any potential ‘creators’ the responsibilities that we have over our characters. As the old adage goes, ‘the pen is mightier than the sword’ – and clearly most people acknowledge the power the written word can have on the human mind. What sort of responsibilities do we have as creators (moral or otherwise)? For me, it’s nigh-impossible to draw a clear dividing line, and strong arguments can be put up for any position that can be taken. The aspects of the statue as Hubris and Nemesis emerge at the end of the story, to present this choice. None of the three endings are 'bad', suggesting that the author doesn't want to advocate one view over another - instead leaving them open for consideration.

Overall, like a lot of the Lemmasoft forum games, Pygmalion is not a ‘typical’ Ren’Ai story. It’s a well told, thought-provoking story, which happens to include some romance. Like most of these VN’s, as long as you don’t go into it with the wrong expectations, you won’t be disappointed.

Review by Ignosco