Wings - Review
'To be always alone, but never lonely...'
Wings is a rather unusual VN in several respects, as there are two versions of the story included in the one download, two protagonists and a storyline conveyed mostly through internal thoughts.
In a few places the writing doesn’t flow particularly well, feeling at times like a compressed list of facts. However, what really stands out is the overall honesty and immediacy of the story. Both protagonists convey their thoughts to the reader very frankly, without an attempt on the author’s part to express any moral judgements, leaving the ideas presented open to a personal response. What I also found interesting was the personalities of the protagonists, which are quite likely to rile the players. While their thoughts are often highly arrogant and condescending in their thoughts, it is unlikely that they will completely distance anyone. On a personal level, at times my thoughts have drifted down those lines, and I imagine that this is true for many other readers, making this a somewhat confrontational VN.
As Lordcloudx mentions in the authors notes, there is a strong influence of some of the translated doujin VN’s, particularly Narcissu and Until We Meet Again. The influence of Narcissu is particularly evident, through the tightly squeezed backgrounds and Kotori’s appearance (which resembles Setsumi’s in Narcissu).
While the other elements of the game (art, music etc) aren’t quite on the same level as the story, they are still well done and effective. The art in particular is an essential part of Wings, as there are minimal character descriptions, which I think is why the protagonist is also presented onscreen. In the ending of the revised version the use of art is highly effective too.
It’s difficult to say which version I prefer, as the primary difference between each story is the artwork, with only a few sentences of the original storyline being changed. If you enjoy the story, it’s definitely worth playing through the other version to draw comparisons between them. Additionally, Lordcloudx’s comments in the author’s notes and in the Completed Games section of the Lemmasoft forums are well worth reading. It’s also hard to say who this story might appeal to as it operates on a rather personal level. However, I think Wings is well worth downloading if you are looking for a slightly different VN experience.
Review by Ignosco
Wings is a rather unusual VN in several respects, as there are two versions of the story included in the one download, two protagonists and a storyline conveyed mostly through internal thoughts.
In a few places the writing doesn’t flow particularly well, feeling at times like a compressed list of facts. However, what really stands out is the overall honesty and immediacy of the story. Both protagonists convey their thoughts to the reader very frankly, without an attempt on the author’s part to express any moral judgements, leaving the ideas presented open to a personal response. What I also found interesting was the personalities of the protagonists, which are quite likely to rile the players. While their thoughts are often highly arrogant and condescending in their thoughts, it is unlikely that they will completely distance anyone. On a personal level, at times my thoughts have drifted down those lines, and I imagine that this is true for many other readers, making this a somewhat confrontational VN.
As Lordcloudx mentions in the authors notes, there is a strong influence of some of the translated doujin VN’s, particularly Narcissu and Until We Meet Again. The influence of Narcissu is particularly evident, through the tightly squeezed backgrounds and Kotori’s appearance (which resembles Setsumi’s in Narcissu).
While the other elements of the game (art, music etc) aren’t quite on the same level as the story, they are still well done and effective. The art in particular is an essential part of Wings, as there are minimal character descriptions, which I think is why the protagonist is also presented onscreen. In the ending of the revised version the use of art is highly effective too.
It’s difficult to say which version I prefer, as the primary difference between each story is the artwork, with only a few sentences of the original storyline being changed. If you enjoy the story, it’s definitely worth playing through the other version to draw comparisons between them. Additionally, Lordcloudx’s comments in the author’s notes and in the Completed Games section of the Lemmasoft forums are well worth reading. It’s also hard to say who this story might appeal to as it operates on a rather personal level. However, I think Wings is well worth downloading if you are looking for a slightly different VN experience.
Review by Ignosco
posted by Reviewer at
2:59 AM
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