Visual novels and RPGs have long been a match made in heaven. While there are plenty of games that have merged the two in a seamless manner, typically what happens is that aspects of one genre overtake another. Noctuary is more accurately described as a visual novel with action RPG elements incorporated throughout the game. But don’t let the appearances trick you into thinking this is “yet another cute girls doing cute things” visual novel.
Noctuary opens up with two young girls known as Alina Nightsong and Fancia Dream. They are what are known as Illuminators, girls who are born with the power of light. They have dreams of becoming Arborangers so that they can protect those that they love. So what better way to get a head start on that journey than sneaking out of the beacon they live in to find a newborn Illuminator that is said to be lost in the woods? But they quickly find that the mission is more dangerous than they expected, narrowly escaping the woods with their lives, unfortunately, without the newborn Illuminator. Or so they thought, as a few days later, the newborn appeared before them, calling herself Lumina.
From this point, the story goes through dramatic highs and crushing lows, drawing the reader into this magical world and the lively cast of characters. As this is a game that is mostly a visual novel, the story is the strongest point for Noctuary. It’s very well done, building up the world of Inlixaland and the Illuminators that inhabit this land. However, because the story is the main draw, it does make the many grammatical and translation mistakes that much more apparent. At times, the translation can read a bit inconsistent and stilted, sometimes overly formal, and other times more casual than expected. Whether that is a deal breaker does come down to your tolerance for translated works. The grammar mistakes aren’t as abundant, but they do exist and pop up every once and a while.
In terms of length, the game can end up being as long or as short as you wish. There is a large amount of side content that the player can play through, as well as several endings that you can play through. The side quests are optional to play through (unless you’re looking to 100% the game and/or the endings).
Along with the meaty main story, there is also an abundance of side stories to go through. Every major character (protagonists and side characters included) has their own side quest line that you can play through. As you progress the main story, you’ll potentially unlock new side quests the next time you come up to the story select screen. While they can mostly be played at your leisure, there are some main story quests that are labeled as critical. In these cases, you’ll want to do any side quests that are still available, as they won’t be available to play through once you advance the story.
While some side quests will also include combat sections, the majority are just visual novel portions. All characters will have their own overreaching plot points, with side quests spanning several iterations. For example, you learn early on that two sisters, Genia and Brita, have gotten into a fight and aren’t talking to each other. As you play through the game, their side quests tend to center around getting the two sisters to make up, while also learning more about them and why they’re fighting in the first place. The side quests feel like their own individual stories rather than your typical “get me 10 pieces of wood” or “take this letter to this location”, which draws the players deeper into the world and the characters.
The majority of Noctuary is a visual novel, with the occasional action combat sequence slipped in to keep things interesting. So for those looking for more active gameplay, Noctuary may not be for you. Of the little that you play in combat though, it’s fairly simple yet surprisingly difficult. A lot of the battles end up feeling more like a bullet hell than just an action game. There are two difficulties to choose from that can be changed at any point: normal and story mode.
Combat takes place in an isometric view, with you controlling either Fancia or Alina as you fight against enemies. You are able to switch between the two characters on the fly, although if you wait until your partner’s icon starts flashing, you’ll deal damage to all nearby enemies. Both characters have different combat styles with different names and abilities. All combat styles work fine, so it mainly comes down to your preferences (Alina is a melee unit while Fancia is a ranged unit). As you deal damage, you’ll gain light energy, which builds up your Light Boost bar. You can use your Light Boost skills whenever you have enough light energy to use. These skills deal more damage than your regular attacks, and since your Light Boost bar builds up fairly quickly, there’s no reason not to spam your attacks when you’re able to.
You do have an HP bar and if your HP reaches 0, you’ll automatically switch to your partner. You have the ability to resurrect your partner, but you have to stay within a specific distance. A yellow circle will appear around them and if you happen to step outside of that circle, you’ll have to move closer and restart the resurrection process. You do have to option to heal, although you are limited to only three heals overall between both characters. If you’re in a dungeon, there will sometimes be places where you can replenish your heals.
As you progress further, you’ll unlock more battle abilities, such as the ability to break your enemy’s shield, if they have one. These particular units are easy to tell from the others, as they’ll have an additional gauge underneath their HP bar. Along with that, you’ll get an ultimate attack that you can use together with your partner, but it can only be used once per battle. During this time, you don’t take any damage, and the damage you deal is massive compared to your regular attacks.
There is no leveling up in Noctuary, and you can’t upgrade your gear, so the only way to upgrade is via the perk level. There are six different areas that you can upgrade using Protons, which you earn during some main story missions. There is the option to reset your perk level if you find that you allocated your points in a way that you don’t like. However, if you do that, all Protons that have been spent will be refunded to you to use as you wish.
Along with the Perk system, there is also another feature known as the Blessing Flower. This is tied to passive abilities that are active during combat. As you complete side quests, you’ll unlock new Blessings that you can equip; however, there is a limited amount of Blessing Points that you have available. You can increase this number by clearing side quests. But as your Blessing Flower levels up, you’ll need to complete more quests. And with the large quantity of Blessings that you can unlock, you’ll have to select a few that fit your needs the best, such as boosting your Light Boost skills, giving you an increased chance to stun your enemies, or limiting the number of times you take damage.
The visual novel portions of Noctuary are all 2D art, with a variety of sprites for each character depending on their emotion at the time of speaking. The art for the game is gorgeous, with both the character designs and the background packed full of details. The fashion of each of the characters is really gorgeous, and with each new character that appears, they all stand out from their counterparts.
As for the combat sections, the game switches over to 3D. And unfortunately, the stages can end up blending as you’re spending a lot of time battling outdoors in the woods. The models for the characters are fine, and everything looks good on the Switch. There are some minor dips in FPS, but that’s usually when there is a large number of enemies on the screen at one time. The models for the characters take on more of a chibi-like appearance, making it hard to make out the details of each character. However, the enemy designs look pretty good in 3D, given their more simplistic designs. There aren’t as many enemy types, but the ones that appear after the first initial bunch are cool.
There is partial voice acting in the game, with the option to choose between Cantonese, Japanese, and Mandarin. The voice acting is intermittent, sometimes popping in and other times not. For the most part, it seems as though the voice acting appears during pivotal story moments. Otherwise, it’s your typical hums, grunts, and other vocal tics that you hear in other games.
The music centers around orchestral, piano, and string pieces, melding perfectly with both the happy and bittersweet moments of the story. Whether it’s the soft, gentle tones playing while you’re exploring through a Beacon, the high-intensity music of a boss battle, or a melancholy song playing during a heavy scene, every song fits in perfectly with the game.
For those looking for a more balanced approach between visual novels and combat sections, this game will leave you disappointed. But for visual novel fans who don’t mind the occasional battle (or those looking for more narrative-focused games), Noctuary is a great game with a touching story that tugs at the heartstrings. The translation can be a bit wonky at times, but it’s not to a degree where the game is unreadable. It’s an excellent visual novel, and for fans of the genre or narrative-focused games, it’s one worth checking out.
Noctuary gets an 8/10.
