Symphonic Rain

Symphonic Rain

Unfortunately I am already aware of a big spoiler: apparently the rain is an illusion.
I have no idea what this actually means, so I'll just try to forget about it.

The atmosphere is nice. I'm very surprised that the art is semi-animated.
The eyes blink, and you can see the rain splashing on the ground.

Ahh, the mini-game is so much fun! Very unexpected. I reluctantly decided to try it,
but I thought I wouldn't like it. It's so cute though!

The art is kind of varying in quality. The backgrounds are below average, but the
character sprites themselves look nice. Different from usual for sure. But they seem
to fit the atmosphere.

The music is nice. I like it a lot. Probably the result of having only played
doujin VNs for a while. Also, the music kind of *has* to be good. After all, this is
a visual novel with a big focus on music.

Hm, there are some word-wrapping issues. Sometimes at the end of the line, a word
just suddenly cuts of without even continuing on the next line.

The fairy, Phorni, is adorable. And Fal is so cute, too! She seems like such an ojou-sama.
No real opinion yet on Tortinita, Asino, or the teacher yet. They all seem nice enough.

Going with Fal's route first, since she's first in the recommended route order. I probably would have either way since she's so *cute*.

Awwww. Lise is even more adorable. She's so shy, so sweet!

Asino is a player, haha.

---

After the recital, Fal's route: what the fuck. Why Fal? I sure didn't see that coming.
I wonder who Fal meant with the daughter of the director, who she apprently hates.
I'm guessing Lise.

Fal route score: 7/10

---

Lise's route:

Chris just tried to force Lise to perform in a room with lots of other students.
But the others all walked out. It was like she's being bullied.
Fal tried to comfort Lise. But of course, after her route, I don't trust her
*at all*, especially since it seemed like Fal hates Lise for some reason.
I guess this means Fal plays a pretty big part in Lise's route. Now that
I know her manipulative ways, I won't fall for her tricks! ...Is what I'd
say if I had the power to stop any of this.

Wow. That manipulative bitch is good. She's trying to make Chris believe her
with this innocent facade of hers, so that he'll partner with her after all.
Stupid Fal. Sweet Lise.

Lise has a bandage on her throat. Did Grave choke her or something?

...Yep, he did. Disgusting. God, he's terrible. If only Fal would have
been his real daughter; that would have worked out well.

Aw, Lise's song is so nice. My favorite so far. It feels so hopeful.
I'm positive this route will have a really nice ending.

SR is not as superficial as I expected it to be.

Fuck fuck fuck. That ending was not nice and hopeful at all. Okay,
it was slightly hopeful. Fuck Grave. Jesus. This game is depressing.
That was a *good* ending?!

Lise route score: 7.5/10

Starting Torta's route now, am 10 hours and 13 minutes in.

I got the bad end without noticing. I thought for sure I had just
gotten a very strange good end. That wasn't much of a bad end,
haha.

Torta annoys me. This guy is dating her twin sister, but she's
whining about him putting too much garlic in the food.
This route is my least favorite so far.
Oh, Ari has come to visit. Or has she? I wonder if this is the
kind of game to pull a twin switch. Nah, I doubt it.
...This route is boring and I don't like Torta.
I'm not sure why. She's always trying to subtly manipulate
Chris so that things will go her way, it seems. Not unlike Fal.

For a character that hardly ever really appears, Arietta has
a very large presence.

Huh? I didn't get to play the graduation recital? Weird. And kind of
dissappointing. God damnit, did I get a bad end again? Yes, I did.

Or not? That was a good end. Okay. Strange.

Torta route score: 5/10

Starting al fine at 16 hours, 17 minutes in.

Yaaay, Arietta. Is this about Arietta? I hope it is.
Always with the rain. Why does she *truly* wish for it to rain?
Her lies? She's been lying?

Waaaait. She just tied up her hair. Like Torta. What is happening.
Haha I have no idea what's going on. Does either Ari or Torta
truly not exist, or is this girl just delusional?

Okay, the latter. Kind of. Not really.
Torta has been pretending to be Ari, through the letters with Chris.
Wow.

Hey, this is weird. Torta is walking through town, she sees Chris,
and... it's not raining. It's even sunny.

The hospital? Wtf happened. Maybe... Ari and Chris were in an
accident. Ari died. Chris is traumatized. Torta pretends to be
Ari to 'heal' Chris. That doesn't explain the rain, though.
Maybe it was raining when the accident happened, and hearing the
rain is the only way he can feel close to Ari.

Okay, so that was only partly true. So what, is the school only
a product of Chris' delusions? Is it actually a hospital?
Ugh, how sad. All those people who acknowledged the rain when
Chris spoke of it.

Looking back at the earlier routes is so interesting. I may
just replay this game one day so that I can truly appreciate it.
I guess this al fine route also does the trick, though.

Ah... I guess Phorni's really a hallucination too, then :(
Or is she? I'm now convinced Ninna is able to see Phorni.

And now Ari *died*? Are you serious?

Other (true) ending: seriously? He just accepted it that easily?
This girl has been lying to him for over three years, and he
just shrugs it off?

Done now. Finished at 19 hours. Good route. At times, I felt like
it kind of dragged on, though. Good thing they didn't show *every*
scene again from Torta's perspective. 8/10

Starting Phorni route.

Oh my god is she working hard to put up a towel for Chris?
That is adorable.

Phorni can't be an illusion, she's just too unique.

Phorni wrote "Fine" at the end of her lyrics, and she just said
"those words bring back memories". And Phorni always disappears
around the time Ari dies. Phorni is Ari, somehow.

It wasn't ever really made clear how that whole Phorni = Ari thing
 worked. ~~Key~~ Kuroneko-san Team magic, I suppose. Kind of a shame.

Phorni route rating: 9/10

A con: I feel that Symphonic Rain isn't very good at making supposedly
emotional moments actually be emotional. They're over before
you know it. They should definitely be longer. The writer isn't giving
me enough time to properly care about what just happened. I'm probably
influenced on this matter by eden*, since I read that not too long ago
and it excelled at creating long-lasting emotional impacting moments.

Symphonic Rain is good at foreshadowing. I'm not even sure I can really
call it that, since literally the entire VN would be foreshadowing
in that case.

Overall rating: 7.5/10

Favorite songs: 1. Lise's 2. Phorni's