Noctuary
Developer: Gratesca Studio
Publisher: Serenity Forge
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S (Reviewed), PC
Release Date: Available Now
Price: $24.99 USD – Available Here
Overview
When one thinks of a visual novel they tend to think of games coming from a Japanese developer, or at last most recently English developers that have begun to put their own little twists on things. But few would think of a Chinese developed visual novel and that is just what Noctuary happens to be. Originally released on PC by Gratesca Studio back in 2023 with the help of Serenity Forge to bring this blend of visual novel with light action RPG elements the title has now made its way to consoles with a few extra improvements. The question is, with a completely different style from what many are used to, is Noctuary a game worth checking out?
Story
Set in the incredibly densely written and detailed world of Inlixaland, players join the pair of Fancia Dream and Alina Nightsong as the two travel through a location covered in Darkness. As a pair of Illuminators, human-like beings created by plants to fend off the darkness, the two have dreamed of becoming proper Arborangers, the strongest fighters that defend the pillars of light that hold the creatures of Darkness at bay. With Fancia sneaking into her older sister’s room and catching wind that a newborn Illuminator is meant to appear in the forest not too far from their home at the Rosecrown Beacon, the two set off as a way to make a name for themselves. Unfortunately they quickly find that they’ve tackled off more than they can chew as the creatures of darkness, called Darkritters, have turned the forest into a maze and even when they locate the girl they believe to be the new Illuminator, they manage to lose her in the chaos.
It is only through the help of Milia Dream, Fancia’s older sister, that the pair are able to survive and make it home. Not too long after they are shocked to find that the girl they lost in the forest has appeared inside the town on her own but suffering from extreme amnesia to the point the only thing she knows is her name, Lumina Fullmoon and she comes from a Beacon that no one knows of. Slowly but surely things start to strangely happen around Fancia and Lumina, with Fancia tapping into new potential powers while having visions of Lumina even as she fights besides her dear partner Alina. What awaits them along the way is a shockingly layered and well-written storyline filled with twists, turns, and poignant moments that will hit quite emotionally thanks to the amount of effort the writers put into fleshing out the cast of characters.
As mentioned before, Noctuary is a visual novel and while it may have its action RPG elements, most of the game will be spent telling the story of Fancia and her journey through the world with only a few minor choices to make throughout the game. Instead players will be shown a number of missions that they can choose from with sub-missions focusing on side-characters being deliberately pointed out. Main story quests are clearly indicated making it easy to avoid progressing too far and missing out on learning more about the characters and their unique backgrounds, issues, and even what their hopes and dreams are. By giving players these types of choices, especially since they provide gameplay benefits as well, it ensures that most of the cast is fleshed out in one way or another, either through the main story or through the many side-quests that some possess.
It must be said that Noctuary is an incredibly in-depth game when it comes to world building. The world itself is filled with unique lore and terminology that will constantly be updated in the game’s journal that can be pulled up at any time during a visual novel sequence, whether to learn what a new term is or review it later and even tens of hours into the game new terminology can be revealed, even if most of the lore drops happen during the relatively slow start. That being said, while the game may start slow and take a bit to really start pulling out its emotional cards, once it does players will find it hard to put down as this is an incredibly gripping storyline with countless mysteries that slowly but surely get revealed as players progress through the emotional and rather dark at times plotline. It is even worth noting that there are multiple endings players can obtain throughout the game and, without spoiling things, it can be said that obtaining these endings, especially the true ending, require far more than simple dialogue choices to obtain, though these will be required too to see everything that Noctuary has to offer.
Gameplay
For the most part players will be spending their time with Noctuary reading the storyline as it unfolds as the game is far more visual novel than it is action RPG. All of the standard elements of visual novel controls including logs, autoplay, skipping previously read text, and more is available alongside the ever-present aforementioned dictionary that players can pull up at any time if they forget a specific term being referenced. For the most part Noctuary doesn’t offer much in the way of actual choices but there are a number of major choices that players can make near pivotal story moments that will dictate what ending players might end up getting, though as mentioned before some of these endings are a bit more complicated than simply selecting a few correct dialogue choices.
The main part where players will find themselves delving into battle is the occasional fight that will spring up during a dialogue sequence. Whenever players select a mission, be it a main story mission or a sub-mission that reveals more about the other side-characters in the game, deepening Fancia’s bond with them, there will occasionally be battles within as well as rewards for completing the mission. It is worth noting that advancing the story too far can make some sub-missions vanish if not completed, making their rewards impossible to unlock and potentially losing out on some lengthy story sequences.
That being said, whenever battles begin, players will usually find themselves controlling Fancia and Alina as the pair are close-partners in every way, including in combat. Both Fancia and Alina have three different attack styles and players can swap between these characters at any time, though doing so when their icon is flashing will trigger a screen-wide attack for powerful damage. Each of the characters’ three styles has a standard attack and special attack with a variety of uses and it is interesting to note that while players can dodge, they are limited to only two dodges at a time with the need to refill in-between, making dodging more about skill and timing and less about spamming. Both characters have different health meters and it is worth noting that while the game may start easy, there are a number of bosses and challenges later on that will test just how skilled players have mastered the system, especially when it comes to tagging between Fancia and Alina and using their skills the best way to target the specific Darkritters that they are facing off against. From time to time players will also find themselves controlling a few other characters and battling with additional styles, though the details about that players will need to find out for themselves.
After completing a mission Fancia will earn “Photons” which serve as XP and can be applied to a variety of little stat boosting options that range from just increasing attack power or how much health the characters have to increasing revival speed, movement speed, and even how much “special” they start out with in a fight. The other more unique ability that Fancia will gain to strengthen herself is the “Blessing Flower.” By completing various side-missions that involve other characters and learning about their stories, players can earn either Blessings that possess unique bonuses when equipped or “Flower Dew” that will improve the size of the flower and how many blessings it can contain. This helps create more of the RPG dynamic that allows players to build and change Fancia’s skill-set to best suit their needs or take on a challenging boss.
That being said, one thing that does feel odd is that while Noctuary’s combat system works fine and is actually quite enjoyable, it doesn’t feel like the game makes the most of it. There are moments that the story implicitly shows that a new threat has arrived or a wave of monsters is going to attack and they are either killed off screen or simply done-away by the characters themselves, giving players no agency in the fights. While this is a rather odd complaint probably given the heavy narrative focus that Noctuary thrives on, it just feels that more could have been done with the system since it is clear that more than enough effort was put into it.
Audio & Visuals
Noctuary is a gorgeous game to look at. The character portraits for every single character in the game, even some of the no-faced side-characters, are exquisitely detailed and the many characters that Fancia talks with throughout the story all have heavily detailed and gorgeous character portraits with some nice facial variation. Even the backgrounds during dialogue sequences are heavily detailed even if they make use of a few locations far too often, making sure that players are always in for a visual treat. Speaking of treats, Noctuary is filled with CGs of characters taking unique actions and the same attention to detail is presented in these scenes as well. Even the aforementioned Blessing Flower looks quite beautiful once players really start layering on the various Blessings. The combat looks a bit more simplistic but not the worst, as the character models here are far more basic in nature but the action and attacks are quite elaborate looking, especially when using skills.
With Noctuary releasing on the Xbox Series X the company has added a brand new Japanese voice track to accompany the original Mandarin and Cantonese. This gives players three voice options to choose from and the Japanese voice cast manages to fit their characters perfectly here, whether it is a simple interaction among friends, a dire sequence where the characters are about to do battle, or one of the many poignant scenes that happen throughout the story’s many twists and turns. The background music is also quite exquisite as there are numerous tracks throughout the game that make the most of the emotional aspects of what is happening on screen, whether it is as simple as an interaction at a cafe or a dire reveal.
Overall
Being a Chinese studio, Gratesca Studio has made an incredible impact here with Noctuary. The writers have managed to tell an incredibly gripping and emotional storyline that grapples with a world on the precipice of destruction, identity, and far more all while offering some solidly handled action RPG gameplay to go along with it. It is a bit disappointing that the actual combat itself feels underutilized overall but when it comes to this gorgeous looking visual novel and its fleshed out world to go along with its impressive story, those looking for a unique and new visual novel will definitely want to keep Noctuary in mind.
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