It may have taken its sweet time to finally arrive in English, but now that it’s here, you absolutely owe it to yourself to play The House of Fata Morgana.
Describing The House in Fata Morgana as "entertaining" isn't exactly accurate, as it's a much more introspective experience than its contemporaries. In that regard, more visual novels should take a page from Novectacle's book — The House in Fata Morgana eschews genre tropes in favor of a style of experimentation that is deeply literary, and the result is incredibly refreshing.
The House in Fata Morgana is a visual novel type game. The only thing you will do is reading through the story and sometimes making more or less important choices. As I remember there are 7 normal endings and 1 true end.
You appear in a dark mansion you don't recognize. At all you don't recognize anything, you don't remember who you are and even how you look like. Suddenly mysterious maid comes up to show you a few stories of the mansion.
Story is truly amazing. It tells you about love, despair, fear and much more. After completing the game you will understand that nothing is black and white and everything is completely different depending on a perspective.
Art is pretty and climatic, but the music is really gorgeous. The Spanish, original soundtrack is the best I've ever heard. You will not find other game with such OST.
10/10 If you are not a fan of visual novels then it doesn't matter. This game is more like a book with beautiful songs playing in the background. Everyone sometimes reads a book, right?
A visual novel that is as much an audio experience as it is a visual one. The art is beautiful, and the story is crafted in such a way that it leaves no stones unturned.
An absolute masterpiece. One of the, if not the greatest stories ever told, in any medium of fiction.
The House In data Morgana is a Visual Novel, so anyone who's expecting any kind of "gameplay", action sequences, Open world, etc. should stay away from not just Fata Morgana but from Visual Novels in general because this genre offers little to no gameplay. I read a review where the person was pissed at how this so-called "game" had no gameplay at all. People really set wrong expectations for Visual Novels. As the genre's title suggests, it IS basically a novel, presented in a very different way, with visuals and voice acting. I don't even like to associate Visual Novels with video games, because they offer no Open Worlds to explore, no hype fight scenes, etc.
Alright, that's it for me defending this genre as a whole, back to the topic. This review is SPOILER-FREE. God oh god Fata is beyond just "amazing". Fata takes place in a mansion that has stood for centuries and is rumored to be cursed. The story revolves around "you", the amnesiac protagonist who wakes in the eerie mansion where you're greeted by the mansion's maid, who calls you "master". Unable to remember your past, and your connection to this mansion, the maid tells you stories about the tragedies that took place in this mansion. The story follows "you", unraveling the secrets about this mysterious mansion and regaining your memory, and bringing an end to the mansion's curse.
Fata is something that had me holding my breath the entire time. Just love how everything unfolds and how the different stories narrated by the maid come together as the story progresses. An amazing plot, brilliant storytelling, foreshadowing that's probably unparalleled, an amazing cast, a beautiful art style, and an amazing soundtrack, Fata offers perfection in everything.
I urge everyone to read this masterpiece. It's literally the greatest piece of media I've ever consumed(it's on par, or even better than Gintama(anime), The Dark Knight Trilogy[film], and Whiplash[film], my current favorites). Also, a quick reminder, please don't associate Visual Novels with Video Games, because while some Visual novels do have gameplay, they can never offer you what Red Dead Redemption or Dark Souls do, so please keep your expectations in check.
The House In Fata Morgana has a prequel as well titled "Requiem For Innocence" which is phenomenal, just like its predecessor. There's also a sequel titled "Reincarnation" which unfortunately is not available on PC as of now(September 2021). Fata is what comes to my mind when I read "story-rich" anywhere.
It is extremely short when compared to other popular Visual Novels, notably, Fate/Stay Night, Umineko, Utawarerumono, and Muv-Luv. It doesn't have "routes" that most Visual Novels have, and Fata doesn't have cringe NSFW scenes, though that doesn't mean that Fata is for all ages.
Please, PLEASE read this Visual Novel. Despite being one of the highest-rated games on Steam, it's extremely underrated. Please give this masterpiece a shot.
Nick Des Barres was on one team infamous for politicization of japanese media, among these the famously egregious mistranslation of "Tsundere" to "fragile male ego" in "The house in Fata **** describes himself in his twitter bio as "Unimaginably talented writer-localizer-designer-actor-furry."
He was arrested for sending sex toys to a minor. He translated this game.
Summary A gothic suspense tale set in a cursed mansion. "The House in Fata Morgana" is a full-length visual novel spanning nearly a millennium that deals in tragedy, human nature, and insanity.