Nutaku asked us to take a look at this game, and here's our opinion.
It’s about time I play some good ass shit my dudes. It’s been a while since I dived into a Japanese-born visual novel for a review as it’s basically like cheating. The industry simply isn’t as massive here in America and while developers are working hard, the potential budgets cannot compare to the developers of Japan. Thus, I feel it’s nice to try and give a little spotlight when an American VN releases. But fuck that, you can only last so long before it’s time to return to the top and remember why you gotta suck Japan’s dick so much when it comes to VN’s in the first place.
Hello, Goodbye is a lengthy visual novel (20-30 hours) that was released on Nutaku on January 25, 2019. It was published by Lump of Sugar and originally developed by NekoNyan. The game is actually 2.4 GB which is rather large for a game in this genre. I’m assuming it’s due to the quality of the assets. You can pick it up from the store for $29.99, or, there is a deluxe edition available for $36.99 that includes the soundtrack for the game.
Art/Music
This is what I’ve been waiting for. The art looks good, okay? There’s like five million fucking backgrounds compared to what I’ve been working with lately and they all do wonders to show you the locations that the MC is in. We got daytime art, nighttime art, art on the way to school, art on the way back home from school, art at the mall, art at the cafe, it’s a lot and it’s all beautiful. But wait, there’s more: characters have multiple outfits and expressions, the game possesses a clean UI that looks polished and unintrusive, there are notifications that let you know what song is playing in the background and highlighted words to indicate they’re in the glossary if you need to refresh what they mean or signify. And don’t even get me started on the music in the game. The main theme that plays during the title screen is lovely, and there are some nice jams mixed throughout the game as well. Don’t worry if you don’t like one, cause there is so freaking many that it’s bound to change to a different track soon. This visual novel just lets you know that some accountant somewhere probably shed a tear before approving this budget.
When the title screen looks this clean, you know it's about to be hot.
Writing/Characters
Now this was certainly a fall back down to reality after assessing the last section, but not a fall down into hell. The plot is simply… okay, I think. You, Toubu Kaito, have been sent to infiltrate a high school as a secret military operative. You conduct your reconnaissance all while attempting to stay undetected… but then there’s some bombings… and time loop.. travel?… you know I can’t say much more without spoiling it. Just know that it gets a little wild as you say hello, and then goodbye. The characters are a bit better though a tad generic in a few cases. The childhood friend girl, the quiet but nice girl, the “sister” but not actually your sister girl, etc. Thankfully the (FULL) voice acting works wonders to make them seem more distinct, human, and likeable. I do note that the writing can be a little slow at times when it feels the need to describe a background in detail like you can’t see the art right in front of your face. However, that’s apparently more of genre-wide issue with Japanese visual novels so it’s not unexpected.
Careful bitch, I'm stealing your heart next!
The Sex
I thought I was going to die of old age before I ever finished the sex scene I unlocked. That shit just kept going, and going, and going, and I mean that in a good way. The dialogue wasn’t particularly unique or character-driven but the voice acting helped a lot to fuel the “human” side of things. And that’s not to suggest that there aren’t lines here and there that reflect a bit of the character’s personality that you’re fucking. You know what? The music was pretty nice too. I got distracted a few times just listening to the piano go off in the track. My only real complaint for this section is that I thought I was going to die of old age before I ever ARRIVED at a sex scene in the first place. Seriously, the pacing is a bit slow if that’s what you play the game for. I eventually had to surrender and start skipping through lines to find out where the sex was hiding.
Damn, it's a lot harder to come up with a caption when I leave out the dialogue so you guys can see the full art. Shit.
This game was a breath of fresh air in terms of production quality. While it certainly has some issues in regards to its slow journey toward actually showing sex in the game, as well as some repetitive moaning dialogue, the product covers its vital elements well enough to still be a solid experience.
TL;DR Hello, Goodbye reminds us what a fat budget can accomplish and hits all the core points of a good visual novel, 4/5
Do you prefer long or short visual novels? Have a game on Nutaku you want reviewed? Say Hello in the comments below! Goodbye now!
