Utawarerumono came out in 2002. It was a completely new concept taken on by one of the top visual novel companies, Leaf, combining aspects of eroge, fantasy/sci fi storytelling, and tactical rpg's. It was a huge hit, and was converted into an excellent anime a few years later in 2006, which was another huge hit.
The story being complete, it was left to the dusts of time, with everyone happy with both the game and anime reaching the full ending of the tale.
But at some point Leaf decided they could do more with this franchise, so they opened the treasure box back up again to see if they couldn't repeat the magic. An ambitious duo of sequels that would mark the 'true ending' of the series, each of whom would be longer than the original game, have more characters, and be more epic in scope. It turns out, yes, they could capture the magic yet again just fine.
The second game was also marvelous, and was also converted into a marvelous anime. But that left American viewers off at a cliffhanger. The second game/anime in isolation was worse than useless. It took a series that had a definite and complete story and instead left it at an incomplete and frustrating midway point. What would become of Anju? Haku? Yamato? Who poisoned Anju in the first place, which of the pillar generals were to blame? The questions just went on and on.
Finally the third game was sold in English this September, and since there was no anime adaption, only by playing the game could we see what had become of this legendary series. Well, rest assured, not only was the third game excellent in its own right, but by answering all the questions left hanging in the second game, it enhanced the value of both the original and the second games in the series. Now everything has a proper ending again.
By the third game, it had become so famous and mainstream it had to drop the eroge elements, but it's still a fantastic fantasy/sci fi and a fantastic tactical rpg. (It still has eroge quality art and a lot of near nudity too, so at least it's trying its best to slip in all the fanservice it can.)
The third game takes advantage of all the assets built up over the first two. It features all the characters from all the games and spends a good deal of time with all of them, letting them flower into fully developed characters from what before were only passing strangers. It has a full 96 song soundtrack, taking advantage of everything composed in the franchise up until this point. It even has fun minigames where your characters can fight each other in mock battles instead of advancing the plot or retaking the land from the evil usurpers.
The long and winding storytelling manner allows for plenty of great humor and romance as well as all the action and drama. This was a 45 hour game, and most of those 45 hours were just reading the visual novel aspect and getting to know everyone better. You can tell how compelling said story was just by the fact that I finished it in a week. Most visual novels take months or years for me to finish. But Utawarerumono, as to be expected, is just in a different league.
The voice acting was wonderful. Nekone is practically the main heroine in this game, and she's voiced by the prodigy Inori Minase, now often rated as the best voice actress in the industry. Other roles are full of just as many stars -- Takahiro Sakurai, Keiji Fujiwara, Rie Kugimiya, Miyuki Sawashiro, Ai Kakuma, Rikiya Koyama, on and on.
There were parts of the story that dragged or were too melodramatic, but it's completely overshadowed by all the things they did right.
I do wish the fight portions of the game had better graphics. There's no reason for such cheap 3d models to exist on a PS4. But I understand not all games have the budget of FF XV. Since most of the time you're looking at beautiful hand drawn artwork, in the end it doesn't really matter.
Fifteen years later, Utawarerumono can be laid to rest for good. That's a long run. I pity the fools who got to watch the first anime but died before they could purchase this game. Now they'll never know the ending like I do, they'll never have seen all the characters they love grown up and fulfilled. That celebratory moment is reserved only for me, because I was born in the right era of mankind, the era of amazing epic stories, from One Piece to Naruto to Fairy Tail, all of which are decades in length but still come to an end in time for me to see them in full. Da Capo III was the same. I'm so glad I got to rescue Sakura from her fate as shown in Da Capo II. Another franchise that took decades to reach its true ending, whose ending I finally got to reach this year. Just like how Mega Man came to an end this year. Or how Bakemonogatari just ended this summer. Or Hayate no Gotoku. Or To Love ru. Or Akame ga Kill! Or -- really, what the heck is with this year??????????? Is the world ending or something?
Well, Utawarerumono has ended. Next up, the ending of Love Live! Sunshine. The heart attacks just don't stop coming.
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