Sepia Tears
~ Midwinter’s Reprise ~
"I'm the person you wish you never met."
Available for PC, Mac, Linux, and Android
“Sepia Tears is a love story.
There are no robots or vampires, for better or worse. It's about a high schooler named Mark, an ordinary protagonist with a memory that he tries very hard to forget. It's also about a girl named Myra who knows more about him than any stranger should, and who reminds him uncannily of his past.
Together, they search for a storybook romance and realize that love doesn't always bloom as neatly as it ought to.” ~ Sepia Tears Website
Sepia Tears is a mixed bag, but is it good?
Introduction
On Christmas Eve 2013, Sepia Tears was released as a free visual novel by Team NEET. This is one of the many VNs that run on the Ren’Py engine with a very small staff. It isn’t anything too special or super fantastic, though its charming in its own right.
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Story
Sepia tears is a story about Mark, who awakens from a dream of someone he could have sworn he remembers, though can’t quite remember why. Soon he meets Myra, a girl who knows more about Mark’s past than anyone should, a past Mark tries desperately to forget, and while they begin to get close, something begins to pull Myra apart.
Sepia Tears, while not short, isn’t too long either. It has choices (though few), though It only has one actual ending. As a novel it works just fine, as a “Visual Novel” it’s a bit of a mixed bag. The music and ambiance is there and so is the imagery though it feels too linear despite slight changes in dialogue, and there’s only one instance where a choice makes an actual noticeable change other than dialogue.
Music and Art
As usual the art styles and music blend well, not in a bad or negative way, but more of a complimentary relationship. The character art is comprised as simple hand-drawn sketch style artwork (It’s not too clear if they are truly hand-drawn or drawn via computer), nothing too spectacular, though it’s not bad either, the simplicity of the character art is charming and in an ironic way seems to portray them as people better than state-of-the-art HD Anime-Grade art.
The soundtrack, while not large, is a good size despite the length of the novel. The music, while at times being more like ambiance than an actual score, fits the scenes for the most part, though there are times it doesn’t exactly fit, it’s a subtle feeling of “This doesn’t belong here”. The ending track sends absolute chills, sounding melancholy, though happy and sincere at the same time, and fits the final moments of the story.
Replayability and Completion
There isn’t much Replayability to be frank. While the five or so choices you are given lead to different conversations, and a single instance where a choice makes an actual impact, a slight one at that which doesn’t even effect the ending, The gallery has a fair amount to unlock, which is an easy task so long as you remember your paths, while there are save states, they don’t always help (I had to actually press Start instead of Load with skip on and pick the choices I haven’t used to unlock some of the more stubborn images/music), There are images, concept art, and soundtrack to unlock, all of which by simply having found them in the game (No unnecessary flags needed, looking at you Katawa Shoujo).
So simply put, a fair sized gallery/library to unlock, which sometimes has issues with save-states, concept art is a definite plus (as little as there is).
Completing the game for the first time rewards you with Myra’s diary, which is a summed up version of the story from Myra’s point of view, which is a nice addition you don’t commonly see in visual novels that gives a bit more insight to the story, albeit a short one.
Verdict - 7/10
While Sepia Tears is a free game made by limited staff, it payed off. The simplicity of the art and music resonate well together, the story is great, however it feels restricted due to lack of actual impact caused by the few choices. Despite the negatives with the pathing of the story as a “game” as a story it works perfectly well with a unique twist on an otherwise cliché concept, Myra is a memorable character and the rest of the cast have their moments as well. If you want a visual novel that is a great read, yet doesn’t absorb too much time, then Sepia Tears is a great choice for any platform.
Positives:
Charming characters and unique scenario, good story, relatable characters depending on who you are, the simple art style ironically resonates well with the visual novel. The android port isn’t too battery hungry and works well (a rarity among android VN ports). A heroine Point of view as an unlockable reward is a rare plus for any VN.
Negatives:
The story is linear with the choices being few and far between, and have little impact on the actual game, the ending is confusing due to having to repeat steps (Pick the hill after choosing a few at random, but not first). No Lillian path.
Final Words and Personal Opinion
Sepia Tears I ironically discovered on the Google Play Store before even finding it on google, which is surprising that such a gem was found in an appstore full of pay-wall visual novels (or visual novels that are just god awful). Its one of the first I ever played, and I only recently rediscovered it hidden on my google account. It’s a great game, I could relate to Mark and I enjoyed Myra’s character, Honestly (and not in a bad way) the art style could be inspiring people who want to try something like visual novel art without any superb skill. I really enjoyed re-playing the game and I also enjoyed the review.Ill be continuing to review visual novels, until next time.
Visual Novel Review: Sepia Tears
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