I had the pleasure of playing Amarantus during February’s Steam Next Fest, and everything about it had imprinted into my brain—the art, the dialogue, the movement, the choices—it left me wanting more. I had hoped that the full version wouldn’t disappoint me and spoiler alert: it didn’t. Published and developed by ub4q, Amarantus is a positively messy visual novel that focuses on an amazing story, making your choices matter, and encouraging replayability.
In Amarantus, we play as Arik, a young man who’s tired of the ways of the world, who wants nothing but change. This story starts with Arik waking up to the sounds of an attack. He is told by his father to go and run to his friend Mireille’s house, not to ask questions, and not to look back. Right away the story begins, and we’re given our first choice: do we go to Mireille’s house like we’re told, or do we stay back to investigate and chance a run-in with the soldiers? It’s up to us.
Arik lives in a world ruled by Lord Caudat—a tyrant who does not care for his people’s lives and plucks them up one by one to send them off to war, leaving behind nothing but ruins and soldiers who will do whatever they damn well please. After being forced to leave his parents behind, seeing them get captured, and having his home burned to the ground, Arik decides that enough is enough. He’s tired of having to live an unfair life, and it’s past time for a change. If he isn’t going to do anything, then who will? So, he gathers his closest friends and strangers alike, and they set off to end this tyranny. This misfit group makes its way to the Lord. But getting where they need to get isn’t the only problem they’ll face. Someone’s watching their every move…
As much as I love visual novels, I’m also someone who unfortunately gets bored very easily, so more often than not it’s difficult for a visual novel to keep my attention. Amarantus, however, is so full of life that it was hard to take my eyes away from the screen. The first thing that will catch your eye is the fluid movement. When I think of visual novels, I think of motionless, pretty pictures. Maybe some novels have characters that will bounce in place one or two times. But in Amarantus, they feel so real. They “walk” (as best as they can) on and off screen, move their mouths, pause at awkward moments, and shift their eyes back and forth. They crouch when they need to hide and blush at appropriate (or inappropriate, all the same) times. They’re there, and the portraits themselves are telling their story. There’s also a feature where the dialogue can interrupt each other in a swift back and forth, making things even more lively.
One thing about Amarantus is that you will not understand what’s happening without playing through it more than once. That doesn’t mean you have to go the same exact route every time. It just means that the more you play, the more that’s unveiled, and the more that’s unveiled, the more you gasp and go “Oh, I get it now!” At least, that’s what happened to me. If you want the whole experience, replaying Amarantus is inevitable, and I’m glad it is (and grateful for the “skip” button). It’s given me an excuse to go back to see what else I can do. Trust me, there is much more to this game than meets the eye.
Amarantus takes the “visual” part of “visual novel” to the next level. The portraits are in a gorgeous painted style, accompanied by simple yet equally as gorgeous backgrounds. I keep mentioning the movement of the characters, but that combined with the stunning visuals makes it almost impossible to take your eyes off the screen in fear you’ll miss even the slightest of motions. Musically, each track I heard was lovely, matching the current mood—and then there was the ambiance. In tense moments when I didn’t know what was going to happen next, there was a collage of eerie noises that made me feel extremely uneasy. There were chase scenes with footsteps and the sounds of blades slicing through the air. The lighting throughout the story matches well with the settings described, too. All of this blends together into the perfect experience.
The characters in Amarantus are forces not to be reckoned with. Aside from Arik, there’re his two friends, Mireille and Màrius, who he’s known the longest. There’s the Major, who Mireille found and hired. And there’s Raeann, the seemingly blood-thirsty and unstable girl who’s introduced under varying circumstances. Everyone has their own consistent personalities and ideals, and they mesh or clash perfectly. Relationships are indeed messy. Sometimes they’re a little fast, but when you think of the circumstances, they’re not exactly in a position to take things slow.
Aside from story and characters, dialogue also plays an important role in visual novels, and once again, in Amarantus, it doesn’t fall flat. It’s beautifully written and extremely immersive. I hung onto every word, trying to get a feel for what each character was like, and encouraging myself to really pay attention and find out more information about Lord Caudat and what led up to this point.
Amarantus has a lovely selection of customizable options to go along with its many unique features. If moving mouths and line interruptions don’t seem to be your style, you’re free to turn them off. Or, if the interruptions happen too fast, there’s an option to slow down text speed so you have a chance to read everything. You can turn on sound captions that will describe what’s happening in the top right corner (for example, “Arik falls off his bed.”), change the line spacing, choose the font and its size, and use self-voicing for the lines. With this wide selection of options, the important choices you’re able to make aren’t just during gameplay.
One of the biggest problems I have is that there aren’t nearly enough save files for the amount of content offered. It may seem like no big deal, but with so many options that could possibly make or break relationships, I ran out of space too quickly, and on my first playthrough, too. While I could overwrite older saves, it would have been nicer to have more space. Then there were times when it felt like Arik was talking just to talk. I was confused at some of the words coming out of his (and others’) mouth in a “what are they even trying to say right now” sort of way, but it wasn’t too difficult to ignore the feeling and just move on. I also can’t say that I enjoyed every “route” I played (I must use the term “route” loosely), but for games like these, that’s a given. Whether you enjoyed a specific route or not, there is still a good amount of content for each character.
I grew up obsessing over visual novels, and it saddened me when I noticed that I stopped being as into them as I used to be. They were a constant presence in my life until they weren’t anymore. I’ve always been searching for a visual novel to get me back onto my feet, and I can say with confidence that this was the one. Amarantus is truly something special.
Inanna played Amarantus on PC with a review code.
