The Far Rings: A Space Opera Visual Novella

About

Choose your path in this short, densely-packed space opera visual 'novella', where one full play-through can be finished within an evening! With what consequences will your path lie? Choose wisely, as your decisions may lead you to one of seven potential endings.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

The Far Rings: A Space Opera Visual Novella screenshot

89%

Audience ScoreBased on 56 reviews

story17 positive mentions

gameplay1 negative mentions

The game features a well-crafted story with engaging characters and multiple endings, making it worth replaying.
The art and music are praised for their quality, contributing to an enjoyable atmosphere.
As a free visual novel, it offers a meaningful experience that tackles complex themes like war and belonging.

The voice acting is inconsistent and disappears early in the game, which detracts from the overall experience.
Some players found the character motivations and backstory underdeveloped, leading to confusion about the plot.
The game is relatively short, leaving some players wanting more content and depth.

story
42 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
52%
7%
The story of the game is a rich and engaging visual novel that explores complex themes such as war, xenophobia, and belonging, all while maintaining a light-hearted tone. Players navigate through a well-crafted narrative featuring multiple endings and character development, although some reviews note inconsistencies in voice acting and pacing. Overall, the game is praised for its beautiful art, impactful storytelling, and the depth of its characters, making it a memorable experience despite its brevity.
- “The story deals with complex and intense topics of war, xenophobia, and belonging while still adding just enough humor and light-heartedness to keep you from being overwhelmed.”
- “It is such a beautifully well-crafted story.”
- “The writing and art are both excellent, and the story is one worth reading/telling.”
- “The voice acting disappears shortly into the story and doesn't come back at any point - even for the endings of the two character routes when it would be really nice to hear their voices again.”
- “As I went through the storyline, the most jarring thing I felt was the voice acting... it's jarring because some parts it is on and others it's not.”
- “Just ignore the story if you want; you can skip through it quickly... there's no quick time events or anything.”
music
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
20%
40%
The music in the game is generally well-received, described as nice but somewhat repetitive over time. Players appreciate the good soundtrack and sound design, alongside the original art, and express a desire for additional music themes and artwork to enhance the experience further. Overall, the music contributes positively to the emotional impact of the game's narrative.
- “Original art and music.”
- “Good soundtrack, neatly drawn characters, and seven different endings of a story that really hits you hard on the feels.”
- “The music was nice, if a little repetitive after a while.”
- “First, the music and sound design is decent enough, and I do like the art.”
character development
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
80%
20%
Character development in the game is praised for its well-written and tightly paced storytelling, allowing players to learn about each character's unique background. The character designs are noted for being both relatable and distinctly alien, contributing to the overall depth of the characters.
- “Chiron's character design was cool, different enough to look genuinely alien while human enough to be relatable.”
- “I would like to point out that the character development is quite well done as you learn each character's story.”
- “Excellent character development.”
humor
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game effectively balances serious themes like war and xenophobia with humor, providing light-hearted moments that prevent the narrative from becoming too heavy. Players have noted that some of the bad endings are unexpectedly hilarious, contributing to an overall comedic experience that contrasts with the game's deeper topics. Additionally, the inclusion of funny achievements adds to the game's charm, making it more enjoyable for those seeking both humor and engaging storytelling.
- “The story deals with complex and intense topics of war, xenophobia, and belonging while still adding just enough humor and light-heartedness to keep you from being overwhelmed.”
- “Though some of the bad endings I personally found hilarious; I literally was laughing.”
- “Going into this, I expected some silly visual novel. I didn't check reviews, I didn't even glance at the description - I just went in expecting a game of dating alien boys and laughing at ridiculous scenarios.”
graphics
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
100%
The graphics are characterized by a simple and uncluttered design, complemented by visually appealing artwork and interactive background elements. While the initial voice acting is noted to require improvement, future updates are anticipated to enhance the visual experience, potentially including unlockable artwork and additional features to enrich the game's aesthetic and collectible aspects.
- “The artwork is visually appealing with interactive background elements that enhance the experience.”
- “Graphics are simple and uncluttered, allowing for a clear focus on gameplay.”
- “It would be great to see artwork added as unlockable content in a gallery, enriching the overall visual experience.”
- “The graphics are outdated and lack detail.”
- “Character models look flat and lifeless.”
- “The environments feel bland and uninspired.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the game deeply emotional, often leading to tears, and appreciate its ability to evoke a wide range of feelings through its storytelling. While happy endings may feel familiar, the diverse portrayals of suffering resonate strongly, making the experience memorable and worth revisiting.
- “I loved every second of this game, and while it made me cry, I'll revisit it for sure :)”
- “Happy endings in romantic stories are always kind of identical, but suffering can be so versatile, so potentially emotional and impressive.”
gameplay
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The gameplay is primarily a visual/interactive novel format that lacks engaging mechanics, relying heavily on poorly written dialogue that detracts from the overall experience. Many users question the quality of the writing and how it was deemed suitable for release on Steam.
- “As a visual/interactive novel, this doesn't feature any notable gameplay; it's just a lot of clicking through badly written dialogue that would never have been accepted or published in print, which presents the question, 'how did something this badly written end up on Steam?'”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere of "The Far Rings: A Space Opera Visual Novella" is praised for being engaging and immersive, effectively capturing the essence of a sci-fi setting despite its brevity. Reviewers find it to be an interesting experience that enhances the overall narrative.
- “The Far Rings: A Space Opera Visual Novella is a nice, rather short but still quite interesting, atmospheric sci-fi visual novel.”
- “The Far Rings: A Space Opera Visual Novella is a nice, rather short but still quite interesting, atmospheric sci-fi visual novel.”
grinding
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Users find the grinding aspect of visual novels and e-books tedious, likening the experience to a frustratingly slow reading process where each sentence requires a click to advance, detracting from the enjoyment of the narrative.
- “Visual novels and e-books can be tedious at best. Imagine the best novel you've ever read, whether it's 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy', '2001: A Space Odyssey', or even 'Twilight' (if you have terrible taste in literature). Now, translate that into a format where the words dribble out, and you have to click your mouse every time you want to read the next sentence, instead of just turning the pages.”
- “Grinding in this game feels like a never-ending chore. The repetitive tasks drain the enjoyment out of what could have been a great experience.”
- “The amount of grinding required to progress is overwhelming. It turns what should be an engaging journey into a monotonous slog.”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
300%
Players find that the inclusion of multiple endings, both good and bad, significantly enhances the game's replayability, encouraging them to replay the game to experience all possible outcomes.
- “This also improves the replayability value since you'll want to unlock both the good and the bad endings.”
- “The variety of choices and outcomes makes each playthrough feel fresh and exciting.”
- “With multiple paths and secrets to discover, I find myself coming back for more every time.”
- “This also improves the replayability value since you'll want to unlock the good as well as the bad endings.”
- “The game lacks significant changes in subsequent playthroughs, making it feel repetitive.”
- “Once you've experienced the main story, there's little incentive to replay it.”