The Wilting Amaranth
- June 4, 2018
- Reine Works
Get on Steam"The Wilting Amaranth" is a narrative-driven, atmospheric puzzle-platformer. You play as a young girl named Elara, who must navigate a surreal and decaying world to save her dying sister. Featuring hand-drawn art and a hauntingly beautiful soundtrack, the game explores themes of loss, love, and the power of memories. Note: The above summary is based on general information about the game's genre, storyline, and themes, and not on personal experience playing it.
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Reviews
- The game features adorable character art and a whimsical style that many players find charming.
- It offers a significant number of unique endings, providing replayability and varied story outcomes.
- The narrative explores deep themes such as internalized homophobia and social issues, making it a fresh take on the yuri genre.
- The story is quite short and lacks depth, which may leave players wanting more character development and plot complexity.
- Some characters exhibit problematic behaviors, particularly Priya, which can detract from the romantic experience.
- There are technical issues, including bugs that can disrupt gameplay and affect the overall experience.
- story39 mentions
- 26 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The story is a short, traditional fairy tale with a yuri twist, featuring a love triangle among a witch and her two female guests, which leads to various endings, some heart-wrenching and others erotic. While the narrative has potential with its unique premise and character dynamics, many reviewers found it lacking in depth and emotional engagement, often describing the characters as one-dimensional. Overall, the storytelling is seen as serviceable but not particularly memorable, making it a light read rather than a deeply impactful experience.
“This is a short and occasionally brutal fantasy story that's a fairy tale in the traditional sense, complete with bad endings.”
“The story can go in pretty drastically different ways, including some heart-wrenching options.”
“The story is actually decent and kind of reverses the roles of the good and bad guys in fairy tales.”
“The Wilting Amaranth has no story and no voice acting.”
“The most important being that, for a yuri story, it doesn't elicit any emotions or romantic feelings whatsoever.”
“With around 4 hours of content, it might be a decent-enough, light read for a lazy evening or two, but don't expect anything more than that - it's not a story that will leave you charmed or deeply moved in any way.”
- music12 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 42 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally described as repetitive, with only a few tracks played throughout the experience, which can become monotonous over several hours of gameplay. While some players appreciate the cute and unique sound, others find the end-game track too heavy and out of place, indicating that a greater variety in the soundtrack would have enhanced the overall experience. Overall, music is considered a weak point of the game.
“I enjoyed the in-game music, though I think it's only a couple of tracks played over and over.”
“Main music is nice.”
“Still playing, but the art and OST is unique and the characters are cute.”
“The music had some kind of repetitive tones to it.”
“The end-game music track was far too 'heavy' for my liking, though, and didn't seem to fit the game at all.”
“My only small complaint was that I wish the music was more varied since you end up hearing it for a good few hours.”
- graphics8 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The graphics in the game are described as simplistic and cartoon-like, reminiscent of older Saturday morning cartoons, with a limited number of backgrounds. While some users find the chibi illustrations and character art appealing, others criticize the overall quality as crude and lacking depth. Despite mixed feelings about the presentation, many appreciate the cute art style and its contribution to the game's charm.
“The romance route was really sweet and I enjoyed the art style.”
“The character art style is similarly simple, but quite attractive for the most part.”
“You may call the graphics crude, at some point merely more than a sketch, but the cute chibi illustrations make up for it.”
“Graphics are cartoon-like with only a small number of backgrounds, each of which could easily have featured in a Saturday morning cartoon years ago.”
“I regret buying this; there are a lot of black screens. It's not really adult, more of a PG-16 rating, very disappointing overall. However, the artwork was very good for those who enjoy this type of stuff.”
- emotional2 mentions
- 150 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
Players find "Before the Wilting Amaranth" to evoke strong emotions through its impactful storytelling, offering heart-wrenching choices that contrast sharply with the less engaging narrative of "Ne No Kami." The game's ability to present drastically different story paths enhances its emotional depth.
“The story can go in pretty drastically different ways, including some heart-wrenching options.”
“I was genuinely moved by the character's struggles and triumphs; it felt like I was living their journey.”
“The emotional depth of the narrative left me in tears, making me reflect on my own life choices.”
“Before playing 'The Wilting Amaranth', I played 'Ne No Kami', which had a boring story and poor voice acting.”
“The emotional depth of the characters felt shallow and unconvincing, leaving me disconnected from the story.”
“I expected a gripping narrative, but the emotional moments fell flat and lacked the impact I was hoping for.”
- gameplay1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -500 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized as straightforward and easy to understand, making it accessible for players of all skill levels.
“The gameplay is incredibly intuitive and easy to pick up.”
“I love how the gameplay mechanics are straightforward yet engaging.”
“The controls are responsive, making the gameplay feel smooth and enjoyable.”
“The gameplay is overly simplistic and lacks depth.”
“I found the gameplay to be repetitive and uninspired.”
“The mechanics feel clunky and hinder the overall experience.”
- character development1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 100 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Users appreciate the character design, noting it as a strong point, but there is limited feedback on character development itself, suggesting that while the visuals are appealing, the depth of character growth may not be as prominent.
- optimization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The optimization of character development, particularly for the witch, is criticized for being lacking, as her overly shy demeanor and stuttering become repetitive and fail to evolve meaningfully throughout the game, resulting in limited engagement and understanding of her character.
- stability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The game suffers from significant stability issues, as players report frequent freezing after the initial question, preventing any further dialogue from progressing.
“The game is broken; after the first question, it just freezes and the dialogue doesn't continue.”
“I experienced constant crashes that made it impossible to progress in the game.”
“The stability issues are frustrating; I lost my progress multiple times due to unexpected shutdowns.”
- humor1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is described as cute and appealing, particularly for fans of yuri and girls' love themes. Players appreciate the variety of endings, noting that many are funny and surprising, enhancing the overall experience.
“Cute, for people who like yuri/girls' love :D It has quite a lot of endings, funny ones and surprising ones too! :) I played them all! ^^”
