Review: The Language of Love

Welcome to the interactive and simulated visual story game which is The Language of Love, a heartfelt story between cram school student Mitsuki, single mother and restaurant worker Kyouko and her sort of bratty yet sweet, young daughter Tama. With romance slowly blooming as the story progresses, this journey also takes you through various emotions and feelings such as loneliness, social isolation, family pressures, disappointment, growing relationships and past struggles that come into play to enhance the gorgeous story background to give you a more in-depth outlook. If you’re a fan of reading or enjoy short romantic adventures between two lost souls coming together through unlikely beginnings then this may just be the one for you. Unfortunately, I feel this game will be another which is used to accomplish a quick and easy completion due to all the achievements coming from just playing through once which is rather upsetting as I feel it does not receive the recognition it deserves as people just blitz through without taking notice of what is actually going on and being said. Developed by ebi-hime and published by Ratalaika Games S.L. – The Language of Love is a beautiful tale which only gets better the further you read and with the game having approximately eighty thousand words, you can spend a good few hours enjoying what this title has to offer.

VicciVulpix played The Language of Love for five hours on Xbox One S

What we liked!

• Sweet and simple narrative – A very effortless and delightful way to play a game which is based on a tale between three main characters which takes you on an interesting journey to a somewhat obvious conclusion due to the name of the game. You may think it will just be a simple love story but I certainly would not say that is all this game is. It ventures through some of the hardships young adults can face and the emotions which people may come across during these times and makes you feel like you can really understand what the characters have faced and are going through. 

• Beautiful and colourful imagery – I found the imagery throughout complemented the story very nicely. It allowed me to properly picture the characters and their surroundings in the various different scenes we get to visit during the game. The burst of bright colours are always present which is visually pleasing whilst reading. I actually do not think this game would have presented itself anywhere near as well without the imagery to enhance the already beautifully told story.

• Left me wanting more – Unlike other interactive novels I have played, when this one ended, I was rather shocked as I just wanted the story to continue. I wanted to see how the story and characters progress even further, how events panned out. It left me questioning what would happen next and how life for both characters changed (I won’t mention what questions due to potential spoilers) I think that is how some stories should be told in terms of the reader left expected but I really wish I could have known what happened in the future between Mitsuki, Kyuoko and Tama.

Somewhere between

• Audio is notable but mediocre – The only audio which is included in The Language of Love is the background music and a handful of sounds for when the characters are animated. The music does change depending on the mood the game is trying to get across which does work nicely, especially in the more intimate and emotional moments shared between Mitsuki and Kyuoko. More animated sounds could have been included for some of the emotions the characters experience perhaps but I really do not think it would have added much more to the current game in terms of content if I’m honest.

What we disliked

• No different routes available – I’m really disappointed that there have been no conversation choices included into the game for you to decide on, creating different outcomes and opportunities for players to experience. There is one route and one route only that you can take in this game to create a traditional story I guess. It would have been a great addition to have for a game such as this one but with how much writing has gone into the game, I guess I have some understanding as to why this may have been a little difficult to work with.

• No voiced audio – An element which I feel should always be implemented into any game with large amounts of reading involved is voiced audio, like someone is reading the game out to you. It means it could have had an almost ‘audiobook’ feel to the game to create a more relaxing experience. It could have also been good for those who may struggle with reading or for those who actually can’t read to reach a bigger target audience.

• No replay value –  After playing through the game once, there is no reason to go back and complete The Language of Love again unfortunately. As mentioned in the introduction, all achievements are obtainable by just going through the game once and if you’ve taken your time to read through the whole story, you know everything that happens and that is where you have to leave it unfortunately. Almost like a real book – you take your time to read through it and then move on to the next. In my opinion, it’s just not a good enough story to come back to again in the future with the expansion of video games continuously growing – and even including new interactive novels too.

CONCLUSION