[Review] Stepping Into The Nightmare - MARSRED Review

❖ MARS RED: Edge of The Nightmare ❖

Genre: Adventure/Visual Novel Game
Languages: Japanese & English
Protagonist: Yatsufusa Yuki (male protagonist)

MARS RED Website: https://marsred-game.net/en/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/marsredgame

Jump into the world of MARS RED now!

Android: GooglePlay

iOS: AppStore

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❖ MYXPRINT'S REVIEW ❖

As someone who tends to read and play through otome and joseimuke games rather than adventure-style, visual novels stepping into MARS RED was definitely a different experience. Not long before the game announcement for MARS RED, I had actually stumbled upon the anime and began watching it prior to beginning the game - there are plenty of differences, but the basic information received on both ends helps with understanding the world MARS RED is creating.

MARS RED revolves around newly turned vampire, Yatsufusa Yuki, a boy with a distaste for the military and a keen interest in the arts. We first meet him in a skirmish with Organization Zero, where we have a chance to meet a few of the key characters in the game: Shutaro Kurusu, Tokiuchi Yamagami, Takeuchi, Suwa, and Yoshinobu Maeda - all officers apart of the Code Zero Unit. Throughout the story, we learn a great deal of the lore of vampires in their society, from when they first arrived in Japan to how they deal with hierarchy and daily life as creatures of the night.

The beginning starts off rather slow, making the prologue and first chapter appear to go on forever, throwing an abundance of terminology and lore to the reader. Don’t get me wrong, I love the team giving us an opportunity to learn the information up front, but pairing the information alongside Yatsufusa’s rather pessimistic dialogue and attitude towards vampires and the military does not do the reader justice as they try to learn the world.

❖ Positive Thoughts
The design work for each character is beautiful. You can clearly see the personalities of each of the characters reflected in what they are wearing, anything from their profession, to their individual interests… namely Takeuchi, haha. His design and expressions were definitely very telling on their own, but I personally don’t blend well with him (this is a personal preference, not a complaint on how he looks - everyone has their own likes/dislikes on character appearances). The soundtrack in the background was also very fitting in each situation, setting the mood of the current dialogue on screen.

For the most part, the game was really interesting and entertaining. The storyline followed Yatsufusa’s journey brilliantly and gave us an opportunity to meet each key character and form our own connection with them. The artwork was clean, audio was clear, and the storyline was beautiful - I love knowing Bun-O Fujisawa took part in the game creation, making the MARS RED world authentic to his original view. When it comes down to it, I think those wishing to immerse themselves into the world of MARS RED need to be aware that it is heavily story based rather than an interactive story.

❖ Needs To Improve
In all reviews, my least favorite portion is labelling the “negative” sides and while I did have an overall great experience with MARS RED, there were areas that could be improved upon.

While I found Yatsufusa tolerable, I can see where others may find him annoying and hard to follow throughout his early journey in the story. He tends to be rather pessimistic and his lack of will to learn may leave a negative impression on the reader, especially in the early story where we are trying to learn the lore and key information needed to understand the world. I think this is also why I found the original in-game tutorial frustrating at times and caused me to hold off reading through the prologue and first chapters for a couple days. If the in-game tutorials are too intrusive to the story, I tend to quickly lose interest, so maybe offering a “read later” option to the tutorials would be something to offer in future updates?

Aside from tutorial mechanics, there were also grammatical errors and typos that proved as a distraction while reading. Most of the errors were small, so I won’t go into full depth, but be aware some may be found throughout the story.

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❖ MECHANICS ❖

❖ In-Game Tutorials
When initially opening the game, MARSRED offers an extensive in-game tutorial to help the reader learn the game mechanics needed to progress through the story. Starting with the prologue and continuing well into the first chapter, the game will guide you through missions such as story investigations and point locks, both important to progressing through the story and offering an interactive portion to finding clues during Yatsufusa’s investigations with Organization Zero.

❖ Point Lock
Throughout the story, you will find Point Lock missions.
Here you must have the correct amount of Story Points in order to pass the mission and continue reading. You can earn Story Points by exploring or you can also exchange ambers for points.

❖ Explore
Exploring allows you to earn Story Points needed to unlock Point Locks.
In the Explore sections, you will need to select two characters and send them to explore for a period of time to earn both Story Points and Explore Points.
Once you begin the exploration, dialogues will pop up between the chosen characters .
You can also immediately end exploring by using the pocket watch and return home.

❖ Gacha System
General and Exclusive gacha banners are available.
Here you will use ambers to draw for items and stories available in the gacha.
Duplicate stories will automatically be converted into coins.

❖ Bonus Opportunities
You'll notice this when logging in, but you have the opportunity to earn bonus items and earn extra amber by watching ads. This is great for players who cannot or do not wish to spend on the game - MARS RED is very free-to-play friendly.
There are many opportunities throughout the game to watch ads for extra bonuses, so always be on the lookout for those!

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❖ OFFICIAL LINKS ❖

❖ MARS RED
Website: https://marsred-game.net/en/
Download: iOS & Android
Twitter: https://twitter.com/marsredgame
Anime: https://marsred.tv/
Musical: https://worldcode.co.jp/marsred_musical/
Web Portal: https://marsred-pj.net/

❖ D-TECHNO
Website: https://d-techno.jp/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dtechno_777

❖ FAVARY
Website: http://favary.co.jp/en/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/favaryotomegame
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/otomegames_by_favary/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FavaryOtomeGames/