Kazuha and her friend Hiroya become trapped in an online RPG called "Arcadia" while searching for her missing brother. The game world is on the verge of collapse and Kazuha has been labeled as the "Almighty" - the key to clearing Arcadia, and the secret weapon everyone is after. The only way out is to complete the game, but if a player dies in Arcadia, it will kill their body in the real world.
The prologue is surprisingly brief, even lacking a common route. I can appreciate that they didn't overladen the story with details, but most of the characters haven't even been introduced yet when the player is locked into a route. It would have been better if the player actually got to know the cast before being forced into a relationship with them. There were also a lot of concepts that were either poorly explained or were not explained at all: How were the player's minds connected to the system to begin with? How were they continually pulled back into the game regardless of their location? Why did some characters loose their memories while others didn't? How come some of the characters were able to return after dying whilst others could not? Even the titular "Period: Cube" is poorly explained despite being present in every character route.
As a protagonist, Kazuha was a little too shallow for my liking. The way she clung to the suitors (while being complete strangers) and profusely apologized to them for every perceived transgression quickly began to grate on me. At her best, Kazuha is determined and unwavering in her views, but her blind trust in others is constantly manipulated by the various bachelors seeking only personal gain and affection. Kazuha does develop as a character, but it isn't a substantial or satisfying change, and with the RPG elements and her support class, Kazuha easily could have contributed more to the party without being on the front-lines. Instead, she is continuously sheltered by all the bachelors, except by Demento, who in addition to being the only one that pushes Kazuha to contribute more, also happens to be incredibly violent and abusive. There are worse heroines than Kazuha, but with everyones lives on the line you would think she would be more proactive in ensuring her own survival.
The attentiveness to the look and feel of a genuine MMO RPG is evident throughout Period: Cube. There are statistic pages for all the characters, including class information and HP Gauges that actually change according to a character's current status. For a visual novel, the environments and character sprites are very animated - glowing weapons, moving ears, growling monsters, ability affects, kill animations and more. The map accurately reflects the player's position, the state of the game world and the time of day. The combat system is extremely basic by comparison, but this is a visual novel and it was nice that they went out of their way to replicate the feel of a legitimate RPG.
There are seven character routes that consist of seven chapters each. Every chapter contains two to three choices that will result in either a "Good" or "Merry Bad" ending with that route's suitor by chapter 7. After completing one of these two endings, a flowchart opens up that lets the player return to any chapter on a particular route, and set the character’s affection to its maximum or minimum for whichever ending is still needed.
Unfortunately, character routes are quite short (four to five hours each), which leaves barely enough time to fully flesh out the two dimensional cast. At best, the bachelor's have clear personalities and their own issues going on in the real world. At worst they are creepy and possessive, even going so far as to dress the protagonist while she is sleeping, and using some sort of mind control/merging thing to force her into obedience. There's even an entire scene explicitly meant to be an allegorical representation of rape, and Demento’s route in particular is quite abusive. Astrum, Radius, and Libera are given the most depth, while Demento is given the least. Demento is a bit of a black sheep; he appears in every route, but has a personal route that is only half the length of the others. He also isn't relevant to most of the underlying plot, so his inclusion ends up feeling like an afterthought.
Period: Cube's gorgeous artwork and vibrant watercolor-esque color palette are what initially caught my attention, but the soundtrack ended up being far better than I would have ever anticipated. It sounds like something from a high-quality RPG game - give it a listen. The setting and game system are well executed, even if the story has a few holes in it. The fast pace of the story allows it to be enjoyed rather quickly but leaves little room for character development or emotional investment. At first I was able to tolerate the heroine's gullibility and naivete, its sorta expected with these types of games, however, during the latter half of the game I became increasingly irritated with how useless she was; a pretty and kind princess who has nothing else going for her. And as much of a visual and auditory treat Period Cube is, there are some callous (and gross) scenes that are certainly not for everybody. I was especially put off by some of the content in Zain and Poyo-Poyo's routes, to the point where I was ready to quit playing. Copies of Period: Cube are a bit rare and can get pricey. If you can find a copy at a decent price, Period Cube might be worth a try for the artwork, but there are far better games out there.
The language is in Japanese with English subtitles, and I encountered surprisingly few spelling errors. There isn't much in the way of extras, aside from the usual gallery, BGM and a "His Perspective" section, that is nothing more than a quick snippet of the guy’s feelings towards the heroine while on a date. It is very short, nothing detailed and kind of unnecessary since it doesn't expand on the characters or offer any insight into their thought process.
First posted to videogamegeek.com
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