Roommates (PC) Review

Visual novels live or die by their plot and mechanics. Roommates follows the traditional and popular 'high school' setting and plot. It offers a selection of two protagonists: the Jack-the-lad and musician, Max; and/or bookworm and social shyster, Anne.

Both characters appear in the other's story as a love interest, and indeed, both offer a distinctive style of story. Max is, loud, brash, and at times obnoxious, whereas Anne, bereft of confidence and quite sensible, brings her own touch of flair to the storyline.

The player puts their self in the protagonist's shoes as they arrive at their dorm, and they set about meeting the rest of the supporting cast. From there, after a short tutorial on how to set schedules, the game begins in earnest.

Plot-wise, Roommates offers a varied and strong supporting cast. There are some atypical stereotypes, - for example, the boisterous, sexual Latina Isabella - but each character is handled and written as if they are an individual, with their own tastes and their own dislikes.

The advancement of the game is mostly done by partaking in plot events, which can be skipped, and by choices, which improve or damage relationships between the main star and the rest of the cast. Naturally, as the game title might give away, the rest of the supporting cast are the titular 'roommates.'

Advancing through the story and building relationships is handled perfectly, and there is a good plot to be had here. It may be a standard affair, but the writing is generally top notch, and characters interact with each other quite realistically. There is the odd narm moment, and the banter between some characters can be taken or left well alone, but there's never the feeling that the conversations or the issues arising between characters are forced.

The romance sub-plots are handled well, and they are honestly refreshing in their progress. Chasing after free spirits, who clearly aren't reliable relationship material, goes as well one might expect. All the romance options in game are handled fairly well; each character has the option to romance three members of the opposite sex (including the 'other protagonist') and one member of the same sex. It is refreshing to see homosexual romances tied into the game and handled as a matter of normality as per the 21st century.

Where WinterWolves, and by extension Roommates, needs to improve, however, is on the mechanics side of things. Schedule-making was a common feature in older visual novels (particularly across Asia/Japan), but it is less common these days. It is an outdated feature and it is easy to see why.

In Roommates the schedule creator simply decides what the main character will do in the morning, afternoon and evening of any given day in the week. The selections improve their attributes in certain things, so going to class improves their grade/smarts, while working at a cafe makes them able to think quicker on their feet. The downside is none of these things really tie into the story events in a meaningful way. The attribute-raising only serves to 'qualify' the main character for romances, so in order to romance Anne with Max, for example, there is focus on two particular attributes, thus locking the rest of the cast out of the potential romances.

The game would have been better served by taking its good plot and formulating the success of the romances based on the interactions themselves, and maybe specific events that happen at milestones within the storyline with the player's choice affirming or rejecting the potential romance paths. As it stands, it is rather limited, as romance is merely a matter of building the relationship and grinding out the attributes required to 'win' the romance. It is far too shallow, and perhaps displays a bit of naiveté or inexperience on the behalf of WinterWolves.

Nevertheless, there is a good visual novel game here to be explored, and hopefully WinterWolves will continue to learn and grow as they produce future titles.