Asphyxia (PC) Review

There's no sexy harem of maids, panty shots of pre-teen sorceresses, or gravity-defying fun-bags here. The plot doesn't involve any generic lovey-dovey scenarios, no saving of the world, and certainly no mysteries whatsoever. This is just a slice-of-life kind of story about a young teenage girl and her relationship with some of her classmates - which, by the way, are all girls, meaning that there won't be any spitting contests, measuring of genitalia, or fights over what actress has the best, as Johnny Mercer and the Pied Pipers would put it, "personality."

Yup, the oestrogens are strong with Asphyxia, and yet this is not a 'for girls only' type of visual novel, even though its overall concept and look suggest otherwise. Furthermore, while this is not quite as epic as some would want it to be, it manages to be very emotive, with one of its biggest strengths being the fact that while its characters range from unlikable to downright cruel or rude, it's very easy to relate to them and their behaviour - mostly because they are pleasantly multi-layered and well-written.

The centrepiece in this game is Samantha, an intelligent, yet clumsy, absentminded, and very depressed high schooler, whose confidence has plummeted even lower than before because of something that happened some months ago between her and Lillian, the beautiful, yet somewhat glacial centre of her attention. Now, while the lads would drink a couple of beers and resolve any issues in a matter of minutes, the lasses prefer to talk their problems out, by using lots of those things called "words."

This is not a light-hearted romantic comedy with just a little bit of drama thrown in, though, but a surprisingly sad tale dealing with the serious subject of depression - how strongly it affects those suffering from it, and how it feels impossible to escape its grasp, evident by the fact that none amongst the four available endings can be considered a truly happy one, which, taking the overall quality of direction and writing into consideration, means that it will surely please drama fans.

Design-wise, those spoiled by the most popular titles of the genre might get disappointed by the fact that there's almost no animation, yet the colourful and dreamy manga-style used here looks great, and, most importantly, stands out as something that is not a clone of other games (another common sin in visual novels), and all this thanks to the talented hand of Selene N. M. or Sillyselly. Finally, putting aside the mediocre, happier tunes, the few tracks available are joy to listen to.

An interesting, plus unique thing about the cast is that their personalities were based on 18-19th Century British writers, with most being associated with the period of Romanticism. Samantha, for example, is the cute, female version of Samuel Taylor Cambridge, equally desperate for affection, and unable to control her addictions, while Ms Pope's cynicism and bitterness (as well as her elfin stature), is similar to that of Alexander Pope, and while it's easy to enjoy this gloomy, yet entertaining, ride even when ignorant of the connection between the characters and that part of history that they were inspired from, it's a good thing to know that a little more extra care was given here.

Asphyxia is a very good game, but, still, far from perfect, with one notable example being how the characters frequently talk to each other in a pompous and/or pedantic way, many times using way too many sentences to say, oh so little (again, due to the influence of Romanticism), and since this is no Madame Bovary, reading through it can become annoying, or even tiring at times. Finally, things get resolved a bit too quickly (two hours per play-through), and with not many surprises, or exciting events, it's just: talk, choice, talk, choice, talk, choice, final discussion, "grand" finale. Still, in the end, Cubed3 highly recommends it to visual novel aficionados, despite its few flaws.