Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- The Prophecy of The Throne (Nintendo Switch) Review

There is an option at the start of the game to learn about Suburu's past, yet if players are returning fans who know the series intimately, the introduction which explores how Suburu came to Emelia's world can be skipped. There is a fast forward button should you need to skip ahead of parts for any reason. For all characters besides Emelia, Suburu is known as her personal servant, which works as a concept despite her already having the twin demon maids Rem and Ram, who are her imperial sponsor's servants. Suburu's lack of knowledge about the Kingdom can bring suspicion down on him, but his talent for quick thinking sometimes saves him; the other times he will die, which can be infuriating, but it's part of the story mechanic, and new parts of the visual novel are then revealed after his reincarnation.

Outside of the plentiful visual novel parts there are scenes that resemble JRPG games, including kawaii-style character models that can move around and choose what to do next. The story will not progress until specific actions are taken, so it is possible to move around and talk to others before following the main story. These action scenes feel underwhelming in the scope of how they work. When choices have to be made to progress the story based on the current knowledge, this makes it obvious what the choices are.

If the direction chosen leads Suburu to unexpected death, thanks to his ability to be brought back to life before the incident occurs, it is possible through further interaction with other characters to gain more knowledge to reveal extra choices and make progress in the scene. At times the limited capabilities of what happens in the action part may make the whole thing feel too simplistic, but bearing in mind most of Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- The Prophecy of the Throne is a visual novel the action parts are an interesting feature, making it unique among games in the same genre.

It is possible to fail a mission and the game will end as Suburu doesn't necessarily die at that point, but retrying the mission gives another chance. Sadly, items and information gathered need to be discovered once again. Sometimes missions involve running from foes to avoid fights, other times it involves sneaking past guards which can take several attempts if specific distractions aren't employed. Regardless of what the action elements involved they all were exciting to participate in and can be looked forward to as much as the visual novel parts. It is not surprising that with the original concept being a visual novel, all the characters, regardless of importance have a strong dynamic with each other, complimenting the story which has several plot twists that seemingly came out of nowhere and are enhanced in intensity by the soundtrack and sound effects.

Returning to the game in each play session led to delight at watching the friendship of Rem and Ram and their interactions with Suburu. The twins have radically different attitudes towards him that add much amusement to the plot. Rem adores him and Ram is predominantly antagonistic and forever wanting to cause him harm, until he really is in danger then she will protect him. Emelia gets on well with Suburu. She has to frequently hide her identity so those who are against the royal candidates or dislike half-breeds won't hurt her. Danger lurks even among those who seem kind, something Suburu has to learn the hard way be dying. Finishing this and bringing about the interesting conclusion was satisfying, but there was a distinct sadness at leaving Suburu's world which shows just how engaging this title is.