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Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception
Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth
Utawarerumono

Visual novels with turn-based tactical battles interspersed between megabytes of text. Both masks were released this decade and ported from the Vita to PC this year; the original was released on PC in 2002.
So, I read them in the order 2 => 3 => 1. But since I didn't have a particular desire to delve into this series and had never even heard of it, I just decided to check out another Japanese game, so I started with the masks, which chronologically are the second and third (and I didn't even know about the existence of some first part at that time).
Overall, I can say that this was the right decision, because, abstracting from spoilers, the action of the masks takes place in a different location, with different characters and different circumstances, and although there are related moments, as well as some familiar characters, their perception does not necessarily require playing the old part. And I think that if I had tried to play the old one first, I wouldn't have been able to, because it really is old, and this is evident in everything - the ancient interface, the old and somewhat frightening art, the almost completely unpretentious gameplay, and some extremely simplified narrative conventions. I think I would have dropped it pretty quickly.

In comparison, the masks are definitely next-gen. Everything is very beautiful and well-maintained, the art is magnificent, the gameplay initially (and for a fairly long time) seems simple, but closer to the end of the first mask and throughout the second, it gains interesting depth, without becoming overly complicated. It's a pleasure to go in, read, play, and enjoy. Another next-gen aspect is that the hentai scenes from the prehistoric first part (which weren't exactly inappropriate or cringeworthy, but didn't have any particular aesthetic meaning, looking simply like a tribute to the historical paradigm of visual novels of those years, which required inserting something like that) have been replaced by family-friendly 12-16+ funny scenes, some of which are super mild and suggestive, playing out some typical gags like in a typical lighthearted anime title, and overall looking appropriate; you can even not be afraid to show them to your grandmother.

I really liked the oriental-medieval setting - although I wouldn't call myself a big fan of kimonos (although I have nothing against them), the beautiful pastel-colored graphics, the magnificent melodies of the soundtrack, the features of the costumes and architecture - all this created a very pleasant atmosphere that I wanted to be in.

The narrative itself devotes a significant part of itself to a warm and heartfelt, but not particularly routine everyday life, which, combined with the pleasant characters and the above-mentioned atmospheric moments, often evoked a smile and allowed me to forget about the existential heaviness in these carefree little things, and first of all, it was this aspect that attracted me. There are quite a few such moments, which is very nice, but not excessive - not so much that it would overwhelm the player with dozens of hours of useless text about nothing. Although I love everyday life, so maybe not everyone would agree with me here.
In addition to this heartwarming, the story has plenty of dynamics, war, and tense moments. There aren't too many twists that could make your head spin; some of them can be guessed in advance, some are obviously foreshadowed, some are clumsily implemented, but the game isn't about them, and in general, I actually think that this only plays to its advantage. Given the features of the samurai setting, you can not only give some leeway for certain moments, but rather - you expect them, and without them it would be strange.
In the second mask, the ratio of lightness/seriousness leans more towards the latter, but the overall formula is the same.

I really liked the first mask, the second... Objectively speaking, it's probably better. It has more combat gameplay, it's deeper; there's more plot, the story reaches its conclusion... But subjectively, I got a couple of not very pleasant things from it. The first is that I focused on some moment in the narrative and was waiting for it to develop, but in the end it didn't happen the way I wanted. And the second is that they slightly dragged out the ending to my taste, as sometimes happens with the Japanese, and in addition to this - here I first felt for both masks that it would have been better to read the first part in advance, because 99.9% of the time I didn't need to know what was in 2002, but the last tenth of a percent was related to the plot of the first part, and although it was generally edible raw, I felt out of place and didn't feel a sufficient level of comfort, let's say.

After the masks, I decided to polish off the first one. As I said, it looks pathetic compared to them, and even in terms of absolute indicators, it lags behind in some moments, but... The most important thing is that I saw the same familiar and beloved form of pleasant everyday scenes as a basis. The gameplay is primitive compared to the masks, but it's playable and even fun, and it was nice to see some of the characters "from the masks" again, only this time with a focus on their life.
I didn't lose anything by playing them in reverse order. It was a good experience to see many moments and understand how they resonated in the masks, especially since, in general, the masks say almost nothing about the story from the first one, and practically everything was new, so in essence, for my order of perception, it turned out to be a typical prequel. And along the way, it was nice to remember some small references from the masks, which at the time of reading did not cause any particular associations, but now you finally felt them firsthand. Well, and finally, that uncomfortable feeling from the ending of the second mask was also smoothed out, fully understood and accepted.

I'm glad that I randomly managed to discover this series. After finishing all the parts, I won't say that my order of mastering was fundamentally wrong; on the contrary, it injected life into where it shouldn't have been originally. So, if you want, starting with the masks is more than acceptable. And no, Ment, anime won't work here either.