Throughout the entire month of June, sales of The Mermaid's Heart skyrocketed like a rocket.
Simultaneously, sales of Sega's MD console also increased.
MD sales for the month were up 10% year-on-year.
However, it was unclear whether this was influenced by The Mermaid's Heart.
Following the normal sales trend, it might have been possible to achieve such an increase anyway.
Good sales are enough to prove a lot of things, yet Aoki Haruhi was still not very satisfied, mainly because of the score Famitsu gave to the new game.
"The Mermaid's Heart" is arguably the most unique game this editor has played to date.
It is indeed difficult to assign a rating.
The main reason is that both the strengths and weaknesses of this game are exceptionally prominent, to the point where sometimes you don't even know if you should call them "strengths" or "weaknesses."
For now, let's talk about the evaluation of this game.
I. Imaginative Plot
In order to evaluate it accurately, there may be spoilers, which is almost unavoidable, so please read with caution.
The plot of a work is like a piece of clothing. Whether this clothing looks good, is worth wearing, and is eye-catching depends largely on its style, color, fabric, and so on.
The plot is like this piece of clothing waiting for customers to choose. To attract the audience, the plot must be vivid and spot-on.
"The Mermaid's Heart" does this very well; the plot takes a unique path. After his shipwreck, the protagonist, Yamazaki Hikaru, encounters the mermaid Suzune in the deep sea, and the entire world undergoes a drastic change.
Furthermore, by drawing inspiration from the "Resurrection" arc of Osamu Tezuka's "Phoenix" in its conceptual approach, it adopts an imaginative style, along with all the stories that unfold within it.
With such a solid narrative foundation, it certainly has the potential to become a classic.
I won't give away too many spoilers here; please experience the details for yourself in the game.
II. A Unique and Eerie Art Style
When deciding whether to watch an anime or play a game, the art style and visuals are indeed one of the key points of concern, so this is a problem that creators need to consider.
Pokeni is known for its exquisite visuals, smooth animation, and heart-captivating character designs, and "The Mermaid's Heart" perfectly inherits P Corporation's fine tradition.
The entire work presents a unique and eerie art style. Suzune, the protagonist, stands out in particular; amidst the deep blue-black setting of the ocean floor, her pure, spotless white attire creates a sharp contrast, leaving a deep impression.
III. Producer Kogahara Tsubakiaki
Everyone is already very familiar with the name Kogahara Tsubakiaki.
This person first emerged last year and quickly rose to fame, known for a style characterized by being "lighthearted and joyful" and "warm and healing."
"Losing a head every three chapters, leaving no one alive by the finale" is the highest praise fans have given him.
This has already been fully verified in the two Onmyoji titles, leaving countless players crying their hearts out.
Almost every one of Kogahara Tsubakiaki's works can become a classic and is highly acclaimed. Therefore, as long as it bears the name Kogahara Tsubakiaki, the quality of the work is guaranteed. This has given The Mermaid's Heart a strong backing, and it certainly has the potential to become a classic.
The above are the highlights of The Mermaid's Heart compiled by our editors for everyone.
As for the shortcomings, they are also very obvious in The Mermaid's Heart:
With its brand-new galgame narrative style, featuring large blocks of text and image descriptions, it's less of a game and more like a light novel interspersed with many exquisite illustrations.
It is precisely this point that greatly reduces the game's gameplay.
Accustomed as we are to autonomous operation and game combat, this novel-like reading style really leaves one at a loss.
However, this could be considered the creation of a new genre. Whether more light novel-style games will appear in the future remains to be seen.
Precisely because "there is almost no gameplay to speak of," I gave it a score of 7.
"If it weren't for the exceptionally brilliant plot of The Mermaid's Heart, this game wouldn't have been able to receive any score at all. The gameplay is simply abysmal, and the large blocks of text are quite headache-inducing.
It has almost completely lost any sense of gameplay.
However, the plot is truly brilliant. The Mermaid's Heart does an excellent job of creating suspense right from the beginning, coupled with perfect character design.
The beautiful visuals and outstanding soundtrack, along with the consistently brilliant ending, make it hard not to both love and hate this work.
Even though this work may not be selected for the Famitsu Hall of Fame, it will definitely leave a significant mark in gaming history.
In the spirit of objectively evaluating the game, I can only say that for a work like this, giving it a 7 is my absolute limit."
With a total score of 28, it was just two points shy of entering the Hall of Fame.
However, this didn't hinder the critical acclaim for "The Mermaid's Heart" one bit.
This game is quite a unique specimen among galgames. As the editors noted, its strengths and weaknesses are exceptionally prominent, and the ingenious plot conception, along with its three distinct Bad Ends, are more than enough to make it a classic.
Come to think of it, the reason Aoki Haruhi didn't make it into a game with combat or other gameplay mechanics, but instead chose to present it as an authentic visual novel—
Was mainly because "The Mermaid's Heart" really could only be made that way.
Adding combat or other game elements would have compromised the impact of the story.
Although it was 28 points, Aoki was actually quite satisfied with the editors' comments.
Famitsu's game reviews were already relatively objective.
If it were up to him, he probably wouldn't have even given "The Mermaid's Heart" a high enough score to enter the Platinum Hall of Fame himself.
Seeing the smile on Aoki's face, the HR manager, Ayase Akane, sitting across from him, was completely baffled.
What kind of mentality does the President have?
Previously, when they gave a high score of 39 and it entered the Platinum Hall of Fame, he was dissatisfied and even cursed about it.
This time, they gave it 28, and he's still smiling so happily?!
Ugh!
No wonder players always think Pokeni's games are too emotionally devastating.
It turns out the insanity at P Corporation starts right with the President.
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