#09
Narcissu 1st & 2nd
(The free-to-download Steam version)
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First played on 28 June 2023.
So, the utsuge everyone was talking about.
Over the course of the last few years, many people recommend this game to everyone (especially to those who are new to this medium) because of how short yet thought-provoking this game is. It might be shorter than your average VN, but the emotional damage the game will leave you is no joke either.
This game is free on Steam, with two parts - two intertwined story segments about three tragic withering fates. I’m really glad that Sekai made this game for free so that more people can get much easier legal access to great literature like this.
narcissu.insani.org - A website regarding some information about the world-building and the translation of narcissu, from the Insani translation group.
Narcissu
Took me roughly 2 hours to finish. I would say that… the game is neither that great nor sad. People gives the game lots of words but I think it's hyperbole.
On a technical level, it’s a 2005 game so yeah, fairly old. No separated backlog menu, the game just show the previous dialogues at the text box as you “scroll-up” your mouse. The artstyle? Very Key-like. Well for the most anime at this point, this kind of character design is just simply everywhere. But for the amount of CG in a game this short, I would say it’s quite a lot. It’s nowhere close to eden* level, but it did surprise me when I noticed that.
But nah. People come to this game not for the reasons above. And there are no H-scenes for your hormone-filled brainers either. Of course, you play Narcissu for the story. The storyline is divided into 8 chapters, each took me around 15 minutes - making the entire package should be around 2 hours to be finished.
The first 7 chapters were actually quite good, around the circumstance of our unnamed protagonist, Setsumi - our only heroine, and the world surrounding them. How they struggle to defy their pasts, their fates, and ultimately their lives as well. The game has a really dark theme (suicide and stuff) which implied at the beginning, so I expected some really heavy content. But there aren’t any of them. Things gradually happened with a relatively slow pace and though there were some thrilling moments, they didn’t leave a really big impression on me. The ending was lackluster, underwhelmed. I mean you kind of expected what’s going to happen to our 2 main characters but even so, it ended too abruptly with too little aftertaste left behind. Considered all that inside a 2 hours VN, I would say the game is decent, but nowhere near the level of greatness I expected.
So basically, Narcissu is one good short story and that is it. There are not a lot of meaning in it, you don't have to find an analysis on this game. You should complete it and that is it. That was pretty enjoyable. I don't think that it's too good, the story itself is fine and in the end, I suggest you play in it.
7/10
Narcissu -SIDE 2nd-
Now, this is a true utsuge. But unlike the previous installation, this one is genuinely good and managed to touch my heart.
Overall playtime (Epilogue included): 6h33mFinished on: 12 July 2023
As if stage-nana has awakened the ability to write an actual sad story in the past 2 years, or they improved their writing a lot - I must say that they have done their job exceptionally well. To me, this is also one of those cases (like 9-nine) where the first title of a particular series might not be good, but they served a pivotal role at setting up the background, the world-building for the following episodes.
While Narcissu did manage to tell the story of Setsumi, there was nothing but despair in the way. But interestingly enough, we didn't know much about Setsumi either aside from the fact that she was also a 7th Floor patient - waiting for her imminent death. This time, Narcissu Side 2nd tells us the backstory of Setsumi and also another new main character. - Himeko. Essentially a prequel, but there is so much more to take in rather than the story.
The game is released in 2007, 2 years after the first game. Within that short of a timeframe, there wasn't much improvement technically. It's still the tiny rectangle box where you can see the CGs, making readers heavily relied on the textbox to keep up with the story rather than the visuals.
Luckily, you don't have to worry about the writing this time.
The thing I complained about the 1st title was about its dullness. The flow was somehow too gentle, making the act of the two characters trying to kill themselves in an elaborated way feels out-of-place. But still, the image of the hospice still remained an iconic symbol of death over the course of the series: "White wall and ceilings that high enough to not collide with a standing person, windows that open for only 15 centimeters, one single television broadcasting the same monotonous program in the room at the end of the hallway..." In essence, this projects what an utsuge is. It tells a heart-wrenching story with no happy ending, no miracle, no deus ex machina. While there might be some kinds of revelation, it won't end on a positive note either. "Depressing game", hence the genre. These sorts of VN are for the masochists, people who seek negative emotions on an extreme level. Or maybe you just simply want to try something new after 30 moeges or so.
With the introduction of Side 2nd, we can now understand Setsumi's motives, her source of determination and the reasons behind the desire to end her own life. She has witnessed the life of another person - a patient of the 7th Floor, a dear transient friend - come and gone and there's nothing she could do about it.
Let me ask you a question. In an undeserved situation where you have some kinds of terminal illness or those that will eventually lead to your demise, what would you do? In the face of death, will you be able to smile? Out of fear, regret or satisfaction? And for whom that smile was?
A dilemma for both parties: The dying wanting to end it all, to ease the burden of the livings while the latter are trying to do the opposite for the former. When her best friend and sister was trying to help, Himeko actively pushed them away. Since you're going to die anyway, the less memory you make, the less pain both sides will have to endure. The first chapters of the game were Himeko's once happy memories, proof that she was once a normal person with aspirations and dreams. Calamities can happen at any given moment of your life with no forewarning at all. You can lose everything in a blink of an eye and with this, the contrast between the past and present is far more depressing. This is something new that failed to deliver in the first installation, because no emphasis was put on Setsumi's past, the time when she was a normal girl leading a normal life - there were just only slight indications. And to me, this is a big step up in term of storytelling. I know that they were trying to keep the game short, but 5 more minutes of dialogues won't hurt anyone.
It somehow feels like stage-nana did this on purpose because they are all explained in this part. Her knowledge about cars and geography, her love of swimsuits and fixation on a certain species of flower. There were some moments where I went "Oh so that's why Setsumi did it in the first part." and once I realized the connections between the two games, holy crap it instantly went 100x better. It was Himeko that gave Setsumi that knowledge, the resource and incidentally (or maybe she knew about Setsumi's fate) making her final escape. And our main protagonist in the first game was the perfect catalyst.
On a side note, there are some religious aspects here and there throughout the game this time. Sarcastically, Himeko spited God despite being a Catholic herself. These aspects served to further portray the main theme - suicide. It is said that in Catholicism, to end your own life is an unforgiving sin. Is God even real? And even if He is, then what did Himeko do to deserve such fate? Was that the Lord's punishment with death as the only absolution, or Himeko's prayers just didn't reach Him? I'm not a Christian myself but devoting your whole life for the others only to be betrayed like that, it's tormenting. There will be no salvation. In the past, she helplessly watched her patient - a little girl that she had been protecting from the cruel reality - coming to term with her own death, and Himeko lost her faith ever since, which explained why she called herself a "former prayer". But in the very end, Himeko remained faithful, choosing to die in that hospice rather than to drop herself at Mt. Fuji, to violate the divine commandment.
Religion is just one interesting part of Himeko's inner thoughts. After all, it's the rich exchanges between the characters that make this game far more meaningful and tragic. "Telling the truth is an act of kindness, even if you have to break their illusions." Both Setsumi and Himeko failed to do that. Setsumi kept on lying about her favorite food, letting her mom keep on making fries and damaging her hand in the process. Himeko couldn't tell the kid about her grave condition when she was a helper. They both carried that guilt to the end, thinking to themselves that no amount of atonement would be enough. They eventually accepted their deaths as a form of salvation for their sins. This extra layer of plot really just tell you about how mentally fucked up the game is.
Oh, and there is also an epilogue too! It happened a little while after the end of the first game. Even though the story ended on a tragic note, I think it was still a satisfying conclusion to the game and somewhat a happy ending too - not for our characters, but as a whole to the game's world.
"In those dazzling days, those winter days, in times like these, it's okay to cry."
Verdict
Some might say that the VN takes the nihilistic viewpoint too serious. Well they aren't wrong, but that's exactly the charm of Narcissu. The series is actually quite big, you should read only the mentioned two titles if you don't want to invest too much time. Since Side 2nd is a prequel, you might want to read it first so you can appreciate the first part more. With that being said, your overall experience should be the same. As opposed to being bashed with a blunt object with colorful variations of different emotions (which I quite enjoy and appreciate and admire) as other VNs would, Narcissu Side 2nd takes a well-polished, fine-edged sashimi knife out of a freezer and slowly, calmly, and consistently slices layers off your skin at the rate of 0.1 cm/minute, as you feel the ice-cold blade invading your comfort zone.
I would recommend this VN, but it's not a strong recommendation. Overall it's great, and I felt that it was worth my time. But it's only a maybe. If you aren't weary of morbid stuff, then it could possibly be a good read for you.
9/10
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