Over The Hills And Far Away Demo

The visual novel genre has not been around for too long, but it’s already a hit with the casual crowds, thanks to the fact that you are usually not required to do much of anything, other than read the dialog and make the occasional decision. However, it’s all about the stories they tell, because it’s exactly like reading a book, only with nice artwork to gaze at.

Over The Hills And Far Away is not a very uplifting visual novel game, but you can tell that from the introduction. As such, it revolves around the 1812 war, namely the one between the United States of America and the United Kingdom. However, the main characters are American Indian girls, which means that their lives are not very bright or jolly. On the other hand, this is not a Sailor Moon spinoff.

In the beginning, the game presents you the story and gives you a bit of background on the main characters, which meet each other in the first couple of minutes. Unlike in most visual novels, the mood is quite dark and pressing, thanks to the excellent soundtrack and muddy artwork. As such, there are barely any laughs and amusing anime expressions, which is just as well, even if the characters still sport the classic huge eyes.

Just like in all games in this category, dialog is extremely important, because it’s the only way you get to find out more about what goes on with the story. Not only that, but there’s nothing else to do either, so you either read, or you take a break until you are ready to assimilate new information. Thankfully, the fans of the genre should be quite familiar with the formula, so there shouldn’t be any problems in this regard.

The artwork is just as important in games such as this one, because you get plenty of time to look at it whenever you don’t feel like reading. In fact, the one featured in Over The Hills And Far Away is sublime to say the least, and it even looks like old paintings from that era. Obviously, you still have to put up with the anime style in some regards, but it certainly doesn’t ruin the mood as much as you think.

The only question surrounding Over The Hills And Far Away is whether you enjoy the storyline or not, because everything else should be fine by everyone’s standards. Hence, if you are up for a sad story about war and friendship, this might be the game to provide it to you.