Eternal Hour: Golden Hour

As simple as the visual novel genre may be, the stories they present can be just as complex and as touching as the ones experienced in a triple-A production. Hence, it’s all about the quality of the writing, how convincing and relatable the characters are, as well as the plot progression over the course of the game. It’s not easy to get all of these elements right, but it’s definitely not impossible with a bit of work.

Eternal Hour: Golden Hour is a combination of two separate stories that take place before the events in the original Eternal Hour visual novel. Hence, you might need to be familiar with the first one in order to make heads or tails of the characters, but it’s not exactly a requirement, because things are explained pretty well. Hence, you can pick a story and start playing right away regardless of your past experience with the universe in question.

The Strings of Fate storyline takes place eleven years before the events of the original, and you get to play as Yasu’s aunt, Rin. The plot explains how Rin got to live in Tokya and how she got close to Yasu, while also falling in love with another girl named Megumi. The second story, The Lost Date, puts you in the role of Yasu as he embarks on a short adventure during a day at the beach with his friends.

Choices are important along the way, but since this is a prequel, don’t expect any wild variations in terms of how it all ends. In fact, the game is mostly designed to provide you with more insight into certain characters and their early life, so your actions are not as important in the grand scheme of things. You can still choose between multiple responses every now and again to keep things interesting.

Things are as gorgeous as ever in the graphics department, especially since the artwork is incredibly smooth and detailed, not to mention the fact that it comes in full-HD resolutions. Some scenes are even animated to help with immersion, but even the static ones draw you in. As for the soundtrack, it’s certainly not bad, but the real cherry on top is the full voice acting for every character.

In the end, Eternal Hour: Golden Hour is most likely going to be appreciated the most by the fans of the original Eternal Hour, but even newcomers should have a blast with it. Hence, it’s a very refined game with great production and attention to detail.