Fantasia: The Realm of Thanos

Visual novels are a category of games that feature static graphics. There is a small market for these games outside East Asia, yet some are popular among anime fans worldwide. Fantasia: The Realm of Thanos is one such visual novel that puts you in the shoes of a young girl who has been given the task of saving the land of Fantasia.

The unique trait of visual novels is that they do not enable you to perform actions. You are provided with a story and given some choices at critical points. In the case of Fantasia: The Realm of Thanos, you are a school girl whose family has died in a plane crash. One day, you bump into a stranger who tells you of a land called Fantasia, and you are a suitable candidate to save it.

From here, the story branches and you are provided with a series of choices that will shape the ending. The fun part is that the choices are subtle, and you cannot guess the ending from these options. Unfortunately, you cannot modify the main character at all, meaning you are stuck with it in all sessions.

The game offers static images that are pretty well designed. The entire gameplay rests on the selection of various dialog prompts that take you to different scenes. It does not include any puzzles of any sort, so this visual novel remains at the level of interactive fiction.

The background story is the backbone of this game. The dialogs are well written and seem realistic. The action flows in a natural way, and the background music is soothing and appropriate.

Altogether, Fantasia: The Realm of Thanos provides you exactly with what you would expect from a visual novel: good looks, proper background music, and a strong plot. The only downside is that you cannot change your character in any way.