Six Days of Snow

While a mechanic or a factory worker can run out of energy to continue doing their job, it’s not the same with artists, because it’s not usually physically demanding to come up with a poem or paint a picture. However, inspiration is something every artist must have in order to keep working, and sometimes it feels like the pages are too blank for any words to fit on them.

Six Days of Snow is a visual novel that puts you in the role of a failing poet as he tries to get his inspiration back and continue to provide the world with the beauty of his words. However, this is also a kinetic experience, which means that you have no control whatsoever when it comes to what the characters say or do, nor can you change the story with your decisions and choices.

The main character is a man called Tanabe Eiji, and he is a poet who gained a lot of notoriety after publishing a great poem called Fireworks. The poem was about his first steps into the relationship with his wife, and people were obviously quite keen on reading about idealistic romantic relationships. However, his later work fails to impress, which is why he goes on a journey to rediscover his creativity.

His journey takes him to an inn in the snowy mountains of Hakuba, where he happens to meet the daughter of the innkeeper. Her beauty and personality suddenly rekindle Eiji’s word furnace, but in doing so he may become unfaithful to his wife. Naturally, you do not have any control over what happens, so you are stuck watching the screen and listening to the tale as it unfolds in front of your eyes.

Thankfully, the artwork is sublime, and you can tell that the artists have put a lot of work into the backgrounds and the characters. There are also some moving shots to help with the mood, but they are usually just camera pans on static images. The music is not bad either, but it can get a bit annoying after a while, especially since it doesn’t vary too much along the way.

In the end, Six Days of Snow is more of a short book than a game, but it tells an interesting tale, so you might want to give it a listen. The artwork is worth your attention as well.