……..Uh

So there’s this amateur visual novel creation group called “Zigzag“, and this the first of their works that I played. There’s a translator who goes by the name of Deja Vu, who has been translating most of Zigzag’s work.

I first noticed the pair when I came across the release “Turning Gears: La Divina Commedia -trial edition”. Only now, I realize that there is no full game to be had, I would have known if I read the description on Deja Vu’s pag “Note: This trial version was released on a special April Fool’s Day page, which was only available for access on that day; this is why this game is not shown on their website. However, the game IS legitimate.”

So now I’m left “reviewing” a April Fool’s release that I found moderately interesting. Despite being left hanging on “what the hell the game was supposed to be about”, I’ve gotten a nice impression of Zigzag’s style.

The title “La Divina Commedia” of course references Dante’s Divine Comedy. I for one love the Divine Comedy, and thus I was drawn to this game as the possibility that it may have been inspired by the original work.

The visual novel features a bloody opening, only one or two characters, no mention of the time period or the setting, and some eerie but cool artwork. It’s in the horror genre, though it goes into a more “bleak” view of the world then a “horrific” view. Like many amateur doujin visual novels, it uses the Nscripter engine (used with Tsukihime, Higurashi, Umineko, and others), which I felt somehow enhanced the atmosphere.

I will actually be summarizing this title abit more than I do others, because there isn’t that too analyze.

Part I

We are shown a festival in the middle of a city, everything seems ok. Though there is a sinister aura in the air.
Then we are shown the festival’s main event, an execution….of a Witch! Things just get uglier from there.

Part II

Two detectives walk into a city, I say “A city” because there is nothing to really imply that it is part of the same city as before.
When they get there, they are greeted with streets littered with dried blood. As they wonder how this could have happened, a cat skitters by ominously.

Part III

We are given the point of view of a boy who is viewing the work of a mysterious surgeon whom he refers to as his “Teacher”. We are given implications that this surgeon is involved in some nasty work. The boy then asks the Teacher questions concerning his existence, the teacher gives no clear replies. This part ends with the revelation that one of the boy’s arms is a cat’s arm.

Part IV

This chapter is odd in it has an omniscient narrator referring to “You”, as you can see from the screenshot above. The narrator talks about “Your” life in a city (never referring to where the city is located). It explains that you have had dreams of a girl. It also refers to the semi-metaphorical “Gears” that who have heard all your likfe. In this part “You” encounter the boy from the previous chapter, and you notice his cat arm. “You” follow him down an ally and he greets you to another place seemingly within, and says that…

And then it ends. Don’t worry, I’m as confused as you. I really do wonder if there was a story in mind, even though they simply decided to make it their april fool’s joke. Since I haven’t read any other work of theirs, I can;t tell if this is parody or fully serious.

Ultimately this has gotten me into Zigzag’s work, I will definitely try their other small visual novels. Though hopefully they will be less confusing than this one. The music was nice, the writing wasn’t bad (the translation was well done at least), and the artwork (the bare minimum of artwork that is) was haunting yet somewhat beautiful.

So ultimately Im impressed but confused. If you want to try this april fool’s game. It can be downloaded at Deja Vu, right here along with other small trials..