A World With(out) You is a free to read story of love lost that will leave you emotional, but fulfilled in the end.
What do you do when the love of your life dies unexpectedly? Well, deal with his ghost, of course! You play as a sales person at an architectural firm who has a great life with your playful boyfriend, Kotaro aka Koh, who is the star architect at the firm. However, after a fight about your future together, Koh gets into an accident that ends up taking his life. Only for him to show up as a ghost with unfinished business that he needs to take care of before moving on.
The MC in this story is tenacious, she stands her ground when she needs to and knows when to compromise. When Koh dies in the beginning of the game, you can feel her devastation. And when he comes back, her confusion but willingness to go along with the craziness happening.
Her relationship with Koh’s feels very natural as if they know each other, have fun, and also know their limits. When they do have fights, they usually separate to cool off instead of continuing their fight when it isn’t going anywhere. This is actually a real world fighting tactic that I am very happy to see in an otome. Couples fight. But it’s how you fight that makes for healthy relationship.
She and Koh also have fun when they are together. Constantly teasing one another with her managing to get her comebacks in. There is a fine line here between comedy and seriousness and the writers do it perfectly. This slice-of-life and also fantasy game, manages to tug at your heart string and then laugh in a way that flows wonderfully.
If there is one thing about the game that bothers me, it’s sprite head movement. Most visual novels have the base character sprite body and the have, what I will call “face plates” that are positioned over the head area in order to make changing a character’s face faster. The same thing is done in this game, however there is one odd issue with it.
Koh, when he’s making a sad face, lowers his face slightly. But instead of doing expression differently, the artist decided to literally lower his face and then fill in some bangs. The expression, when next to his usual expression, is very awkward. I felt that they should have just moved his whole head. I didn’t notice any other characters doing this.
The character design is, once again, one that is familiar from Voltage. Soft shading on the characters makes the illustrations look very nice. Background are rich, areas feel lived in, and the art all looks like it belongs together. The background music in this game fits the atmosphere and not once took me out of the game.
This game is, once again, part of Voltage’s “Love Choice” series, meaning every five hours you can access one story to read for free or you can use hearts to read the next chapter. You can get hearts using coins which you can purchase with money or win in the app. The story also has choices that you uses hearts in order to read.
It is really difficult to talk about this game without giving away plot points. Reveal after reveal will make you ache to continue reading more to see how it finally ends and then help you when it’s finally time to move on.
Breakdown
- Well-paced story that knows when to give you highs and lows.
- A natural healthy relationship and fun love interest.
- Sprite movement is a bit lazy and awkward.
- Lovely artwork.
Rating: 4.25/5
Final Comments: I am not one for “depression porn,” but once the game began its stride, I found myself really enjoying it. And, once it was over, I was sad, but the game will allow you to come to terms with your feelings. It will remind you to cherish what is important in your life. I hugged my dogs when I was done. And called my mother.
Disclaimer: Access to the Collector’s Edition of this story was provided by the publisher.
System(s): iOS/Android/Amazon
Price: Free to read with a new chapter available every 5 hours, Paid choices
Text Language: English
Download: https://app.adjust.com/e14p4sr
Website: https://voltageapps.com/love365/
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