Name: Sense off -Sacred story in the wind- (72.50% in 4 votes) Type: ADV Platform: WINDOWS Company: Visual Art Release date: 1990 Reviewed by: Ayanabi
Immediately after the installation program were loaded I some how
knew this game had something to do with the company that made AIR and Kanon.
After closer inspection(reading the staff list at ending) I confirmed my finding.
Sense off was made by Visual Art except the VA logo weren't found thoughout the game.
Apparently it was a project by another company that contracted VA.
After initial installation the obious was spotted. It lacked desktop icons.
Same thing happened with AIR. Some how VA thought that everyone has the auto-run
thing enabled. Tweaking were needed and an icon was hastly added on desktop.
Very playing APP icon was used(now my AIR icon and Sense Off icon look the same).
Upon starting the game the really familiar looking rightclick menu unfolded(thoes that played AIR should know).
Infact after starting the game for a while even the HD seek symptom occured(AIR had a problem with HD seek. It kept on trying to access the HD during gaming. So sometime while you are playing you might all of sudden hear your HD go crazy for a few minutes. This was more of a problem in AIR cause it often crashed weak systems(ie my laptop)).
Anyways enough of VA picking. Its time to pick on that-company-that-made-it.
Story 8/10
It only took me about 8 hours to finish this game(counting bathroom breaks).
From the ending that I saw this game turned out JUST like what happened with the ending in AIR.
But every character has its own unique ending so thou shalt quest for it thee selfs.
The game takes place in somewherearoundjapan it seems. In a remote area of the country,
you were invited to join a research program where you ARE the subject. Along with a bunch of other girls,
you will be living on, going to, eating at this place for a while. No its not like a prison. The windows doesn't have bars and you don't get to sleep with big hunks named bubah.
Being the second only 2 guys on the campus you are surely the center of attention. Surrounded by _cute_ girls you must be one heck of happy guy(cuteness might vary).
As game takes place you will little by little, piece by piece, time by time find out that this is actually a Supernatural research facility.
Instead they call it, Special ability research center. In other words you are in a group of people that pocess special powers(for thoes who watched X-MEN this might sound familiar).
The campus has not alot of people(as far as I can see). Immediately after stepping on you were greeted by your future wife. What?!! Oh ya that girl named naruse(its not narusegawa from LoveHina) of whom which is your osananajimi(meaning childhood friend. you should get used to this word cause you will see it VERY often in j-games).
This isn't just any child hood friend. You guys were seperated few years ago and a yakusoku(promise. learn this word as well.) was proposed that If you two do meet again in the future. On condition that neither party is going out with someone else you two then,
will get married. Gee what a nice childhood promise(now you know not to make any promise while still in the _innocent_ age). Happy wedding~
Wait that isn't the only route of story that you can take. There is QUITE alot of choice to take since there is alot of girls(alot meaning more than 1). For thoes who are fond of kansaiben(dialect of Japan) speaking girls there is one also.
Each girl eventualy will share their power with you so story outcome is quite different. Make wise targets and don't get stuck with a bad ending.
Graphic and Visual 8/10
The graphic used here isn't done by Visual Art as far as I can tell. The traditional Key/Visual Art style can be traced back to Kanon all the way to AIR(nothing in between). The style used here is quite different actually even from other J-games.
You don't see this type of drawing everyday. If you are familiar with Animation making or key frame drawing _or_ frame coloring you will know what I am talking about.
Sense off visual used coloring techniq of Anime Frame Coloring and Shawdowing. So this game kind of looks like a Anime rather than J-Game.
But hey, its the _Story_ that matters right?(email of the author were removed for security reasons)
Sound 5/10
I should say that this was expected since neither Kanon PC or AIR PC had voice. But somehow I still thought someone could have sneaked in the production studio and dub this game. The music is pretty standard. Vocal OP and ED.
Console NA
Refer back to top for this. Only AIR/KANON player may know the true answer. In other words, really plaing looking console.
Overall 8/10
Reason why I put my 2cents in this game is that I actually liked the ending of naruse. It had quite a sad twist towards the end that I weren't prepaired to see. In Air towards first end you can tell whats going to happen but here you can't.
It kept me up for all my flight time. And there is actually quite a huge amount of humor in the game. The ending staff roll was rolled 2 times. Not that it mattered alot but I think rolling it once is good enough.
But 2 times were rolled.
PS. Another thing that really gave me a hint that this was made by the same company was the SOUND problem. During BGM change you will hear a Music clash. This is due to CDROM CACHE feature(so it seemed).
PSS. How sad :/ Thoes who are light hearted should not go after Naruse.
