Saya no Uta (Review)

Warning: This post is NOT SAFE FOR VIEWING OUT OF THE PRIVACY OF YOUR OWN HOME. I only reviewed this because I was asked to by a friend. Apparently, people think it’s mighty funny when someone reads something deplorable, horrible, and non-adorable. While I do take responsibility for anything contained herein, please note that I do not condone any of the acts portrayed in this game, or any other game that involves acts of torture, humiliation, or any other disgusting things. Thank you,
masat01 

It isn’t very often I come across a story that I can’t wait to continue reading when I wake up the next morning. When this does happen however, it is a cause for celebration. So I had a super huge mind party when I finished Saya. It was that good. Well, anyway, onto the review.

Story: 11/10
The story of Saya is very, very Cthulhu-esque. If you haven’t played the novel, it’s about a guy (Fuminori) who gets into a car accident and damages his brain. He gets brain surgery and survives, but there is a problem. He sees everything as giant meaty shit blobs of doom and hears kfncrofnevian when anyone talks. One night however, he meets a girl, Saya, who is normal to him. There you go. Well, just the initial plot idea is interesting and if you’ve seen cg’s of the game then it’s even more interesting. The story is well written, heavy in horror and heavy in science fiction. The dialogue is well written and flows fluidly throughout the game. The writing doesn’t skimp on details even when you can get the idea of what is going on. Sometimes it can be hard to follow, but that makes it better since you HAVE to pay attention to what is written. The endings are well planned out and work quite well though they are both CENSORED FOR SPOILERS LOL. The story doesn’t skimp on gore or violence, since the game is FULL OF IT. The game uses quite a few Lovecraft references, especially near the climax of the game, and this makes it even more strange/scary/creepy than it already is.

Sounds and Music: 7/10 (Music alone 9/10)
The sound effects were standard fare it seemed to me. The standard squelching of meaty limbs and funkiness is present during the game. So there isn’t much to say in the way of sfx. Music however, is another story. The music was very well done. There is this one bgm played during fight scenes that’s all “RAWWWWWWWWRRR” with the guitar and drums. It’s pretty badass. The theme (not ending themes) has two variations, both were very beautiful. The ending themes were well done and suit the mood of their respective endings.

Character Development and Dialogue: 10/10
In order to have a great story, you must have good character development. Saya no Uta had very well done development. The main character (Fuminori) was given the standard “Parents died” background in the mom/dad area. The rest of his background is explained enough to make you care, which is always a plus. His friends are given development through the way of talking amongst themselves and with other sub characters. Fuminori’s slow mental decay is done quite nicely and doesn’t give a crappy explanation for why. Saya was given excellent character development. From the first scene including her to the BIG reveal in the story you started to feel for her (and for Fuminori). Kouji, Fuminori’s friend, was written like one of those guys you can’t decide whether to like or despise. It became a bit frustrating sometimes because you wanted him to react differently but he refused, no matter how much you yell at the screen. The sub characters (The cop, Kouji’s girlfriend, etc.) were detailed enough to where you cared enough to say, “Oh yeah, I remember you.” The voice acting was top notch. You’d think you’d never hear someone scream realistically/hysterically in a vn but it happens in Saya….a lot. Everyone (including the Main character) is voiced. I can’t really comment much more on the voices aside from saying that they were very realistically acted and believable.

Ero: 10/10 (Only for story usefulness)
I’ll just leave it with this small summary. HAWT LOLI SEX AND PLOT RELAVANCE.

Artwork: 10/10
Glorious. Everything from the Backgrounds to the character sprites was awesome. The main color palette was shit and blood, and lots and lots of green. Did I mention shit and blood color? The backgrounds were deliciously grotesque and meaty. The cg’s were well drawn and detailed, correctly flowing together with the story and writing. The ero cg’s were full of Saya’s delicious ass among other things. The character sprites included the standard emotions (happy, sad, surprised, raped, clothed, unclothed). Very good.

Overall: Perfect 10
Why? Mainly because the story was so engrossing (and gross), and it managed to keep me hooked until the end. The writing was well thought out and executed. The music was pretty badass. The character development was thorough and detailed. Art was good. Ero was HAWT LOLI SEX and relevant to the plot, which I don’t see much of in ANY works of media. This has been Masat01’s review of the visual novel SAYA NO UTA. This was his first review so please feel free to offer constructive criticisms in the comments section. The next review is for Ef Chapter One. Look forward to it.