“I was 15″ impressions
“I was 15″ is a AVG doujin game about the love life of a 15 year old girl by doujin circle Arkham that was released earlier this year. A trial version of the game is available for download on the official website.
The game tells the story of a 15 year old girl who arranges to meet a male who she got to know via an online dating site and meets a young boy who appears to be much younger than herself. They quickly fall in love with each other, but the girl soon finds out that the boy has a strange illness which makes him age at an incredible rate, and he does not have much longer to live.
The story is told from three different sources, one from the girl’s diary, another from interviews with witnesses, and what the girl experienced. The game constantly keeps the player guessing as each source tells a different story that contradicts each other.
As is becoming more common with the doujin scene recently, the team that made the game involves a number of professionals. The art for the game is done by Yoshizawa Tomoaki, one of the artists from the now dead eroge brand Abagado Powers. And the great voice acting is by veteran Maki Izumi. The scenario writer does not seem to have any previous credentials as far as I know, but the writing for the game is definitely of a professional level (or beyond that, considering the number of eroge with horrible scenarios)
I was quite satisfied with the game. The game features only about 4 to 5 hours worth of reading, but within the time it has kept me captivated with its interesting story telling method and the realistic portrayal of modern urban life. And even with the confusing story, it still manages to wrap everything up in the end, though it still leaves a number of unsolved mysteries.
Also if anyone actually plays this game. There’s an epilogue in the recollections section of the album after you finish the game. The game is unfriendly in that it doesn’t actually tell you that it’s there.
