Volontes - Spoiler-free Appreciation post! 🌸
Hello everyone,
I just finished the game Volontes last night, after binging it in 3 days (super rare for me, I still have otome games that I started in 2022 and have yet to finish) and I ADORED my experience!! So I wanted to recommend it, since I didn't see much buzz around it online.
Let me preface by saying, it is not a perfect game, HOWEVER, it was absolutely wonderful for me. What I loved (no spoilers):
- fast-paced writing with lots of plottwist that I didn't see coming (and I'm pretty good about it in otome). The story was moving along quickly and there was never a dull moment.
- multidimensional, often morally grey LIs. Every LI had his own agenda that they kept true to, and the writers weren't afraid of making them unlikable at times.
- wonderful MC - pragmatic, decisive, kind, but not a pushover. I didn't get annoyed at her once, and she felt mature. And writers let her make morally grey decisions too, including in happy endings!
- romance with some steam, woven throughout the story. Individual routes vary about that, but in general, there is some steam and explicit declarations of love, and not just at the very end (shouldn't be rare, but alas)
- GORGEOUS sprites. Seriously, some of the absolute best I saw in otome games. None of these LIs have a bad angle, they are just stunning. Eye candy to the max.🤩
- great translation. I cannot underline this enough, the developers did a beautiful job! in the world of half-baked tranlsations and AI slop, I am amazed. I will be honest - I don't think I ever read an English otome with better translation. There are just no typos (that I noticed) and so much care put into it.
- clear game structure, which doesn't require a guide. Each route has some game overs, a good ending, and two types of story bad endings. After the first route I figured out the clear rules for the game, and so I didn't need to use a guide to get all the endings, which I find enjoyable. (I don't like playing with a guide)
- I laughed, I cried, I swooned. And the best part - I think it gets better with every route. There wasn't a single route I didn't like, and every consequiteve route felt better than the previous one. And I'm usually quite difficult with the otome games, liking 1-2 LIs, and struggling through the rest.
But Here are some cons that I need to warn you about:
- prologue (and the first route) are arguably the weakest. The writing feels especially choppy, and so does romantic development, and it has the one plothole I found in the game. (But at least this part has the best CGs!) If you start the game, and feel annoyed/dissapointed during the first hour or two, honestly, I was too. The only reason I didn't drop it is because things are moving fast, and the story is intriging and easy to read, even if I didn't like some writing choices. It genuily does get better.
- CGs, unfortunately, dissapointed me, especially further in the game. I almost felt like the artist was rushed since the last route had (arguably) the weakest CGs. With all the AI slop everywhere, I will take imperfect CGs over them any day, but that was something that bothered me, especially since the sprites are so beautiful. I will also add that one very important character didn't have a sprite at all, but since I had the same issue with Cupid Parasite (which probably has triple the budget), I don't know if it's a fair critique.
- the game is short. I don't know if it's fully a con, since (for me), most 60 hour otome games feel too long, but this game I genuinuly finished under 20 hours. I don't think the story need much more filler, but I think another 5 hours could add some more polish to the story - improve the prologue, add a little bit more space for romantic development, etc. I need there to be more.
So, if you read this far - thank you so much! I (unexpectedly) love this game, I love that developers provided an english release (and did such a great job on translation!), I love those LIs and I hope (probably fruitelessly), that we might get a fandisk one day. If you have any questions - please don't hesitate to ask me, and if you absolutely hate the game - please be kind, my heart beats for Olivier.
Oh and finally, if you consider the game after my post, please check the TWs.