Twenty four years ago an eroge called Utawarerumono released by Leaf that would tell an ambitious story about relentless war, rage, love, and newfound family paired with passion for kemonomimi by its creator while showing both the beautiful and ugly sides of its setting. And now over two decades later the last major new title in the series released with Shiro he no Michishirube (To which I going forward will simply refer to as Shiro or Utaware Shiro) which not only serves as a sequel to Monochrome Mobius but also lends itself as one last swan song to the series, one more farewell after the prior initial conclusion of the trilogy with Futari no Hakuoro that already manifested itself as a beautiful, all the more fulfilling finality.

This prelude out of the way, right off the bat, while I am a huge fan of the Utawarerumono series, I can already admit that I wasn't too keen on Monochrome Mobius and feel like it's much more disappointing than anything else with it not really having the flavor of the series neither truly incorporating its strengths, more so being a strange departure that tries to be a full JRPG yet fails at fully carving its own identity for itself nor feeling like a genuine valuable part of the series. Yet even so after its ending I was still intrigued to see how they'd continue its story and with the announcement of the next Utawarerumono entry being its sequel and the last new game in the series at that, there were hopes for it to leave a positive note while still remaining rather cautious with optimism. Until then I wouldn't have expected to feel so torn apart after completing it.

Initially after a fairly engaging opening to its story, I do feel like it can end up dwindling too much in a state that feels slightly monotonous, slowing down to something without too much of note happening for a longer time, until finally picking up more again around chapter nine to emphasize more of its potential. Therefore its story focused segments that end up getting fairly long with more substance end up becoming one of its best parts with especially the novel game esque segments delivering some value with certain character moments that largely stick the landing. Shiro's story at the brink of the day ended up letting me feel quite some emotions again, almost reminiscent of what the trilogy did, which is to say it has some genuine high points. Notably chapter twelve could likely be considered the biggest standout within this title that from start to finish lends itself as an amazing experience and even features a few rather eyebrow raising moments as a Leaf fan. Paired with the rather beautiful and moving ending this title left one, hopefully and fortunately this series and its story can end for good now for the time being and lead to other new legends and worlds to be discovered.

With Monochrome Mobius there constantly lingered this feeling with me that the story felt extremely lackluster, surprisingly so coming from the grand captivating stories that transpired prior by the same people. In German there's for instance the word belanglos which, contrary to many other singular words found in the English language, describes my feeling towards it extremely well, translating to something that feels very trivial without much importance, kind of banal without much meaning or a place to belong. Therein Shiro finally added some worthwhile payoff that grants this prequel story to the latter two main Utaware games some significance while not majorly compromising or negatively impacting the impressive tale the trilogy told.

Yet Utaware Shiro still doesn't come without faults, with there still remaining quite some shortcomings in many of its other areas that all the more contribute to these rather conflicted feelings that persisted with me over the course of this playthrough and became even sharper due to how much I still ended up liking some of its other parts. Hence I continue to feel like aspects such as the different artstyle introduced in the predecessor aren't as fitting for the series, not bad and still decent for itself, but not being able to compare to what stunning art Leaf's artists such as Amazuyu Tatsuki and Mitsumi Misato did, which isn't to discredit the work mi did with the art for both of these games by any means. In the same vein the inclusion of Karulau and Touka ended up being rather shortlived too with way too little time for them to truly shine and Touka's 3D character model looking extremely rough, ending up as more of a neat cameo. There essentially constantly dwell quite some inconsistencies in Shiro's qualities and it stays far from the top of the hill from which the main titles shined.

Not gonna dive too much indepth mechanically speaking since it very much is relatively similar to its predecessor and there's not a whole lot new things of worth I could add but integrated things such as the mechanic of conquering areas via killing a certain amount of field monsters to then again be able to freely kill them with one hit on the map within the area was a neat idea however could potentially stumble with making things a tad bit too easy. Both its battle system and exploration are otherwise nothing groundbreaking and fine at their best while for the latter still retaining the drawback of making its world appear as way too small in contrast to how vast and big the land of Yamato felt in the trilogy. Perhaps they could still pull it off in a new IP and the hopes for Project Kizuna are there, yet the feeling remains that full JRPGs, as opposed to novel games and ADV hybrids, likely aren't their strong suit.

Something they on the other hand never fail with and likely one of the best parts if not even the most striking of this title like a breezing of the sun ought to be its soundtrack which arguably has loads of great tracks that provide just the right emotional undertone. Utaware Shiro truly nails its soundtrack and even with the at times far from perfect presentation underscores the important moments extremely well. Loved the whole ending song, coupled with lovely remixes and old tracks that evoke the perfect nostalgic feeling as one more venture into this world. Hearing something like the main theme or other notable tracks from the original always managed to give me goosebumps, which despite all gave this experience a pleasant feel and sense of familiarity. To cap things off, some of the lovely messages by the VAs of the characters that can be listened to from the main menu after clearing the game were just as sweet and reinforced their fondness for these roles.

On the verge of losing the capacity to write this review, one last time I'd like to express this title genuinely surprised me a lot in the way I ended up holding it in my mind after the letdown Monochrome Mobius was. While many previous critique points still hold true for this sequel, it's largely an improvement and if anything its story towards the end totally pulled it off with its important moments paired with highlights such as chapter twelve and the entire ending itself, proving once more that the writers, Suga Munemitsu the original author, still have it in them as ever to tell moving and gripping stories. Fortunately, while still feeling conflicted about it, this ended up being a somewhat worthwhile departure from the trilogy after all, whereas I initially wouldn't have thought to go out with this kind of a rather positive notion from this title.

The original Utawarerumono released in 2002 is still a game I treasure a lot, not only as my absolute favorite within the series but in a wider sense a work I came to love immensely with both its characters and world, coming to life without any boundaries in the beautiful realms of an eroge and freely illustrating its inspiring story. Therein I'm fortunate this last title, even if being far from perfect, nevertheless reinforced my love towards the series.

Thank you Suga Munemitsu for creating this life's work of yours

Farewell now, until we may meet again in a different place

PT-BR 🇧🇷 / 🇺🇸 EN

Nota final / Final Note: 8.26

Comprei o jogo na pré-venda e acompanhei seu lançamento desde os primeiros anúncios. Reservei esta semana para zerá-lo e, sinceramente, ele acabou me surpreendendo bastante.

Minha expectativa inicial era encontrar algo semelhante a Hitman, principalmente por ter sido desenvolvido pela mesma empresa. No entanto, logo nas primeiras horas percebi que a proposta era completamente diferente. Em vez de um simulador de espionagem focado em liberdade criativa, encontrei uma experiência muito mais próxima de jogos como Uncharted, com forte foco em narrativa, ação, exploração e momentos cinematográficos.

Foi uma surpresa positiva. Fazia muito tempo que eu não jogava um título de 007 e o jogo conseguiu resgatar aquela sensação dos filmes clássicos da franquia. Em vários momentos parecia que eu estava participando de um filme interativo, algo que considero um dos maiores acertos da experiência.

Me diverti: 8.7/10

Esse é um jogo extremamente divertido.

Apesar de ter quebrado minhas expectativas iniciais por não seguir a fórmula de Hitman, rapidamente entendi que a proposta era outra. A estrutura lembra muito os jogos da série Uncharted: campanha linear, progressão por fases, puzzles, exploração e sequências de parkour.

No fim das contas, acredito que essa escolha fez muito mais sentido para a identidade de James Bond do que um simulador de espionagem totalmente aberto. Mesmo não sendo exatamente o que eu esperava, me diverti durante praticamente toda a campanha.

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Gráficos e Design: 8.4/10

Visualmente, o jogo lembra bastante uma evolução natural de Hitman: World of Assassination, compartilhando muitas características da mesma engine.

A iluminação é muito bonita, os cenários são variados e diversas paisagens chamam atenção durante a campanha. Ainda assim, existe algo na apresentação visual que me impede de colocá-lo entre os jogos mais impressionantes da atual geração.

É difícil explicar exatamente o motivo, mas em alguns momentos a direção visual transmite uma sensação um pouco "quadrada" quando comparada a outras engines modernas. Ainda assim, o resultado final é bastante competente.

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Áudio / Trilha sonora / Dublagem: 10/10

Excelente em todos os aspectos.

A trilha sonora respeita completamente a identidade da franquia e consegue capturar muito bem a atmosfera dos filmes de James Bond. A dublagem também entrega um ótimo trabalho e contribui bastante para a imersão.

Não tenho críticas relevantes nesse aspecto.

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Direção de Arte: 10/10

Se existe um elemento que eleva a experiência, é a direção de arte.

Toda a ambientação foi construída para reforçar a sensação de estar vivendo uma aventura cinematográfica de James Bond. Cenários, enquadramentos, iluminação, figurinos e expressões visuais trabalham juntos para criar uma experiência extremamente imersiva.

É um daqueles casos em que a apresentação visual se torna praticamente um personagem da própria narrativa.

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História / Narrativa: 7.2/10

A qualidade da história e o meu gosto pessoal acabaram entrando em conflito aqui.

Reconheço que a narrativa funciona muito bem dentro da proposta da franquia. O problema é que esse tipo de roteiro já não desperta tanto meu interesse quanto antigamente.

Temos o protagonista clássico que sempre busca fazer o bem, vilões que explicam seus planos em vez de simplesmente executá-los, fugas improváveis, resgates de última hora e várias situações que lembram os filmes de ação mais tradicionais.

Em muitos momentos me senti assistindo a um ótimo filme de aventura na televisão, mas não necessariamente vivendo uma narrativa profunda ou particularmente marcante como jogador.

Ainda assim, seria injusto avaliar negativamente algo que faz parte da identidade histórica de 007. O jogo entrega exatamente aquilo que se propõe a entregar.

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Gameplay / Mecânicas: 9.3/10

Foi uma das maiores surpresas do jogo.

Eu esperava uma experiência muito mais voltada para espionagem e infiltração, mas o foco principal está claramente na ação. Mesmo assim, as mecânicas funcionam extremamente bem.

O combate corpo a corpo é excelente, os confrontos armados são satisfatórios e diversas interações com o ambiente tornam os tiroteios mais interessantes. Também gostei bastante das reações dos inimigos aos disparos em diferentes partes do corpo, algo que adiciona peso aos combates.

Minha maior crítica está relacionada ao sistema de disfarces. Considerando que estamos falando de um jogo de espionagem, imaginei que essa mecânica teria muito mais destaque. Ela existe, mas aparece poucas vezes durante a campanha.

Mesmo assim, o conjunto geral é muito sólido.

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Curva de dificuldade: 6.3/10

A progressão é bastante acessível.

O jogo apresenta suas mecânicas de maneira intuitiva e dificilmente exige uma grande evolução de habilidade por parte do jogador. Isso não chega a ser um problema, mas também faz com que a sensação de crescimento ao longo da campanha seja relativamente pequena.

Como se trata de uma experiência de duração moderada, isso acaba não prejudicando significativamente o ritmo da aventura.

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Mundo / Exploração / Level Design: 9/10

Foi um dos aspectos que mais me lembrou Hitman.

Os cenários possuem boa densidade populacional, incentivam exploração e escondem diversos colecionáveis interessantes. Gostei especialmente do sistema de cartas e dos objetivos secundários relacionados à platina.

Mesmo sem oferecer um mundo aberto tradicional, os mapas conseguem transmitir vida e oferecem espaço suficiente para explorar além do caminho principa

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Otimização / Performance: 10/10

Excelente.

A performance permaneceu extremamente estável durante toda a campanha e a engine demonstrou um nível de otimização impressionante.

É sempre bom encontrar um lançamento que chega ao mercado tão bem polido nesse aspecto.

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Polimento (bugs, detalhes, animações): 9/10

Encontrei alguns bugs durante a jogatina, mas nada que comprometesse a experiência ou prejudicasse a progressão.

Animações, transições e interações funcionam muito bem na maior parte do temp

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Inovação / Originalidade: 2/10

Aqui está, provavelmente, o ponto mais fraco do jogo.

Ele não apresenta mecânicas revolucionárias, não reinventa o gênero e tampouco traz uma narrativa particularmente original.

Praticamente tudo o que existe aqui já foi feito antes por outros jogos e pelos próprios filmes da franquia.

Isso não significa que seja ruim. Pelo contrário: ele executa muito bem ideias já conhecidas. Apenas não é uma experiência que ficará marcada pela inovação.

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Valor / Custo Benefício: 6/10

Gostei bastante da experiência e entendo que o preço está alinhado ao padrão atual da indústria para um jogo desse porte.

Ainda assim, tenho dificuldade em justificar R$ 300 em um título com aproximadamente 17 horas de duração.

É um ótimo jogo, mas acredito que ele se torna uma recomendação muito mais fácil quando aparece em promoção.

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Tempo de jogo: 17h

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I bought the game as soon as I could during the pre-order period and had been following its release for quite some time. I set aside this week to finish it and, honestly, it ended up surprising me in a very positive way.

My initial expectation was that it would be something similar to Hitman, especially since it was developed by the same studio. However, after only a few hours, it became clear that the game follows a very different direction. Instead of focusing on open-ended stealth and player freedom, it feels much closer to games like Uncharted, emphasizing cinematic storytelling, action sequences, exploration, and adventure.

That turned out to be a pleasant surprise. It had been years since I last played a James Bond game, and 007 First Light successfully brought back that classic Bond feeling. At several moments, it genuinely felt like I was playing through an interactive movie, which I consider one of the game's greatest strengths.

Fun Factor: 8.7/10 (Weight: 10)

This game is simply a lot of fun.

Although it initially broke my expectations by not following the Hitman formula, I quickly realized that it was aiming for something entirely different. Its structure is very similar to Uncharted: a linear campaign, level-based progression, puzzles, exploration, and parkour sequences.

In the end, I think this approach makes far more sense for James Bond than a fully open-ended espionage simulator. Even though it wasn't exactly what I expected, I enjoyed almost every minute of the campaign.

Graphics & Visual Design: 8.4/10 (Weight: 7)

Visually, the game feels like a natural evolution of Hitman: World of Assassination, sharing many characteristics of the same engine.

The lighting is impressive, the environments are varied, and several locations are genuinely beautiful to look at. That said, I never felt like it reached the visual heights of the most technically impressive games currently on the market.

It's difficult to explain precisely why, but at times the presentation feels somewhat "boxy" compared to what other modern engines can achieve. Even so, the overall visual package is still very strong.

Audio, Soundtrack & Voice Acting: 10/10 (Weight: 7)

Excellent across the board.

The soundtrack perfectly captures the identity of the James Bond franchise, while the voice acting does a great job supporting the story and enhancing immersion.

I honestly have no meaningful complaints here.

Art Direction: 10/10 (Weight: 8)

If there's one aspect that elevates the entire experience, it's the art direction.

Every element of the presentation is designed to reinforce the feeling of living through a James Bond adventure. The environments, cinematography, lighting, costumes, and visual storytelling all work together to create a highly immersive experience.

This is one of those rare cases where the presentation itself feels like a character in the story.

Story & Narrative: 7.2/10 (Weight: 9)

This is where the quality of the story and my personal preferences ended up clashing.

I recognize that the narrative works very well within the context of the franchise. The problem is that this type of story simply isn't as appealing to me as it once was.

You have the classic heroic protagonist who always chooses to do the right thing, villains who explain their plans instead of carrying them out, improbable escapes, last-second rescues, and several moments that feel straight out of a traditional action movie.

More than once, I felt like I was watching a fun blockbuster with my family rather than experiencing a particularly deep or memorable narrative as a player.

That said, it would be unfair to criticize the game for embracing elements that have always been part of James Bond's identity. It delivers exactly what it sets out to deliver.

Gameplay & Mechanics: 9.3/10 (Weight: 10)

One of the biggest surprises of the entire game.

I expected a much heavier focus on espionage and stealth, but the game leans far more into action. Fortunately, the mechanics are excellent.

The melee combat feels fantastic, the gunplay is satisfying, and the environmental interactions make combat encounters much more engaging. I also appreciated the different enemy reactions depending on where they're shot, a detail that adds impact to every firefight.

My biggest disappointment was the disguise system. Given that this is a spy game, I expected disguises to play a much larger role throughout the campaign. The mechanic exists, but it's only used occasionally.

Even so, the overall gameplay package is incredibly solid.

Difficulty Curve: 6.3/10 (Weight: 6)

The progression is very accessible.

The game introduces its mechanics in an intuitive way and never really demands a significant increase in player skill. That's not necessarily a problem, but it also means the sense of progression throughout the campaign is fairly limited.

Since the game isn't particularly long, this doesn't negatively impact the experience too much.

World, Exploration & Level Design: 9/10 (Weight: 9)

This is the area that reminded me the most of Hitman.

The environments feel alive, feature strong population density, and offer plenty of opportunities for exploration. I especially enjoyed the collectible system and the card-hunting objectives tied to completionist goals.

Even without being a true open-world game, the maps provide enough depth and freedom to encourage exploration beyond the main path.

Optimization & Performance: 10/10 (Weight: 6)

Outstanding.

Performance remained extremely stable throughout my entire playthrough, and the engine proved to be remarkably well-optimized.

It's always refreshing to see a major release arrive in such a polished technical state.

Polish (Bugs, Details & Animations): 9/10 (Weight: 6)

I encountered a few bugs during my playthrough, but nothing serious enough to impact progression or enjoyment.

Animations, transitions, and interactions are all polished and well-executed for the vast majority of the experience.

Innovation & Originality: 2/10 (Weight: 5)

This is probably the game's weakest area.

It doesn't introduce groundbreaking mechanics, reinvent the genre, or tell a particularly original story.

Almost everything here has been done before, either by other games or by the Bond franchise itself.

That doesn't make it bad. In fact, it executes familiar ideas extremely well. It simply isn't the kind of experience that will be remembered for its innovation.

Value & Cost-Benefit: 6/10 (Weight: 5)

I enjoyed the experience a lot and understand that its price is in line with current AAA industry standards.

Even so, I struggle to justify paying $60–70 for a game that lasts around 17 hours.

It's a great game, but it's much easier to recommend when it's on sale.

Playtime

17 Hours

Played as part of my USA Road Trip Series [2/50] - Indiana

Unlike Iowa, Indiana had quite a few games to choose from when deciding on a game to play to represent it. However, the bad part is: the vast, vast majority of them are racing games, probably to represent the Indy 500. After playing Cruis'n USA to represent Iowa because there just were no other options, I would have felt bad picking another racing game, one that barely even takes place in the state at all. So instead, I picked the licensed tie-in game based on the DremWorks film of the same name: Over the Hedge. And wow, now I feel even more bad for Indiana, that this is apparently the best thing I could find to represent you guys.

This game is as said before based on the movie of the same name, and I confess that I haven't watched it. In fact, I hadn't even heard of it before playing this game. But I do know that this game takes place in the suburbs of Indianapolis, so it's good enough for me! But man, this game really does feel in every way like a licensed movie-tie in because wow is it boring. This came out at a time where like every game got one of those movie tie-ins, with most of them being soon forgotten as the shovelware they are. This game is no different, and I would not have given it the time of day if I wasn't doing this challenge.

There really isn't anything great about this game. It has beat-em up combat but that doesn't really feel good. In reality you're really just pressing the same button a bunch of times against the same 3 enemies. This game has way too many stages and way too few objectives, meaning that even halfway through, I was doing the same thing over and over again, and to be honest, I was so freaking bored with the game that I am calling it quits.

The "story" of this game follows directly from the movie, which as I have mentioned I never watched. They of course couldn't get all the actors back for this game because let's be real, Bruce Willis and Avril Lavigne aren't coming back for this. The new voices also didn't really sound that much like them, but whatever, kids aren't going to care much for that. But even then, the story of this game isn't even really a story. Most of it is just going to random houses and stealing random items from the residents. It very much feels like "and then this happened!" storytelling. None of the events in this game build up to one another, making it feel like it's just a series of random missions pasted together to make a game, which to be fair is probably exactly what this game is. But it really doesn't make for a very engaging experience.

But at least the homes in this game do look like the ones in Indiana I guess? It's very much the stereotypical American suburban homes you're used to seeing in movies when you think of America. It's just a little sad that this is the best game I could find to represent the state of Indiana. Thankfully, we're moving away from shitty licensed games and going to greener pastures. Sorry Indiana, please don't hate me.