Song of Saya

It was delivered in a timely and efficient manner, and the distributors were very competent and courteous. The game itself was disappointing=\ perhaps I just had my expectations set too high, but I was really let down by it. The premis is interesting and I found myself thinking about it for a few days, and maybe that's enough, but with all the buildup I'd heard for it online, it didn't meet my expectations. There were several times when I found myself thinking, "wow! This would make a fantastic game!..: oh wait..." And that's never a good sign. It's more of a visual novella than a game, in that it's not interactive. There are 3 choices in the entirety of it, and the first one is a graphical setting=\ this wouldn't be so bad, but the writing isn't good enough to carry it. It's decent, and like I said, the idea behind the story is wonderfully thought provoking, but its just handled very poorly.I had heard it compared to the classic silent hill's and lovcraftian horror, and I guess I just got my hopes disproportionately high, but I can't give it more than 3 stars on premis alone, and it falls so short in its delivery.

There is no way around it but this is by far one of the most twisted and well written visual novels. The game is twisted because in a way it has the reader sympathetic towards the protagonist how is no doubt crazy serial killer. You see without spoiling the games story too much I will give you the low down. The protagonist is a medical student who was in a terrible accident and as a result his views on reality are skewered and appear to look like the "other world " from Silent Hill; everything is dark and damp feeling. The world is covered in gore and the skies are black. In essence the world looks alien. Also the people look like monsters and speak in unnatural vocal patterns. So in all this the protagonist can only see one "normal person" who so happens to be Saya. Though you see Saya through his eyes it makes you wonder what her true form is... By the way this game has lots of violent and gore in its scenes. The only thing that makes me uncomfortable are the sex scenes. Its kinda like Game of Thrones where the sex ties into the story but at least you have the option to censor these scenes if you so wish, ( I leave everything uncensored because I know what to expect. ) Nonetheless I hope you enjoy this strange story. By the way if you did not get the hint form my review or form other people I would keep this away form small children or children in general given the graphic nature of things. You be the judge of your own maturity. Good luck :)

The game is about a pedophile with "meat-vision" due to a new medical treatment after a car accident who meets a blob monster that looks like a 10 year old girl who he has sex with. The first half of the game is passable due to good atmosphere. The second half (after a certain rape-scene) becomes a train-wreck. Let's explore how and why.Don't be mistaken by other reviews. There are only two choices you have to make in this game, resulting in 1 of 3 endings. This is hardly anything exceptional in terms of "choice" and "consequence." It really just is a book.-SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRE GAME, BUT YOU SHOULDN'T CARE BECAUSE THIS GAME IS TRIPE-The premise itself is ludicrous. Several things don't make sense up front. How does Fuminori (the protagonist) see Saya specifically as a young girl? The only way this could be remotely plausible is if he applied his own idea of beauty to hideousness in contrast with everything else in the world. However, everything else we see that has a quality of normality in his hellish perception is abstracted (e.g. paint on walls, human flesh). How then does Saya take the form of a perfect, "attractive" ten year old girl? Why girl instead of boy for instance? Just as well, why don't more things in the world appear abstracted with beauty. Things like trash, rotting meat or other things associated with disgust and ugliness--wouldn’t they too be “beautiful”? Alas, we do not see examples to flesh out the world the writer has crafted. There are no laws when there should be. This isn’t a supernatural world (e.g. Silent Hill), but a psychological one.This is an immersion breaking concept and I constantly find myself mulling over it--what would appear to be "normal" and what wouldn't. It's part of the inherent believably and consistency of the world Saya no Uta is attempting to present. But it is not remotely believable--especially scientifically (though that's unfair since this is fiction)! All I want in fiction is to have a self-contained believably. This couldn’t be more un-true than with our anti-hero himself. Fuminori finds himself thinking that being treated is a bad idea. He comes to the conclusion that being “tested” on by doctors to fix his meat-vision is the worse of two poisons. The game presents this world as suffering for him (aside from Saya's presence--who he doesn't know at the start of the game would revert back to a blob-monster if he fixed his condition,) so there isn't really a reason why seeking treatment is a bad idea.Already, the diegesis and the motivation of the protagonist is frail. That's not to speak of the utterly moronic and childish second half.First of all--and possibly the least of your concerns--there's a constant need to retell information in this half. e.g. when Fuminori's friend calls to meet with him in a climactic encounter. For some reason, the game would remind you of what their conversation consisted of twice more. This padding of the script is unnecessary and done several times in other places. Again, not that big of a deal; simply something to note. The writing quality itself is something I cannot really delve into given that it's a translation. I'm not sure if the original text had a poetic-quality/nuance to it that is lost in translation or not. I’m assuming not. The version I played had a passable translation (it was the official box-copy.)Secondly, there's use of several amateurish use of conveniences. e.g. the well Fuminori pushes his friend down for seemingly little-to-no reason contains a secret underground entrance to a mad scientist's lair just before (conveniently) Fuminori's doctor who so-happens-to-be a crazed conspirator alien-hunter comes to help him and dump more information. This is as stupid as it sounds. There was some foreshadowing involved in respect to the well having a secret passage (really just that there WAS a lair in the first place), but without causation for Fuminori and that exact well to cross paths it just comes together to be contrived. The best you could say is that the lab and Saya were in the same area because the doctor was investigating her.The game wishes for you to empathize with a rapist/pedophile/cannibal/serial-killer/psychopath. How can we tell? The direction of the game itself. A portentous musical score plays over Saya's death and consequently, her child-birthing scene. This is a transparently vapid attempt to have us become emotional over what is being shown--the death of a horrible monster. Remember, the entire game was built off of the two eating/raping their best friends. Fuminori himself is presented (disgustingly) as a person who delights in all of this, raving about how wonderful his underage-looking girlfriend is in high detail and long sex scenes. He goes on about how his friend (who he has turned into sex slave) is now improved. Saya hardly better, helping him commit atrocities or leading him into them (admittedly, she is more justifiable since her crimes are born out of naivete). We also are treated to pitiful descriptions of their deaths in the alternative ending in a further attempt to make us care. Even before that, there was the raping of Saya, where a middle age man having his own meat vision hallucinations (granted by Saya unknowingly) rapes her for no other reason than his "blood was pumping fast" after unknowingly murdering his entire family. The true intention of this was a transparent attempt to make us get behind Fuminori and Saya as he comes to her rescue. Making villains understandable is not a bad thing. Their actions should make sense! If not, there should be a lot more self-awareness than there is here. I find absolutely nothing understandable about them. There are no redeeming qualities aside from their "love" which is twisted and fowl. I have seen people say that they truly understood these characters. That they cared. Are they that easily swayed by musical scores and foofy, romantic dialogue?[EDITFuminori's position as a person experiencing this hellscape and rapidly hating his monstrous appearing friends is undermined by his failure to seek out help and self-awareness that they are indeed people.]Even if the characters were intentionally made to be unlikable (there is some evidence for this considering how Fuminori is shown the be callous at the start,) what benefit would that serve in this instance? Why am I playing it? There is no reason other than sheer shock-value. The horror atmosphere (which is very good at the start due to some nice industrial music) is utterly shattered by the tonal shift in the second half where Fuminori accepts his meat world. The world is no longer scary, but instead a fact.I found myself enjoying the game far more with the first ending--where Fuminori is sentenced to a mental-house and Saya isn’t revealed to be an alien from another dimension. Not having everything resolved felt in line with what horror should do--have a sense of mystery. The answers were silly anyhow (Saya is a cum collecting tentacle alien).If you chose to continue with the second half, the tension is instead created by him not wanting to get caught for his crimes as opposed to any kind of horror. To relate to this plot, we must root against justice.This isn’t like a crime drama where the morality is grey and flexible. No one could condone the actions of these protagonists. They are unlikable and immoral. So why bother? If the game was a horror and they are meant to be unlikable, why is it not horrific in the later half? Then, if we decide we are against them and see the ending where they perish, why is it so unsatisfying (the ending of the game following Fuminori’s friend, Koji, talking in bars and ultimately coming down with PTSD)?I propose that this is a game version of a Serbian Film. But even Milos was somewhat empathetic. You can sit through all the grotesqueness and come out the other end enjoying yourself due to the shock-value if you find that sort of thing funny. But to hail it as having artistic merit is foolish. What kind of profound message about love could possibly sprout from this unremarkable portrayal of evil juxtaposed with kitsch? If anything, it's a game about how perceived aesthetics dictate our disposition to the world. The plot is unimpressive, the tone has a dramatic twist for the worse, character motivation is idiotic, the sex scenes unbearably dull…even the first half of the game is structurally identical to noir we've seen countless times... Saya no Uta tries to be a serious game with the story of 60s camp B-movie.Play Silent Hill 2 instead. It's protagonist is a morally gray with a depressing atmosphere that oozes from every corner. It's not politically correct, but it arguably doesn't attempt to utilize cheap writing tactics (maybe one) and shock value. It's a game that depicts a twisted romance as well which resolves in a much more profound way.GoatJesus~

I... still don't know whether or not I regret playing this game. It's grotesque- not the images or sounds, but the blatant pedophilia and rape-condoning language. It's a bizarre experience. Any redeemable moments and insights are restrained by antiquated 'horror' attempts and incomplete character development. The undercurrent of misogyny is also disheartening from a great author. Not recommended.

As the title of my review states, this game is definitely not for the faint of heart. The graphics are good if repetitive and the story is very interesting. That being said there a scenes of rape, torture, murder and gore. The overall theme is very dark but I found myself playing late into the night to figure out just who or what Saya is. She is also a typical lolita which might be disconcerting to some players. There are only about 2 choices to be made in the game and is less choose your adventure and more visual novel. The H scenes are well drawn and not overpowering to the story or particularly forced. Get this game if you are a cosmic horror or dark H fan.

Dark and twisted, it takes a certain kind of person to really appreciate this narrative. I played it once from beginning to end, and that was enough. One you start it, it is hard to walk away from.