समीक्षा

• gamedeal user

  Dec 13, 2019

  What is ef? Is it a moege? Oh fuck no! A romance? I mean, it's not that it isn't it's just that... If I had to pick a genre, it's a tragedy. Yes, a tragedy. This is unapologetically, the most brutally realistic romance novel I have ever read. I've read a VN, which I will not name, in which one of the routes was all about how the girl was dying of a terminal illness and didn't want to be in a relationship because of that. The guy pushed through and got her into a relationship and then, surprise surprise, the power of love magicked away her illness and they lived happily ever after. Yeah... not in this novel. This novel, while not completely grounded in realism, takes the reality it presents very seriously. A shitty, horrible situation, is just that, a shitty, horrible situation. The narrative structure of ef is quite unique, in that rather than the traditional "routes" it has chapters, which all take place in the same timeline with no bullshit like alternate realities or anything. Chapters 2 and 3 take place concurrently, and chapter 5 mostly takes place in the past, but it's all one history. What's also unique is that there isn't a single main character from which you get perspective. There are 5, at least ephemerally, happy couples throughout, 10 unique individuals, 2 per chapter essentially. And during any chapter the perspective can shift between the two "main characters." Of course, ultimately the title is "ef- a tale of the two" and the two in question are not the main characters of 4 of the chapters, although their roles are important in them, they are essentially side characters who only give advice and speak during intermissions that frame the overarching story. Of the 5 chapters, the two in the first tale, while not exactly "light hearted" aren't particularly dark. In the later tale, which contains chapters 3-5, the relationships are much less perfect and ideal, in fact they are all tragic in their own ways and kinda just horrible. Especially chapter five which I found to frankly be just unnecessarily dark. I've read Muv Luv, and Alternative was REALLY fucked up and dark, but it was a masterpiece. It wasn't just dark to be dark, whereas I think Yuuko's backstory... could have been a lot less fucked and not particularly affected the story as a whole. In the end, while it is a tragedy, and the endings aren't entirely happy, it still manages to be uplifting in the end. The theme is more or less: "Regardless of how you live your life, shitty things will happen and you will feel pain, so when you have a chance at happiness, you should grab it and treasure it, even if it's fleeting, even if it will only lead to pain. And then, you need to keep moving forward, despite that pain." Again, I would say it's borderline nihilistic in the way it approaches things, but the message is powerfully conveyed and even though the conclusion is tragic in the end, the theme and takeaway is something positive. It was the most well written, absolutely horrible thing I think I've ever read, and somehow... even though the end wasn't really happy... I was smiling. If you buy ef, you need to buy both parts, I wouldn't even try to evaluate it as two novels. It took me 27 hours to finish them, with most of the content being in the later tale. For the length I would say the $60 asking price is too much frankly, but you know it's amazing and I don't really regret paying that amount. ef- a tale of the two is a solid 9 out of 10, which puts it at fifth place on my all time list of VNs 1. G-Senjou no Maou 10/10 2. Muv luv Trilogy 9.5/10 3. Fureraba-friend to lover strong 9/10 (10/10 if limited to moege) 4. CLANNAD- 9/10 5. ef-a tale of the two- 9/10 If you're not afraid of some ninjas cutting onions, I think it's well worth reading.
• gamedeal user

  Oct 20, 2020

  The translations aged badly (using tons of cursing and many uses of the word "ret**d") and the game itself was a crappy sappy teenage melodrama. Also at the end my game bugged out and I wasn't even able to see the movie to segue me into the sequel. I heard the sequel is better so I'm crossing my fingers it won't be as bad as this disaster.
• gamedeal user

  Dec 3, 2019

  It's been long 7 years since I first introduced myself to the story of [i]ef[/i]. Or was it more? Or less? Well, it doesn't matter, since I still remember that utter trainwreck of feels which left me crushed for several days (I think, the only thing that hit be harder, was Clannad and several other similar stories, such as SukaSuka). And I stiil can't help but desperately try to hold back crying when I hear these songs. Or when after the rain I look at the angel's ladder and remember where it leads to... Stop. I shouldn't. I have several dozens hours of reading waiting for me. Just need to deal with this blunt nail stucked somewhere in my chest and I'll be ready... ...No. You'll never be ready for this. [spoiler]Merry Christmas, Yuuko. May you rest in peace. [b]ever forever[/b].[/spoiler] ----- If you are interested in other games I'm playing, check my [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/36682541-Lonely-Dev-Reviews/]Curator page[/url]. Maybe there will be something good for you.
• gamedeal user

  May 30, 2020

  I liked this VN a lot . I have never seen such quality drawings and almost every 2-3 lines of dialogs its a new panel ....its insane on the quality of the images and script.