And it did not stop till it covered everything."
Powerful words for a powerful Visual Novel.
40 Days and 40 Nights of Rain is a rather short (Going about 2 or so hours) linear style "Visual" novel, and it is good; I enjoyed it.
Why?
Well...
40 Days and 40 Nights of Rain is a dramatic story of the Tin Plate Soldier; a nick-name to a ruthless soldier named Yuu during a cease-fire. Coping with normality, and the loss of soldier bravado, Yuu meets a little girl alone in the rain named Kyree. They form a bond as the past is comforted, the world comes to an end, and friendship is born.
Yuu is our main protagonist, and a man of few words. And, I honestly thought he was a rather forgettable character throughout the entirety of the Visual Novel; well except for two things that brought him up.
1) His memories of the past, and those he had with Kyree.
2) His final stage of development in the end.
To state a cliche; he is a man whom is lost in the past, something done before, which can get rather boring in influx. However, the story, I must say, does a good job presenting it, even though it is a cliche. And he isn't unlikable; quite the opposite.
Indeed, Yuu starts getting, at-least for me, "Really well defined and developed," when we arrive at the later half where we can see him amending his wrongs, and, in desperation attempting to save Kyree from the battle-field they find themselves in...
Speaking of Kyree; I could see how she would be annoying to some (Since she apologizes continuously in the later half.) However, to me, I thought she was a likable character, and when the "Big reveal," was revealed about her true nature (One that I won't spoil.) yeah, I was shocked, and then saddened at all that was occurring to her.
Plus, her and Yuu share a surprisingly good bond, but one that really strengthens only at the end.
The side characters; I really found forgettable. We had the bar-keep, a women who stays at the bar in remembrance of her deceased husband. We have the soldiers, who drink to forget about the ones whom they loved, and the ones whom they've killed. And we have the old lady, who sits feeding pigeons in the rain asking why the war has begun.
These characters have stories, but they aren't fleshed out. We hear about them, but they still hold the masks of society hiding there real emotions (Well, until the last half-hour of-course. And even with that, the old women isn't really discussed.)
Though the characters are rather forgettable (With the exception of everything in the last sixth of the game.) The plot, especially in the end makes up for it.
The dialogue especially was very enjoyable; making up of an almost, free-verse scheme, it connects wonderfully and naturally, with my only problem being that times, the dialogue can get confusing on who is saying what.
Repetition is used very well; though only really used once, I say this because that once is probably my favorite scene in the entire visual novel. It takes place in a dream, and it basically restates that of a previous dream; however, the in-between the two, the development of Yuu and Kyree between it, and the relationship built really runs it home, and in-grinds in into your brain.
With that, the plots really pull through, and we see a change in Yuu,
I did, however, find two subplots rather week. It was one involving time skip, and another involving Noah's Arc (For those familiar, 40 Days and 40 Nights was how long god poured rain upon the Earth with Noah in his arch.) It felt out of place in what was becoming reality.
Yes, before I forget; let's discuss how dream-like this game felt through and through. From the beginning until the last sixth, everything from the visuals, to the writing, to the music felt very dream-like. It was a really enjoyable style, that enhanced the later sixth, because that later sixth completely changed the writing style.
While the first five-sixths felt rather dream-like and comforting; 40 Days and 40 Nights of Rain quite literally pulls us into hell in a snap, as reality pours onto us.
This is mainly due to the emphasis on comforting things; from the music to the appeal of rain being in every scene.
But then, action happens; and similar to Full Metal Jacket's Last Part, this just pulls in the horrors of war, and the devastation caused by it as we read simple things causing many deaths (An example being the "Leisure throw of a grenade as if it is a joke.")
This, coupled with the fact that an obvious change is occurring over Yuu; once a killer, now thinking about the war, makes insightful commentary, that holds till the end.
Which leads me to the ending; it is against war, calling it destructive, and evil; but also says its not all evil, not the people at-least.
The ending is something special, and even though it is some-what ruined by two fake-out endings, the depressing, yet hopeful ending is one where you won't be cheering for the world, but rather for Yuu.
So, that's why it is good. Do I recommend it?
Yeah; it being so short, and so easy to down-load, playing it shouldn't be a problem for anyone, and you can take a-lot from it.
Though it has its hicks, it still is very good, especially towards the end, which basically over-shadows the previous portions.
However, if something makes you speechless, and forces tears to run down your cheeks; I think that it be an exception.
8/10
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