The Lament of a Lifeless Star is a sci-fi, post-apocalyptic, emotional visual novel with some comedical and horror elements developed and published by TALESSHOP Co,. Ltd. After a brief introduction in which you take on the role of Rami, a girl who is imprisoned in a medical facility, you then take on the main role of Art, a young man who breaks into the facility to rescue Rami. Even though Art and Rami have seemingly never met before this moment, the two of them quickly build up this older brother-younger sister relationship, and they set off on their journey. Art wants to take Rami where she'll be safe and never be experimented on again, but of course, their journey isn't going to be smooth sailing. After all, all of humanity is dead except for Art and Rami. In addition, there is artificial intelligence like robot maids who can fight in battle (I know, but just go with me here lol), and zombies, who were once humans but no longer have minds of their own, are roaming about. I'll stop my story synopsis here to avoid spoilers and all that. XD

As for the gameplay, there are a total of 5 chapters, and each chapter consists of 3 acts. Numerous choices are presented throughout the story, and depending on the choices made, you'll obtain one of four endings: bad, normal, true, or hidden. After you obtain the true and hidden endings, bonus content, like extra episodes and additional voiced lines, will be unlocked. Of course, there are several CGs as well as almost full-on Korean voice acting. (Art's lines aren't voiced.) All of the unlocked chapters, acts, CGs, etc., can be viewed in the Timeline section in the Main Menu. Plenty of Steam achievements are present as well, and they count towards a user's global total.

Now that I've gone over the story and gameplay, I'll move onto my thoughts. After playing The Spiritless Shaman a while back (please check out my review of it here), I wanted to get around to playing this lovely visual novel. With that said, I'll first talk about the story and characters. Without a doubt, the story starts off on a sad note. It opens with Rami alone in a medical facility that has long since been abandoned and even looks like it was once under attack. Rami has been experimented on to the point that she experiences trauma, and it's perfectly understandable that she's crying. Then comes Art, Rami's mysterious rescuer, who enters the building like a flash of lightning, making an explosion and almost hurting Rami in the process (well, according to Rami lol). It isn't clear why Art wants to rescue Rami although the mystery is later cleared up. I enjoyed witnessing the growing relationship and banter between these two characters. While Art is pretty stoic, he does enjoy teasing Rami and later on, Mirona, the robot maid, when he and Rami find her in the wasteland. As for Rami, I'll admit that I initially found her to be a bit annoying, but she is a child (or at least, looks like one), and I found myself liking her more after learning about her backstory and all. Also, when Mirona enters the picture, I enjoyed witnessing her interactions with Art and Rami. Although she puts on this serious demeanor, like she wants to destroy whatever's in her path, she's actually just being playful. I will say, though, that it's definitely not a good idea to get on her wrong side. :o

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3171437114

Getting back to the story, I liked that there are periodic flashbacks from Art's past that explain how the world got destroyed and how humanity practically became extinct. I should note that because I mentioned at the beginning of my review that there are horror elements, they come in the form of zombies, blood (although the blood looks gray rather than red most of the time), etc. Thus, this story may not be appropriate for all ages even though I certainly enjoyed it. With the endings, the true and hidden endings are the best although the hidden ending is on the more comedical side and can be difficult to obtain without a walkthrough. The true ending is beautiful, and I especially love that Art tells Rami that "you are more precious than the world itself".

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3171437488

Regarding the writing, the pacing is fine. The story starts off a bit slow, and there are definitely slow moments. However, action-packed ones make up for them, like the battles with the maid robots. lol Of course, the story really picks up during its climax when Rami is taken captive by Youtopia and Art goes to rescue her. There were very few typos, and I only noticed them towards the end of the story.

As for the art, it is absolutely gorgeous. The sprites are drawn and colored well, having that lovely anime style. The backgrounds feel more abstract and mosaic, but I think that this works since it's a post-apocalyptic world, and it's a miracle when Art, Rami, and Mirona encounter any buildings that are still standing. Of course, the CGs are done especially well, and they're placed in just the perfect moments in the story. In regards to the music, the soundtrack is beautiful to listen to. The tracks are varied from the more comedical tone to the epic battle one. Especially, I enjoyed listening to the emotional tracks that tugged at my heartstrings. Also, the Korean voice acting is lovely to listen to. The voices fit well with their respective characters, and I wish for there to be more Korean visual novels translated into English, so that more English speakers can enjoy them.

Overall, would I recommend The Lament of a Lifeless Star? If you enjoy reading visual novels, especially the ones that are in a post-apocalyptic setting and that are emotionally driven, and don't mind the horror elements and whatnot, then I totally say yes. I'm surprised that this visual novel has gone under the radar for English-speaking audiences and I only hope that my review will help bring it the attention that it deserves. For the asking price, I'd say that it's worth getting, as it took me over 11.5 hours to get all of the achievements and whatnot. If you want to read the bonus stories, then it might take over 12.5 hours. Of course, you can wait to get it on sale, but I think it's worth checking out.

Finally, I want to give a major thank you to TALESSHOP Co,. Ltd., for the review key. It was such a joy and emotional roller coaster to read this beautiful story, a world that is in ruins but where hope can still shine. ^^

마지막으로 주식회사 TALESSHOP에게 깊은 감사의 말씀을 전하고 싶습니다. Ltd.의 리뷰 키입니다. 폐허가 되었지만 여전히 희망이 빛날 수 있는 세상, 이 아름다운 이야기를 읽는 것은 너무나 즐겁고 감동적인 롤러코스터였습니다.^^

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