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Synergia (Yuri VN Review)


Plk_Lesiak

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Have you seen Blade Runner 2049? The cyberpunk epic that charms the viewer with its climate and polished visuals, but is probably a bit too convoluted for its own good and offers relatively little payoff for its massive, multi-layered plot? Now, imagine watching that movie without the context of original Blade Runner and accompanying shorts, all offering crucial pieces of worldbuilding and linking the main entries in the franchise together. How much meaning the sequel would lose and how hard to follow some of its subplots would be?

                This “Blade Runner 2049 without context” metaphor is the best way to explain my feelings about Synergia, the long-anticipated cyberpunk EVN by Radi Art. First announced in mid-2017, the project gathered a lot of attention with its well-defined, gloomy aesthetic and an appealing story outline. After that, it went through a number of hiatuses, with the creator behind it often going silent for long months and many assuming the project was dead. In mid-2019, however, the full development of the game was resumed and after a successful Kickstarter campaign (and another series of delays), we finally received a finished product in August 2020 – one that, in my opinion, proved way less mystery-filled and more flawed than the promotional materials made us hope for. But why is that exactly and to is this game actually bad, or just not living up to the hype?

Synergia3.jpg

The few characters central to the Synergia’s plot showed great promise, however, most of them remained relatively unexplored and their stories left without closure

Synergia tells the story of Cila, a police operative and negotiator specialized in dealing with androids, living on a far-future, desert-covered colony planet. Serving as a private contractor to the oppressive imperial government, the dominant polity of the unnamed world, she’s depressed and demotivated, barely managing to fulfil her duties despite being highly-trained and skilful in dealing with both AI and augmented humans. Soon after the game's start, however, her apathetic routine is broken when her best friend Yoko, a shady android merchant and gang leader, gifts her a replacement to her recently-defunct companion android. The new robot, Mara, seems incredibly advanced and human-like – arguably more human than the repressed and corrupt population of the imperial capital – and astonished Cila with her unpredictable and independent behaviour. Soon her unclear origins and level of intelligence, suggesting the use of illegal forms of AI, become signs of trouble, which Cila is unsure how to deal with. However, even she does not expect the real depth of the conspiracy and the significance the android might have to the future of her country (and, possibly, the whole colony).

Read the full article at evnchronicles.blogspot.com

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Synergia is a title I've been anticipating since its project announcement on Fuwa way back when. I haven't gotten around to it yet, but I think it's main selling point is the art and unique Cyberpunk aesthetic. I couldn't point out the specific details, but the art somewhat reminds me of Doomfest's art. In the sense that both Doomfest and Radi have a quality to their art that is definitely very anime in influence, but it also has aspects that are distinctly western in feel. I love this combination. Personally when VNs deviate too far from the anime aesthetic I find them off putting, but I do like to see variation. And the typical anime style seen in most JVNs nowadays bores me. Both Doomfest and Radi hit the in between sweet spot perfectly for me.  

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2 hours ago, Zalor said:

Synergia is a title I've been anticipating since its project announcement on Fuwa way back when. I haven't gotten around to it yet, but I think it's main selling point is the art and unique Cyberpunk aesthetic. I couldn't point out the specific details, but the art somewhat reminds me of Doomfest's art. In the sense that both Doomfest and Radi have a quality to their art that is definitely very anime in influence, but it also has aspects that are distinctly western in feel. I love this combination. Personally when VNs deviate too far from the anime aesthetic I find them off putting, but I do like to see variation. And the typical anime style seen in most JVNs nowadays bores me. Both Doomfest and Radi hit the in between sweet spot perfectly for me.  

Yeah, I think the artstyle hits this really delicate balance in a few areas... It's pretty simple, yet stylish and defined enough to never feel low-effort. And indeed, close enough to traditional anime style to not feel jarring in a VN. If only the storytelling was just as well-rounded and polished... :vinty:

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