I completed Magical Girl Witch Trials on September 16th, All bad endings including alternative routes.
Going into Manosaba I knew the inspiration behind the game, which was a mix of Danganronpa and Dark magical girl anime. I really enjoyed the trial aspects of the game, looking for clues and talking to the characters. The characters of course in Manosaba was the biggest appeal to me, as the designs illustrated by Umemaro really brought out that beautiful Gothic Lolita aesthetic which perfectly worked with the aesthetic of the novel.
Things I enjoyed about the game:
The game is set in a prison manor, the elegant style and character designs are what made me fall in love with the game. The characters I ended up feeling very attached to throughout the game dealt with similar and very realistic struggles that I relate with, such as my favourite one that I identify with the most is Natsume An-an, as she struggles with loneliness, guilt, and being a hikikomori due to refusing to face her issues, living in solitude, loneliness and comfort within her own home. Nikadou Hiro is also my other favourite character in terms of her character development and her kind but extremely complex personality, she has become one of my favourites of all time characters, and I always compare her to other strong willed characters in media like Akemi Homura.
The game is very dark, with a lot of twisted plots and suspense, the character execusions were really well thought out and illustrated and I thought each and everyone of the executions fit the girls extremely well. The only issue I would say I have with Manosaba is that the pacing between each trial is abit strange. But I feel that way with most games that have a large cast of characters.
I would've loved more interactional moments with the girls, like more slice of life moments of them living in the prison together, or them spending time and getting to know eachother more, or just more cute girls that are hanging out moments! I really enjoyed those parts whenever they did, and I especially enjoyed the suspenseful drama that would happen between them, it felt very realistic when the characters would go against eachother or distrust one another, it made them feel more fleshed out.
I really loved Manosaba and would say this is probably my favourite visual novel I played for the year. I'm hoping that the english translation holds up well to great expectations, and I'm very excited to play Acacias newer games that they are developing for this future trilogy of Magical girl novels!
評価：9.5/10 ―魔法少女ノ魔女裁判
