[Review] REWRITE Part 1

"The Story Itself"

This first review will focus on the main story and plot of the game. Later, I'll be posting more reviews for the individual heroine routes and some characters that are important in the flow of the story.
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Description [Source: http://vndb.org/v751]

Rewrite is set in the fictional city Kazamatsuri where treeplanting and afforestation have caused the city to become overgrown with trees and flowers in much the same way that other cities are filled by buildings. However, while most of the city appears to be rural, there are many traditional city elements as well. While set in a modern setting, the city also gives off a strange sense of nostalgia. The basis of the story is set in a high school setting. The first half of Rewrite primarily consists of the characters interacting in many everyday, enjoyable scenes. The latter half, however, is more serious, emotional, and carries a sense of mystery to the plot.

As indicated by the title, rewriting is the theme of the game's scenario. The tagline for the game is, "Could it possibly be rewritten, that fate of her's?"
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The story starts with a simple monologue of the main character Kotarou Tennouji, it lasts for about 5 minutes and after that, the game opening starts. The prologue is quite short unlike in Little Busters that I needed 2 hours just to finish the prologue and watch the game opening. The opening song of the game is entitled "Phylosophyz" and frankly speaking, the song was awesome that the intro gave me a lot of goosebumps. The lead was something, it was so darn good that every time I continue my saves, I make sure to listen to it first.

I'll be making a wider review for the main characters of the game, for the mean time here are the characters and some brief description of them.

1. Kotarou Tennouji - the protagonist of the story and a 2nd year student of Kazamatsuri Academy. Like any ordinary person, he wants to fulfill something that can satisfy his way of living. But, is it really true that he is ordinary?

2. Kotori Kanbe - the childhood friend of Kotarou and called the Forest Girl. Basically, she just really love the forest and Kotarou even thinks that the forest is almost like her backyard, or is there really something in that forest the makes her go in there?

3. Chihaya Ohtori - the big eater among them all. She eats a lot but doesn't gain the proportionate weight of what she's eating. The others, especially Kotori, thinks that it was unfair. She is a transfer student and a clumsy character, but we all know that transfer students have there own share of mysterious secrets.

4. Lucia Konohana - the talented class representative of Kotarou's class. She has a strong attitude about being fair and is also called the clean-freak because she always wear hand gloves, but is she really a clean freak or is there something she needs to hide?

5. Shizuru Nakatsu - a kouhai of Kotarou and someone who doesn't speak too much. She is a great lover of Saury and a member of the moral committee, making her a friend of Lucia Konohana, and her character is defined by her eyepatch. A sickness, something mysterious or something deep? What is this something that she needs to cover with her eyepatch?

6. Akane Senri - a third year student and the president of the Occult Research Society. She is called the "Witch of the Academy" but in the club she is the most technological person that you won't think that she is a witch. Later on, Kotarou will learn what is the real meaning of Akane being a witch.

7. Yoshino Haruhiko - a heavy example of a chuunibyo or a delusional character, but not the one fantasizing about magic but someone who thinks that he is punk and an enemy to society since he considers himself a lone wolf. He maybe rebellious but deep inside he is a good person. A MAMA'S BOY? :))

8. Sakuya Ohtori - the butler of Chihaya and takes good care of her. A sarcastic person when talking to Kotarou but he doesn't really hate Kotarou. His surname is just a setting to make Chihaya and Sakuya siblings. But why should a setting like that exist?

9. Kagari - the one considered as the Key and the most mysterious of them all.

If Little Busters started the game with Masato, Rewrite followed the same format [well since both are made by Key, that was expected] and started with Yoshino. If I'll describe him, his a heavy example of a chuunibyo or a delusional character, but not the one fantasizing about magic but someone who thinks that he is punk and an enemy to society since he considers himself a lone wolf. I'll be writing more about him on my later reviews, and I promise that you will love his character.

The main story starts at October 3 and the very last day before entering any heroine route is November 13. Like any typical visual novel, the story flow is decided by multiple choices that controls which route will you be going on the story. Some choices have big effects, some have none and some changes the script but still continues the flow of the story.

If Little Busters contained mini-games in the visual novel, Rewrite included a Memory portion where it is a list of Kotarou's Friends, Monsters engaged and Quests completed. The friends and monsters portion doesn't really affect the story but I'm sure you'll love the adventure Kotarou will have if you try to complete all of it. Especially the friends portion, you will never grow tired of him always saying "Amigo!!" when he befriends someone. The Quests on the other hand is something you really need to finish if you want to get the Oppai Ending after finishing all the routes of the game. I will also be putting a review for this later.

The main story of Rewrite really needs heavy reading. It took me at least 12 hours to finish the main part of the game, not yet including the routes. I think this is really burdensome to many but I can assure you that the story itself is never boring. The thrill, suspense and especially the stupid combination of Kotarou and Yoshino is something I'm always looking forward too. If you enjoyed Masato's muscled-brain acts on Little Busters, then you will surely appreciate more the laughtrips and craziness of the Kotarou-Yoshino combination.

How about investigating some occult stuffs? Another main attraction of the game is the battle of wits between Kotarou and Akane. Kotarou giving proofs of supernaturals and Akane rebutting and making sure that his proofs can be scientifically defined. I find this parts very fun and intelligent because many people are really like this in reality. One of the fun moments was when Kotarou insisted that treemen exist but when they investigated the forest about it, what they saw was a chuunibyo having a martial arts training with tree trunks. The scenario was already funny but Akane's sarcasm really adds more oil to the fire.

It also showed bit by bit information about the core story of Rewrite. Existence of mages, summoners and hunters. This was all gradually explained in the story. With this, I hypothesized that there were a lot of mysterious characters on the game and even though that, it still surprised me when I learned all of there secrets. It was like my hypotheses were just the tip of the iceberg.

Overall, for the main story, I can say that the setting and stability was great, the flow was continuous and all questions were answered on the later parts. After the main story, different emotions flowed in me, suspense, thrill, excitement, happiness, surprise and of course sadness because Key games will not be completed without any dramas that will surely make you cry. My next review will be about our protagonist, Kotarou Tennouji. Make sure to have a look of it when its done. Mata ne~

Main Story Rating: 8.8/10