Fantasy visual novel RPG
Villienville: Echoes of Deception is a premium adventure game by developer JAD Labs. It's a fantasy-themed visual novel experience that centers around a wandering mercenary. He finds himself arriving at a strange village wherein its residents are being tormented by the appearance of ghosts in their homes.
Similar to Disco Elysium and Slay the Princess, Villienville: Echoes of Deception is a text-based adventure with an elaborate narrative and rich lore. It's also a game wherein choice matters and affects how events unfold. Players will meet and interact with different characters and know more about their side of the story.
Strange appearances
Villienville: Echoes of Deception is a narrative-driven visual novel RPG that follows the story of a mercenary named Vesper and his arrival at the strange and mysterious titular village of Villienville. The appearance of an unknown enemy being described as "ghosts" has everyone on edge, and it's up to you to investigate what's going on and get to the bottom of everything.
The village is home to a variety of different residents across multiple factions, namely villagers, nomads, bandits, and churchmen. Each one holds a piece of the puzzle mystery and you have to gain their trust in various ways. There are two parts to the gameplay, which are the investigative phase and the final battle. The choices you make during the former will dictate how the latter will unfold.
There are multiple endings you can unlock across both good and bad outcomes. On another note, there are a couple of things the game needs to improve. The first is that while the game is a visual novel experience, there is still too much text and reading involved. In the same vein, the way it's presented in an infinitely scrolling manner is rather unintuitive.
Intriguing fantasy mystery
Overall, if you like visual novels, mystery-solving, and fantasy themes, you can experience all of them in Villienville: Echoes of Deception. It features an intriguing narrative that has you currying favor with characters, collecting clues, and having that climactic confrontation with that unknown enemy at the end. The way the text is presented needs more work, but aside from that, this is a solid game worth checking out.
