Harmony: The Fall of Reverie is a beautiful deconstruction | Kaser focus

With all the gaming excitement over the summer, I haven’t had a chance to talk about several games I’ve played over the past few weeks. One such game is Don’t Nod’s new visual novel, Harmony: The Fall of Reverie. And since this has been a relatively quiet week (and a short one for those celebrating a US holiday), I’d like to take the time to do at least a mini-review of the title. While my mind hasn’t changed much since playing the preview, I think it deserves attention – so that’s what this Kaser Focus is about.

Oddly enough, Harmony reminds me the most of deconstructed food. I am not avant garde chef, but my understanding is that deconstructed food is meant to offer familiar ingredients in a new, raw form to give the dining experience a refreshing experience. That’s the vibe I get from this game: it has all the familiar elements of a visual novel, but presented in an alternative way. It makes for a game that is much different from other games in the same oeuvre. Unlike other visual novels, the game presents its choice mechanism (and the entire game is built on the choice mechanism) through a Twine-like choice layout called the Augury.

The images in Harmony are stunningly beautiful, with the Aspirations in particular making a big impression. Each embodies their respective feeling, with Chaos a mess of discordant colors and mischievous attitudes, Truth a gloomy pillar covered in eyes and Bliss a little bundle of floating delight. Both Reverie and Brittle have a distinct, pleasant appearance. The story is also captivating with a central mystery hook and an emotional payoff that tugged at my old, withered hearts. I also can’t sing the praises of the voice actors enough – they all did a great job.

But if I have one gripe, it’s that the Augury’s stark honesty can be intimidating if, like me, you get decision-weary. Most visual novels leave an element of mystery to your choices to encourage you to replay later. And while Harmony has some replayability, the Augury’s blueprint layout of everything can feel a bit overwhelming, especially as you progress and the choices get more complex. It’s a minor gripe, considering the game is otherwise beautiful and delightful, but it may be a turnoff for some players.