Visual novels are usually relegated to flat 2D surfaces. After all, they’re little more than interactive storybooks. To pull one out and create it from the ground up with virtual reality in mind is pretty much unheard of. Until now, that is. With Angels & Demigods, fans of the genre are being treated to perhaps the first of its kind. For those not using a VR headset, don’t worry. Traditional platforms are also being supported.
Angels & Demigods is a title being developed by the same studio behind the Invisible Apartment series, and it shows. The artwork instantly invokes images of their flagship games, and the basic plot certainly echoes what came before. The most surprising aspect of Angels & Demigods is how far into the future it’s set. It still evokes some semblance of the cyberpunk stylings of the previous games, though.
To VR or not to VR
The first chapter of Angels & Demigods is pretty much finished. It’s available to download on several platforms, including Steam VR and Vive. A few, like Oculus and the Gear VR aren’t ready yet, but they should be coming soon. Of course, non-VR versions are downloadable as well. I know I’m going to be trying it out, without the intended hardware unfortunately.
Aside from the new playable options, the other major aspect that sets Angels & Demigods apart from the Invisible Apartment series is this one is fully voiced. We get a tease from the actress playing the “angel” and it already sounds worth listening to. I’m certainly looking forward to hearing more once I get the chance to play what’s available.
In all, Angels & Demigods looks to be not just a great addition to any visual novel fan’s collection but also to their VR collection, however small it may be. I’ve enjoyed their previous works, so backing this one should be a no-brainer.
(Ed: We’ve added the promising Angels & Demigods to our Kickstarter curation page, which you can check out at http://kickstarter.com/cliqist)
I finally got around to playing the first part of the game and while rather short it sets up an interesting story. It did take me a couple minutes to get used to playing a VR-style game with the mouse, but once I did it was great to see a visual novel with full 360-degree motion.
It’s just really hard to imagine playing a visual novel through VR!
If you like that consider checking out Virtual Novel who are also creating a VR VN
http://virtualnovelgame.com/