This is a review of the visual novel game “Carpe Diem“, a short visual novel game with one ending and minimal choices. It is largely based off my Steam review of the game. There are spoilers in the review, so be careful. If that doesn’t bother you, read the review by clicking the “Read More” text below!~
First off, I should probably mention that this game is offered as a small, kinetic novel and as “Carpe Diem: Reboot“, which is a stand-alone sequel costing $4.99 here in the United States. I’m currently reviewing the original, version of the game, simply titled “Carpe Diem“. The original version of the game is free on Steam, though I’m unsure if there are any other official sites that host the files.
Cost: Free
Average read time: HowLongToBeat.com states that the game took the average player only 15 minutes to play through all the way.
Art: The art is easy enough on the eyes while remaining fun and cute (in my opinion). Carpe Diem has relatively normal anime-style characters, but also a slightly different style for the backgrounds. The backgrounds seem slightly simplistic, but still nice.
Writing: The writing is relatively easy to read, however the story was somewhat predictable to me and it may very well be the same for some of you. Nonetheless, it was just the right amount of story for the length of the VN.
Choices: The choices you follow throughout the short novel all take you to the same ending, just different scenes within the actual game. This is, of course, a type of kinetic novel so it’s understandable why this is the case.
The ending: Somewhat predictable yet also sort of bittersweet.
Highlight the space beyond this for the spoilers on why the ending was somewhat predictable to me:
Two hints at the true nature of Ai are her name and the text box style…
End of spoilers.
Overall, the free game “Carpe Diem” is definitely worth a try. It’s not the best visual novel out there, though it can definitely keep you entertained for a while if you’re into visual novels. It can also be completed in one sitting, so give it a try and see if you like it. I’m currently playing through Katawa Shoujo, so I may write a review on that visual novel later.
Also, it’s almost 6:00am here and I haven’t slept in nearly two days, so I apologize for any typos and/or any weirdly worded sentences. I hope you enjoyed this review!~
How to Kill Boredom 