Miniature Garden

I recommend getting this VN on sale.
The story is highly engaging and the choices are limited. I mean we have seven endings and it's easy to get them. Just pair some choices together and boom, there you have it, an ending.
Anyway, the more I replayed this game to get other endings, the more I realized the story could've been more.

I was torn about recommending a game like this, but have realised I have no choice not to
There is something almost uniquely baffling about how poor this game is that is should be studied by all lest we repeat its mistakes

The premise, soundtrack, and art are excellent, clearing showing the amount of time and talent that went into this trashfire
The characters vary but are generally good, if not well-developed enough
The atmosphere is let down by the lack of present danger throughout most of the story, typically taking place towards the end, if at all
The 7th ending, fittingly titled The Seven Mysteries, is the only one that scared me at any point, although the climax of it has a line of dialogue so poor, it is also the only one that made me laugh

The story in general is awful that I struggle to believe a human made this
Generally, a story with multiple endings will use its endings to view a scenario from different perspectives, making a cohesive picture
This game does not
Many of the endings have little relation to one another, and whilst this may be a translation issue, or there's a wiki somewhere that explains everything, the fact of the matter is that the endings often feel like they close off different scenarios to each other

Information is conveyed poorly, typically by exposition dump or overly-revealed document, and does not provide the full answer to anything the reader may want to know
This is one of those mysteries where the mystery continues long after the story ends because the AI word generator that assembled this product was unable to comprehend their job was to answer questions, not just pose them

To summarise, this game is a trainwreck of a story that feels like it have been fixed with a storyboard in the planning stage, and I am genuinely curious has to how this could have been allowed to exist, especially so much of the game is done properly

So, whilst I cannot in good faith recommend this game for its writing quality, I can't NOT recommend it for its lack of quality writing

✔️ Tested on Steam Deck, it works fine (09/03/2023). Touchscreen for navigating the menu, 'A' or 'R2' button for advancing text.

This visual novel feels like a fragment of a bigger story. The plot is all around the place, in some routes the player doesn't even get enough information to figure out what's happening and it feels like everything is rushed to the point of being ridiculous. Some of the scenes that are supposed to be all dramatic and sad become kinda meme.

It's a pity because I really liked the art and the OST and also the voice acting sounds decent but I can't recommend this vn.

I'm a bit torn whether or not to recommend this visual novel. However, I do think I'm leaning more towards recommending it. That is, if it's on sale (I bought it on 50% off for roughly 8€) and you don't really have any other game you'd wanna spend the money on. It's definitely nothing you NEED to read but it also isn't the worst.

First off, the art is very nice and looks somewhat nostalgic. What really bothered me was the slight but constant sexualization in the images. It wasn't that bad but pantyshots and shots that literally go up the thighs in almost every single image just isn't very fitting for a game that aims to deliver a pretty serious message.

The music was also pretty nice, yet getting pretty repetitive despite the short length of the visual novel. I especially enjoyed the track playing in the menu. Voice acting was also pretty decent, though I wish the protagonist was voiced too. Oh, and also the character at the end.

As for the story, it was alright. It had an interesting premise and I can see where the author came from. I feel like it could have been explored more though. It also bothered me that most "plot twists" weren't revealed naturally and were more of a sudden explanatory monologue of one of the characters which resulted in less impact. I'm also still pretty confused about the story and didn't understand some parts (the whole thing about Ayana's doll for example and the childhood scene).
Also, some routes were so repetitive. Like yeah, I get the thing about the name registry, you don't need to tell me in all of the 5 or so routes that involve looking through it.

Now to the characters. They actually weren't as cliché as I expectedthem to be initially. In fact, I found myself liking most of the cast. What bothered me the most about them, were their sudden shifts in characters. I know, it's part of the plot and the whole story basically revolves around the reason for that, but it just lost so much of its impact this way and wasn't unsettling at all. At least the protagonist wasn't as bland as most visual novel protagonists but what even was his "story" in the end? I either missed it or they simply never revealed it.

In the end, I found the question they explored pretty interesting. However, the story was a bit shaky and overall felt a bit unsatisfying once you finish it. I'd recommend this if you're looking for a short and relatively unknown visual novel, maybe for a rainy afternoon or weekend. Otherwise, it's pretty pricey for its length (EVEN when it's on sale).

Booooooring. The setup is boring, the story is boring, the characters are boring, the art is generic as hell and the soundtrack probably comes from a free music library.

Overall mediocre experience. You should spend your time playing actually good games, and this isn't. It doesn't shine anywhere.

Get your kicks from something else. This tries to be a horror story but it's too dull. It doesn't quite hit the jackpot. Besides, they sneak in some LOOD jokes that feel very immersion-breaking.

At any rate, it doesn't last much, that should give you a hint of its depth...

"Do you have a memory that you wish you could kill?"

Miniature Garden is a very short horror/mystery visual novel. Honestly, I can't recommend it at full price due to its length, so if you've been interested, consider picking it up on sale.

Miniature Garden - a fitting name for the private school set deep in the woods. Every three years it holds Miniature Festival, which brings a lot of rumours about the Seven Mysteries, students going missing and winding up being dead the morning after the festival. Our main character Igusa Yasunari and four other students end up being trapped alone in the school on the night of the festival, and this is where the story begins. Will they meet their demise or manage to solve the mysteries and escape alive?

Summary:

- Very short. Takes about 4-5 hours to finish.
- Nice artwork and soundtrack.
- 7 different endings. Each has more information to reveal about the story.
- The game isn't scary, just has gruesome scenes here and there.
- Might start off bland and quite boring, but gets better during different endings.

This isn't the best pick for horror/mystery read, but it's still a decent story; would be great if the story was longer than it is. Still, I recommend it for a short read.

I really wish I could recommend this VN, but the quality artwork and intriguing setup just do not get the payoff they deserve by the end of the story.

{+} Scenario: Not exactly novel, and definitely gave me Corpse Party vibes early on, but there was obvious effort put into the atmosphere and the set-up for the mystery. It's just disappointing the rest of the game couldn't carry it through.

{+} Art Design: Characters aren't anything you haven't seen before, but they're expressive and beautifully drawn.

{+} Writing: Solid translation, readable, and engaging. Barring some of the wackier endings, the character writing is also pretty solid.

{+} Voice Acting: Exactly par; does what it needs to to carry across each scene. Given that many VNs are hamstrung by inconsistent VO, I'll happily give the game a point there.

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{-} Endings: Whoof. For all Miniature Garden does right, it absolutely does not carry off the endings with any consistency. After the route lock-in point -- and it was jarring to notice the shift in quality each time I went through -- even the best-developed routes feel rushed and incomplete, and don't really provide much in the way of closure. I played through all seven in the hopes that this might (as has been the case in other, better-constructed VNs) unlock more of the story, but no dice there, either.

In all honesty, it feels as though this game ran out of something -- money, time, developer interest -- and that the entire second half of the story they'd initially planned on ended up rushed out the door with little afterthought. None of the hanging plot threads (supernatural vs. mundane setting; random pharmaceutical company out of nowhere; the full history of the school and the characters) were satisfactorily resolved -- or even left hanging in such a way as to be complete but still retain ambiguity. The strong start only deepens the disappointment of the fumbles later on.

{-} Cost/Length: Bundling these thoughts together, as they're pretty well intertwined. Bought the game on sale, but even the price I paid (~£9.50/$12.00) left me feeling cheated of content. I'm not the world's quickest reader, and I got through all routes without substantive skipping in under ten hours -- for the standard asking price, this is ludicrously dry on content.

I don't generally post reviews for this sort of thing, because someone else has usually already done a better job of it than I could, but this is the kind of disappointment that needs to come with a warning label, especially when there are better, longer, more narratively-fulfilling experiences out there carrying a similar price-tag. Buy it as a popcorn game when it's on (steep) sale, but expect to be let down in the second half.

pretty enjoyable play
soundtrack were realy nice
played 3/7 ending and i had a good time, later i will try the rest

What A good Horror And VN Creepy Mystery type Game It has Elements Like Higurashi when they cry Anime Def Spooky And lots of freaky things Going So your trapped in the School When the Miniature Garden Festival starts. There are only 4 people in there with you All other students Left Your trying to find ways out But cant all doors are sealed Shut and Locked What do you do. Some people might Resort to Murder And lots of Violence Might break out But thats due to there Minds Playing tricks on them. Some might Blame others Some Might Scream In pain some might even Kill themselves Just to Make them Feel Alive or they Might even think they Dont care About what Happens and End there lives. What Twist in this Creepy VN People Should DEF Get this Loved it ^^ The Atmosphere was Horrifying And creepy Giving that Dark Vibe. This should def be read by more people Its Worth it.

To be honest,
I'm glad that I bought this, the story itself is OK but not too good.
Out of the 7 endings- No, 3 endings (As 4 of them are bad ends) I think only Rio's and Ayana's that make sense.
I still don't see what's the point of having Sumika there.
*Spoiler Alert, Proceed with caution*
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It's a mystery, alright.
But what's a supernatural being doing there?
Cut out supernatural being and it would've been a better story.

Score: a slightly dazed 7 out of 10
Miniature Garden has seven different endings, good character design, dialogue, and voice acting. The problem is the story. At first it is mysterious and interesting, but at the end (assuming you got one of the good endings) it just kind of sputters to a stop, concluding with either a vague non-explanation or a cliché explanation. Almost as though the writers didn't know if they wanted to make a horror story, a sci-fi, or a 4th wall breaking mystery.

Reading the decription of this game, you might think it was a Mystery/Horror Visual Novel in the same vein as Corpse Party, for example.
But for the most part, it's not. It's a Visual Novel about a bunch of kids strolling around in an empty, not at all scary school and having very occasional freakouts. The atmosphere is very relaxed for most of the story and no one seems to actually be in danger at all until things get very close to the endings. This is also reflected in the art. The CGs seem to mostly focus on almost-but-not-quite showing off the rears of the female characters (which is actually an improvement over some of Corpse Party, lol), rather than genuinely scaring, disturbing or intriguing you. Which is not what I come to this genre for.
I wont deny that there are some parts that are okay (mostly in Ayana's ending pre-credits, imo), but they are mostly drowned out by mind-numbing boredom and the occasional facepalm.
Which brings us to the Mystery angle. Which is also not very good. The characters just kind of stumble around until someone spouts some exposition at them, rinse and repeat. If you're lucky they might find an extremely unsubtle dokument or a very obvious riddle which no one would have had any reason to write. But for the most part, there is nothing you can actually put together on your own while the game alternates between revelations that are pretty obvious and those that are kind of ridiculous.
The characters are not particularly interesting either, especially the main character, who's only real character trait is that he's too cool to give a damn.
This is probably not the worst VN in it's genre, but if you are looking for a dark atmosphere, a good scare or an interesting mystery, I would recommend you to look elsewhere. And if you're just here for cute girls, there's better stuff in the Romance genre.

Minature Garden is...weird.

It's extremely short. Art is a little interesting because of its "sharpness" (in contrast to something like Steins;Gate where there's almost a blurring or maybe airbrush effect). Music is nice, but nothing special. UX is okay, nothing great like Maitetsu and nothing terrible like Himawari. It does force a low resolution when you put it in fullscreen mode (which makes switching windows a pain).

As the store page says, the setup is that a student is destined to die, and the cast finds themselves trapped in the school as they try to figure out what's going on. It's very lightly implied there, but early on they go into these fantasy/occult ideas of school rumors. That plays a part, as well as a more serious main plot. Problem is, on both accounts things aren't resolved very well. To explain why would give too much away, but while there's interesting stuff going on in the VN even by the ending the full import of it hasn't been explained, and stuff that was kind of foreshadowed never comes to pass. The closest thing to a "true" route this has (which, by the way, I stumbled upon as my very first ending, leaving the remaining routes slightly lackluster in comparison) ends with what feels like an out-of-left-field romantic conclusion in addition to leaving the ideas of the main plot not really concluded.

I suppose this could be compared to Himawari (like everything else nowadays, eh?) in that it presents some world-building with potential, but doesn't deliver on it--and in this case, there are no meaningful character arcs or heroine routes to accompany that incomplete main plot.

Very early on it is mentioned that one character has lost some memories. This idea of lost memories plays a pretty significant part in the plot, and of course the question "is it a good thing to lose painful memories?" comes up. The answer given ("no") is not suprising by any means, but I like the way it's justified--the reasoning behind the "no" (I'll leave that unspoiled), which is incredibly simple (really, little more than a couple throwaway lines at the end of a couple routes) yet in my opinion important.

I mentioned the romantic conclusion in one case feeling forced; technically there are three different heroines, but at almost no point during the experience itself does anything remotely resembling a romantic scene come up. The other two "routes" (just endings more so, the content with the heroine isn't meaty enough to call a route) don't end with near as much romantic subtext so it's not as egregious there.

7/10. The setting has potential here, and trying to figure out what was going on was interesting (in terms of the main plot as well as the characters, who all seem suspicious at one point or another). Unfortunately the story introduces a bunch of stuff that doesn't really matter for what's in the VN, leaving the main plot feeling incomplete, and the dramatic narrative doesn't have an appreciable arc. Also, there's the occult side of things--I personally don't like this in and of itself, but I feel its inclusion here was pretty out of place and detracts from the more grounded side of the plot simply by being there.

Miniature Garden is a horror mystery VN, which is a genre I always jump at the chance to play.

While it starts out interesting, and the bad endings build the suspense and mystery further, the actual story of the main routes is fairly lacking.

The game isn't that long, coming in at about 6 hours if you read at a fast pace, and the mystery doesn't end up feeling as complex, or exciting to unravel as it should. There's also the issue where the game seems to want to have it both ways, is the story paranormal or based in reality? Let's do a little of both.

The characters are- okay, but not great. I feel like we don't get to learn enough about them, or have enough meaningful interactions with them. We do at least make some progress towards that goal, which is more than I can say about other short VN's I've read.

There are a variety of choices leading to different endings, but the plot is mostly linear- things will just diverge at various points along the way, leading to a resolution not long after, until you find what seems to be the True End, even if it's not labeled as such within the game.

I'm going with Not Recommended, since it has to be one or the other, but I really don't think there's anything outright bad here, and if you're a prolific reader of Visual Novels, I would say to give it a go, but don't feel the need to jump into it right away. When the time and the price are right, then sure, go for it.

yeah it was okay
9.5/10
took 7 hrs to get a single ending, maybe i won't be so slow next time

It's a horror VN. that's all you needed to know.

And just like all horror movies and anything horror, the ride is worthwhile while it lasted. Now ask yourself if that's worth the purchase. Really, that's all you need to know.

It's super cool. Very mysterious. Nice japanese voice acting, if you like it. Pretty good translation to english. I like the art also, but the mysterious nature of the game is what gets me the most.

Welp, where do I begin. In a somewhat typical visual novel from the get go, you play as Yasunari who is trapped in a school with your childhood friend Ayana, buddy Itsuki, and lower classman Sumika. An unknown silver haired female student seems to be connected, with the mysterious supernatural trapping and creeping memories that are best left forgotten in the past. If you can tell, it’s left feeling rather lukewarm.

I never found out why the school is called Miniature Garden (the theme song is called “Miniature Garden of Paradise”), but that’s the only mystery I had to leave behind in this visual novel. Set in a secluded forest area, the school is known for its “seven mysteries”, and that also happens to be the number of endings to uncover. The mysteries provide fertile ground for letting the students’ imagination run rampant, especially since the mysterious events usually entail an unnatural death occurring on the night of the triennial Miniature Garden festival.

This school event is keenly anticipated by all, and on this occasion we meet two close friends - Yasunari, who is like an older brother to Ayana, a sweet girl suffering from loss of memory ever since early childhood when her parents ‘disappeared’. The two clearly bonded at an early age because Yasunari happens to be in a similar position, with both parents absent from his life and his foster parents insisting on never mentioning them. Yes, it is that kind of story, and it helps if you simply suspend disbelief right from the start in order to enjoy what is an engaging, thoughtful story.

Instead of scaring our group of teens, this is viewed as an exciting mystery. Well, that is, until the day of the festival arrives and each of them is knocked unconscious and locked within the school walls. Protagonist Yasunari wakes up with the memory of being hit in the back of the head but no real understanding of the situation. Where have all the other students (aside from his small group) gone? Why is it that even the windows cannot be broken to escape the school? Yasunari’s friends Itsuki, Ayana and Sumika all share the same story. They know they were assaulted but can’t figure out why. That’s when a mysterious student named Rio reveals to them that this is absolutely related to the Miniature Festival rumors. She’s somehow aware that if they do not escape the school by midnight that they will become the next group of murdered students.

It’s a terrifying scenario for all involved which only becomes more dangerous as they explore. Something very odd seems to be going on within the group, and it appears that no one can be trusted. Uncovering the mystery reveals some quite odd things about the school and its history – if you can manage to finish all the endings. There are seven in all to complete (although more than half of them are considered bad endings). Bad endings primarily offer disturbing or otherwise unfortunate endings for Yasunari and company. The other three endings tend to peel back layers of the mystery to explain various facets of what’s going on to players. Without finishing all endings, you’ll be left hanging with many questions.

So finally we get to the most important aspect of any visual novel, the story itself and how it’s delivered. There are some technical blips and drawbacks here. A consistent blip is the patchy translation. Regular grammar mistakes as well as infelicities of expression and phrasing occur throughout. While these did not amount to making the story points incomprehensible or misleading (although I had to re-read several dialogues carefully due to ambiguity), I felt that it hindered my complete immersion. The other narrative aspect that disrupted my immersion, at certain crucial points in the story, was the shifting of perspective away from the usual Yasunari first-person point of view. For example, when Rio is on her own, making a discovery, we are switched to her first-person POV. The first time this happened, I had to double-check, wondering whose voice I was reading. I think it is an ungainly, lumbering technique that breaks the flow of narrative experience, and the writers were obviously aware of this issue since these switched scenes are prominently marked in the top corner as, for example, “From Rio’s Side”. Keeping a consistent third-person viewpoint (what’s usually referred to as a ‘close’ or ‘intimate’ third-person POV in story-crafting terminology) would probably have worked very well for this story. The belief that first-person provides, in and of itself, a more direct and personal engagement is common, but certainly not the case when it leads to a choppy delivery at key moments.

It took me a while to get into the story properly, for the build-up is slow and you need some patience, despite the relatively short duration of a first playthrough (four hours, tops). But as the past unravels and complex relationships and events emerge, I could not help but be drawn towards the ending. There are certain elements propping up the story that will come as no surprise to readers and players of Japanese visual novels and anime, such as the ever popular nefarious organisation at highest echelons. You always get the problem that sometimes the story has to accommodate the plot devices in tales such as this one, where all the minutiae have to dovetail together and make sense, so I make allowance for that, as long as the details do all snap together satisfactorily in the end. And they do.

Storywise, this isn’t the worst VN I’ve ever read. But it isn’t the best, just okay. After playing through the game more than seven times to get the different endings, aspects of what lets the game’s writing down can be boiled down to pacing and the main character.

What makes it underwhelming is the way the main character Yasunari effectively downplays events and almost invalidates anything the other characters says and doesn't remain consistent enough for me know him as a person. Assuming he is a trouser’s type of character, he’s too inactive and indecisive that makes other Anime main characters who have been criticised as trouser characters rather colourful. When the story is given is prompts in making a decision, the way he acts is somewhat distracting with his reactions varying to the point it doesn’t feel genuine. A let down when compared to the other characters that are genuinely interested when they’re conversing together.

The seven endings are drawn out, with maybe two at most feeling genuinely good. If the game gets extra content, I would definitely revisit this again because it has the trappings and gems to make this better than mediocre at best. But when I compare this to other VNs I’ve read which have dark, mystery and supernatural elements. This lacks things that’d warrant a full hearted recommendation, Saya No Uta being one of the best with the above things. Maybe the art lets this down, because when I hear people die I expect to see full on massacre like images. Corpse Party, which I reviewed, really drove home the horror elements with its art. A few blood stains, but no real mid danse macabre. And just before the score, along with the final nail to the coffin is the price. I can’t justify its (at time of writing) price of $14.99, when Steins;Gate and Higurashi are also available on Steam. They both offer a much longer read and better writing. Final thing to put this review to rest, that was originally going to be relatively positive. If you want a similar premise thing but with better overall content for its price, just get Danganronpa.

Verdict 3/5
Ideally, I’d love to have a short visual novel like this available on my phone or other portable device; it would be perfect (with a total playtime of about eight-ten hours) for a long trip. Miniature Garden calls itself a “mystery visual novel” and that pinpoints exactly what it is.

Just finished this visual novel and overall it's not bad, the story characters and artstyle are all pretty good, the music is a little lacking though. I would say that it's a good visual to play if you are new to visual novels as it is relatively short and not too expensive to buy but to someone who is more experienced with visual novels it will probably come off as a bit lacking. So overall I don't think it is bad but I also think there are better mystery visual novels on steam such as Higurashi, Stein's; Gate and Root Double.