Разработчик: Narrator
Описание
Two arms length away, she stood shivering in the summer rain.
Experience a future where the starlit night signals the end. Companion is a Chinese developed visual novel from Narrator with gorgeous artwork and a poetic romance.
The Companion Star Project is a name from the distant past.
With a population growth that showed no sign of slowing down,
a small planet was painfully relocated to orbit around the Earth
for pioneers to terraform and emigrate.
Those who stayed behind eventually lost control over the companion star
after bloody wars and devastating plagues.
Many years passed,
the companion star, now no longer in orbit, will bring inevitable destruction to Earth.
Those who know about the pending doom built shelters,
but they did not want the surface world to descend into chaos, so they took the secret with them underground.
And now,
a man who knows about the end and decides to live lavishly
and a girl who will turn his life upside down
their story begins when she steps under his umbrella
Features:
- Luscious and unique artstyle
- Voiced in Mandarin
- 7 chapters of romance, intrigue and revelations
Поддерживаемые языки: english, traditional chinese
Системные требования
Windows
- OS *: Win XP+
- Processor: 1.8 GHz Pentium 4
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Graphics: 1280 x 720
- DirectX: Version 9.0c
- Storage: 1 GB available space
Отзывы пользователей
A kinetic novel, existential but a bit too melodramatic. For me the background story was strained and not believable at all. On the other hand the plot was OK. Both the music and flow of narration complemented each other nicely. Still the title is well done and I am looking forward for checking up more titles from this developer.
i like this tbh, very calming, decent story
Companion is a short story about the end of the world. I liked that the premise is somewhat plausible, given that we have already done some things that were laid out in the Companion Star Project, along with other details like loss of technology via war and plague essentially rendering us helpless when the Companion Star begins to come crashing back down on us.
The journey of the main character was interesting to watch unfold, as he starts as a rather indifferent and unfeeling person seeing as he's one of the few who knows of the coming end of humanity and is forbidden to speak of it; until he meets Airi and slowly changes, day by day, along with the help of his old friends and their family. It also touched on a lot more adult themes than I was expecting, given the VN's description, which was a welcome surprise given it handled it very nicely. The ending left enough vagueness to give you a lot to think about, but I do wish there was a bit more to it as the final chapter was quite short.
All in all, I quite enjoyed it. Art was very pretty, and the Mandarin voice acting was great as well.
A beautiful and special story, which I can only recoment! Well made!
Companion is an entry into what I like to call the tragic love story at world's end sub-genre of visual novels. While this 2 to 3 hour kinetic novel is not terrible, I find it very hard to recommend when it's up against much better works like Eden, Harmonia, and Planeterian: Reverie of a Little Planet that cover the same well-trod ground.
Companion starts right before the apocalypse when a the narrator encounters Airi on a rainy night. Airi has a troubled home life and to get away from her neglectful mother often approaches strange men on the streets. The narrator (unnamed in the text but seems to be named Kevin based on the opening movie that plays before the title screen) is a scientist with a secret. A meteor is going to crash into the earth. In several days, he will enter into a underground bunker, part of the elite few who will might be saved, and everyone else on the surface will die. Looking to live it up, the narrator decides to make Airi his companion for the last normal days before Earth goes to the hot place in a handbasket.
Companion's biggest problem is that the narrator is... well, an A-hole. In similar works like Eden and Planetarian, the protagonists are cynical, hardened men, but that is because their experiences in a hard post-apocalyptic world have broken their spirits. But Kevin has gone through no such hardships. He just seems like a robotic and callous individual that doesn't seem to care about the gravity of his situation.
The interactions between Kevin and Airi are fairly mundane. A few times the story really calls attention to the fact that it's weird how everyone is going about their business as if the world will keep turning when Kevin knows the world is literally ending in a few days. As such, the story never reaches a level of poignancy that it needs to pull off a big tear-jerker moment.
But I'm not positive the story wants to be tear-jerker. It ends on a strangely optimistic note, but with the apocalypse hovering on the horizon, there can be no true happy ending for Airi and the narrator.
Cute and wholesome, one of the first VN I've read that delves into adult and mature subjects in a pretty elegant way.
Great story, and a cute love interest
Companion Star Project was supposed to be the solution to many of Earth’s problems. Find an Asteroid with similar suitable living conditions, and nudge it into the suns orbit to make it a “companion star.” A second Earth. This Project however, failed rather spectacularly and now an Asteroid is hurtling through space with Earth as it’s impact zone.
Realizing there is no way to stop this world-ending event, top government officials and scientists that were working on the CS project are heading deep, deep underground into hibernation hoping to wake up again in the distant and far-off future. The end of the world is kept a secret from the public, and everyone is living blissfully unaware that they are in their final moments.
The world is ending in one month and you go underground in five days. So, what do you do? Hire a prostitute, of course.
Companion is a 2-3hr Kinetic VN with Mandarin voice acting. While Companion wasn’t a bad read, I didn’t find anything I particularly liked about it either. This review is negative because the ending was rather uneventful and was clearly cut short and rushed.
You don’t have a choice at the end. The entire game was you planning on going underground into hibernation and then you change your mind 5 paragraphs before the credits. I didn’t particularly care for Airi but it would have been nice to at least have some info on how the final month/end of the world went instead of cutting it off right then and there.
Additionally, as proof the game was rushed you just need to watch the opening video on the game's page and the game opening when you start. You see character sprites that were never added to the game, as well as your own character, where you actually learn his name since you don't in gameplay, Kevin. Airi's name was changed last minute from AiLi.
Tl;DR - Game has a decent story but it's pretty clear a lot was cut out and the ending was rushed.
A wholesome, bittersweet existential story that managed to make me feel more in a very short time than a VN has in a while. It might not be for everyone but I found it charming and sad, but meaningful without melodrama.
There are questionable choices, regret, reflection and despair but hope despite it all. The adult themes actually have a purpose in the storytelling and do not overstay their welcome. (And there are no H scenes, just themes that matter in the plot). The art and music were perfect for the setting and the ending is a good conclusion while still leaving it open enough to think about.
I wish there was more.
Very good kinetic visual novel. Really liked the story and it's characters.
Beautiful and sad. Sad and beautiful. Totaly worth playing.
Was never keen on apocalyptic stories, just find them too depressing. IMHO though, that plot can be thought as mere set dressing. Narrator brings up Greek mythology in this; to emphasize this VN's similarity to the former. An elaborate and typically sad tale to convey what is actually a positive message or ideal. Probably a story you don't so much as enjoy but appreciate.
At 4-6 hrs it is on the shorter side but it is well written. If there were any grammar issues in the translation I didn't notice. While there is mature (and taboo) content the story doesn't dwell on it and no H-scenes. Not a whole lot of different CG's in this but did like the art style. Kind of a hybrid of eastern and western anime. This is a good buy but might wait for a sale.
Ah... Where to start?
From amazing music to gorgeous CGs, this game is a must get for those searching something to do when bored. Companion, a kinetic visual novel, will make you go through every facial expression you could ever make. With a bitter sweet ending, the story itself is very well written (maybe slight translation mistakes but who cares!) and almost brought me in tears multiple times. It's the first time I played a VN voiced in mandarin so the voice threw me a bit off at first, but you get used to it (it gets cuter as you play through). I'm a little bit dissapointed though because some CGs shown in the trailer don't appear in the game, but all in all, like it's name, it will make you crave for a companion if you are a lonely single f*cktard like i am.
Pros:
-CGs 10/10
-Music 10/10 I can't find it anywhere on youtube :'( the soundtracks are too good.
-Story 9/10
Cons:
-Translation mistakes (as long as you get the story, it shouldn't bother/hinder you)
-Short for it's price (Get it on discount!!!)
Amazing bittersweet story
Solid, short VN. Translation's a little rough, but certainly not unreadable. Story's a little daring, and does good things with that. I would have liked the story to end a little differently, but I have to admit their ending fits pretty well.
Definitely recommend.
This is an interesting little kinetic novel. The main character is a scientist who... discovered that a project from the past is about to come crashing down in rather... apocalyptic fashion. While the novel does tell of why people on Earth cannot stop the Companion from crashing to Earth in a ELE (look up Deep Impact for definition), it does not say why those on Companion can't help...
Anyway, the story begins like Pretty Woman. As in, you meet a whore/prostitute/call girl, who... captures your heart. And in the end... will you choose to save yourself? Or stay with her?
It appears to be a port of a Chinese VN, so some of the translations are not... completely done well, but the story does shine through. Note, I did get this on discount, and it might be a good idea to do so, too.
Also, this game is in line to get Trading Cards, depending upon how much demand is voiced on their discussion board...
this is one of the better kinetic vn's i have encounterd .
i hope to see more from the makers .
我将这部作品定义为 富有独创性 可圈可点 但仍有待提高的视觉小说
In general, Companion's storyline is not bad, but still need polish.
It is exactly a VN, without any selection you could make in its plots. And it was like a fiction, but the author emphatically described the events which usually happen in daily life and revealed things you may not notice at all.
I really want to complain that why the the text is Eng version, but it was dubbed in Chinese... It is so weird when a person whose major language is english, but need listen to a bunch of voices he can't understand even a little at all. As for the Chinese readers including me, there are some English skills you should have for reading that story. The experience was not good.
The CGs are excellent, and there are even some details in the CGs that you could find. I can imagine how the author pay attention to the materials-collecting. It is also interesting for me to look for those details when I'm playing the VN.
The text system is unique. Half of the screen is covered by the CG, another has the text on it. I'm not recommend the author to do so since it made me sleepy when I'm reading.
The BGMs are so nice! I'd love to added it into my wishlist if the soundtrack could be added. My favorite one was going on when Airi was opening the door of the car, leaving for her own home.
I will update more details about the plot if I could come back...
Companion 严格来说并不是Narrator社的最新作品 这是他们的第五作 但登陆steam的时间要晚于结恋。作为社团内较为早期的作品 Companion的总体质量算是比较高的，但也可以看出其在摸索阶段的不足之处。
多数人想要吐槽的应该是 开发者是中文使用者 但是游戏语言只有英文 然而配音却仍然保留了汉语，这显得有些不自然。我不认为使用英文的读者会很乐意听着不知所云的语音来进行游戏。然而对于中文玩家，又需要有一定的英文水平才能基本无障碍阅读，这显然是为这部作品提高了门槛。再者，视觉小说的玩家多数集中于中日2国（中国市场尤为庞大），这种对2者皆不利的阅读体验恐怕会大大影响销量。因此还是建议Narrator能够把原文本也加入到游戏中来（如果方便的话）。
个人感觉CG的质量很不错， 甚至比结恋要好，人物立绘更加精致。场景立绘也有相当一部分的细节，有时看看场景里隐藏着什么也是一种乐趣。看得出来开发者在取材时下了一大笔功夫。但场景重复率有些高，这一点继承了结恋的毛病。（每天起床看到Airi坐起来时一个样...）
文本系统的设置比较独特，整个屏幕的左半部分是CG，右半部分是文本，并且有将文本隐藏起来，以供观察CG全貌的按钮。但是我不太喜欢这种设计，像是把文字一下子全部堆积在右边，而不是慢慢呈现出来，像是在看密密麻麻的书中文字，让人昏昏欲睡（我有2次差点睡着了）
以下内容有部分剧透
内容一共分为7章（6章+终章） 整体营造的是近未来的科幻小说氛围，但着重描写的确实实实在在发生于生活中的事件。在游戏的过程中。作者的写作风格相当日式，有大量主角的心理描写，这让我看起来非常舒服（因为我非常喜欢这种描写细致的小说）虽然只是叙述了发生在短短3天内的故事，却让整个情节显得十分丰富，这是非常难得的。故事中发生的每一天都很充实，不会让人产生跳跃感。
但是对于女主角Airi的外貌描写过于单调，并且没过多久又再次强调一遍...个人认为2-3遍足矣，并不需要每天早晨起床或是其他的时间都要着重描写，让人觉得多此一举。
说到描写的重复，不得不说 来自主角内心 对于即将逝去的世间万物 过量的感慨 是一大败笔。 每当主角看见富有生机的事物或场景，必定会假象当这一切都不存在后的凄凉。数次的重复让人略显疲惫，这也是描写过度细致的缺点。
BGM 意外的好，很多日常时播放的BGM让人感受到了像是置身于闲适的乡间的感觉。个人最喜欢的是在第六章Airi离开车前的那一首，十分应景。
游戏内没有任何选项，因此严格来说应该算是实实在在的视觉小说。故事的发展中规中矩，讲述了在面临不为他人所知的灾难前，那些已经的得知结局的人们的选择。结局在情理之中，但对于主角的选择略显意外，毕竟这与他之前的种种考虑是相悖的。不过这个故事终归不是我购买时想要的，可能是期望有些高了，但体验也不糟。
暂时先这么多，有必要的话我会继续补充， 但现在我得准备明天的考试去了...
Дополнительная информация
| Разработчик | Narrator |
| Платформы | Windows |
| Ограничение возраста | Нет |
| Дата релиза | 01.02.2025 |
| Отзывы пользователей | 89% положительных (18) |