Raging Loop

Insanely intensive visual novel

this is some of the best visual novels I've read. Top-notch suspense, also one of the rare places in video games you can get very logical yet interesting dialogues.

believe Rikako when she warns you that this game is obscenely long

An exciting, satisfying visual novel! I'd call it more of a thriller than a horror game. I can understand why some people would dislike later developments that occur, but for me it rode the line it was trying to cross very well. Playtime will increase after review because I'm excited to dig in to all the post-game goodies it has to offer.

Also Chiemi gang 4 life, we fix problematic girls.

the best introduction to visual novels i ever did have

Start out amazing. Really emotional story, endearing characters and it constantly keeps you on your toes. then gets to the last act and manages to fumble the landing entirely. By the last act I was just praying for the game to end. I didn't care any more there was no thrilling climax more of a pathetic sputter.

Main gripes

The story sets up certain things to be true but then back tracks what you thought was well established and deus ex machinas the fuck out of you. Don't want to spoil the story but every one who has beat the game can readily attest to this

The game makes it seem like you have to take guesses to gather information to loop back and use said information similarly to a GREAT game like zero time. But naw in reality this is a pure visual novel with NO choices. The story is completely linear. It presents you with many branching paths but trust me those are a lie

But the biggest issue for me is who this game kinda just wastes your time. If you want a compelling story you will get one with raging loop but TRUST ME you will not be satisfied with this game. You will be begging for it to end before it is over. You will be rolling your eyes and the various "reveals" towards the end of the game. The story out right lies to you.

Please just avoid this game and save yourself the heartache. It was really really good until it got really really bad.

it went from super good to legendary to ass but i still liked it

Score: 7/10

• Art Style: The character designs and backgrounds are well-done.
  
• Music: The soundtrack is decent and fits the atmosphere, though it doesn’t stand out as a major highlight.
  
• Story: The main plot is compelling, and some of the extra stories add interesting context and depth or are really funny. The writing remains solid throughout.
  
• Pacing Issues: The story could have been streamlined by merging or shortening certain routes, particularly the first and second. Some sections feel unnecessarily stretched.
  
• Dialogue: Most of the game consists of dialogue, which is engaging and well-paced. It effectively builds tension and mystery throughout the story.
  
• Protagonist: The main character is one of the game's strongest aspects, bringing humor and personality that make interactions enjoyable.
  
• Rikako Uematsu: A particularly well-written and funny character that adds a lot to the story.
  
• Confusing Elements: Certain explanations, like those about "God", jinxs or paranormal events in one of the extra stories, feel overly complicated or are badly explained.
  
• Final Twist: The twist at the end works well, but the origins of certain supernatural elements are poorly explained. While some details are clarified in an extra story, they remain confusing.
  
• Bad Endings: Some bad endings reveal important information, such as a character’s true identity, but this knowledge is not carried over to the true routes. This inconsistency can be frustrating.
  
• Third Route: The romantic subplot in the third route feels forced and doesn’t add much to the overall narrative.
  
• CGs: While the game has a decent number of CGs, many are slightly altered versions of the same scenes. More variety would have improved the experience.
  
• Murder Scenes: The artwork for the murder scenes is minimalistic, often just red and black silhouettes. More detailed or graphic illustrations could have heightened the tension.
  
• Meiko’s Role: Meiko’s role in the final part of the story seems like a setup to promote another visual novel rather than an organic part of the narrative.
  
[*]Revelation Mode: For those playing a second time, this mode adds extra scenes, dialogue, and internal monologues. However, not all of them are significant or enhance the story much.

Loved the conecpt to incorporate the "Werewolf" game into a Visual Novel story. As many other reviews correctly pointed out it had some very high highs and very low lows. The first 60% of the game are amazing but it drops off massively towards the last third. Sadly the writer did not seem to have a solid idea how to finish off the story in an satisfying manner and attempted to get way too clever with the twists, which is a common recipe for desaster.

Still Its a very unique VN and definetely worth reading, despite the disappointing conclusion.

Overall, it's a solid game and worth playing. The ending is just ok—it attempts to prove that all phenomena can be explained using scientific explanation (what's with the electronic lock, anyway?) while also incorporating reasoning that relies on mythology as a backdrop.

This is an amazing visual novel that deserves to be read by everyone. As for the horror aspect, I can attest as the biggest coward of horror that it was not an issue for me. It is a fantastic story employing time-loops and a non-linear narrative with fantastically written and voice acted characters. Beyond that it's difficult to say much, because everything is a spoiler and even as someone who isn't effected by spoilers much, I recommend going in blind on this one because there's just so many amazing twists and turns. An amazing VN that I honestly don't know if I'll ever find something better.

Dating Sim

I just finished the game with the true end, without the "directors cut" information,

i very much enjoyed this game for the first 2 loops, the 3rd loop was a little rough in terms just the nature of that route in general was uncomfortable (which is likely the whole point)
(that and the mc kind of hitting on a minor?)

Raging loop is definitely a game that makes you question and morbidly curious as to what even is going on and why keeping you glued and locked in to keep reading.

My only gripe is:
The ending of the game seemed really intense and interesting, some of the twists really threw me for a loop
(no pun intended)
and they hit you with a boat load of information that doesn't seem to make a lot of sense.

So then you go to the finale where you think it'll make sense.

....and then it still really doesn't super make sense, at least not to me as of right now.

It seemed to fall flat especially with the incredibly insane information you get from end of the 3rd loop,

and how one of the "problems" you have to solve in the finale more or less just solve's itself in an incredibly anticlimactic way, the writers blaming it on "karma" which i wasn't the biggest fan of.

Maybe if i go back and read the "revelations/director's cut" i will understand all of the nuances of all the information more seeing the other perspectives, emotions, and secret info that wasn't available the first go around.

but regardless this was a very fun read for the majority of it and even if the end fell a little flat it in the end it still had a nice little cute bow to leave you feeling satisfied with your game play and I enjoyed it immensely and i still recommend it if you like horror vn's.

Fusayuki-san

I am playing 27hr now but still not reaching the truth. A bit slow but the story is pretty good.

Most Death Game and Murder Mystery Visual Novels:

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Raging Loop:
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Ugh, it's still worth playing, but anything after Loop 3 is trash tier. It brings a 8 or 9/10 game down to a 5/10 max.

god

Very good.

Liked: The soundtracks, characters, world-building, wordplay, length/content.
Dislike: Reveals too much via tutorialization. While I believe scenario chart is helpful feature, but I can't help but feel it kills some of the mystery, the endgame.

I really enjoyed the story and characters. Interesting take on the game of Werewolf

非常好的游戏，很多设定参考了寒蝉鸣泣之时，但是同时又做出了很多创新，说神作完全不过分。
故事结局有些瑕疵，部分的前面的悬念解释的比较模糊。但是游戏里面人物的心理博弈非常强劲，玩的时候很动脑子，这一点很爽。

Supernaturalcel seethes over Haruakichad.

Oml I want a motorcycle now.

Raging loop is a fantastic murder mystery visual novel that places a heavy emphasis on the game of werewolf. You play as Haruaki Fusaishi, and are thrust into a game of survival after crashing your bike in the remote village of Yasumizu.

Each death you experience loops you back to the beginning, earning you a new key that you can use to unlock other choices to ultimately find other routes and extend your survival.

The game has quite a few routes and endings (and a convenient route map), though only one true route, and to be frank, the ending definitely wasn't as good as I thought it could've been. The game's beginning and middle, where you spend the most time learning about the mysteries of the village, it's surrounding areas, and their gods is truly the most interesting parts. There was more enjoyment in the journey than the destination I suppose.

That being said, meh ending or not, it's definitely worth giving a play. Soundtrack was fire, and the artwork really is memorable.

I've played it twice, and would definitely be down for a third replay once my memory gets hazy hehe.

9.5/10 Among us the visual novel

I've had this game on my radar for years but never committed because of the reviews saying the ending is bad. I finally decided to give it a chance myself and I'm glad I did.

The first 3 chapters of this game were truly a blast to read. I had to so much fun that I finished this game in just 3 days. When I did finally get to the ending I didn't feel the ending ruined the work at all. There are many hints throughout the game that nod to the deeper plot. I was able to pick up a few things and even predict a few things that would happen in the ending.

The biggest disappoint to me isn't the ending itself. but the tone of it. I won't go into much detail but it really felt empty to me. I think the story is well thought out and crafted for the most part. I would have liked things to be a bit different but honestly I think it's alright how it was done.

Despite my gripes with the ending, I am truly glad I gave this game a shot and immensely enjoyed most of it.
This has taught me that instead of holding myself back because of reviews, if I am interested in something I should really give it a shot myself. I understand the irony of writing that in a review but this is really just for my personal thoughts on the game, take them as you will. Finally, I recommend this game to people looking for a decent mystery story with an engaging plot and interesting characters. I also enjoy the extras in the game and feel they enhanced the experience for me.

A gripping and intense story that will keep you glued to the screen for hours. I bought this VN years ago and left it languishing in my Steam account, then decided to check it out on a whim a few days ago and finished the whole thing (the main story, at least: I haven't read the side stories) in about three days.

It's a long-ish VN (it took me about 17 hours to read from beginning -> end, I imagine it might take other people up to 30 hours if you want to listen to all of the voice acting), but it's paced well for a VN of this size and it never really drags. Everything you learn about the characters and all of the conversational scenes are relevant, and the VN is tightly written despite its length: it never feels like it's wasting your time.

I loved the first 3 chapters of the VN and was fully engrossed in it: every time I put it down I kept wondering what would happen next. The last chapter, by contrast, fumbles (the story goes from being a tense life or death game into several hours' worth of exposition and info-dumping, including long sections about Japanese kanji and wordplay which was a little dull), and the tone is markedly different from the rest of the VN. I can't say I really care for the overall explanation of the mysteries presented in this story, either: some of the solutions felt outright ludicrous, and they really stretched my suspension of disbelief.

Despite that, the ending wasn't enough to ruin my enjoyment of the story, and I think it's worth experiencing for the first three chapters. They're tense and atmospheric, and they were very engrossing. I enjoyed the VN a lot overall, and even though I didn't like the ending as much, it still kept my attention and I finished it feeling generally positive about the experience.

Also, Rikako is the best girl.

absolutely fantastic

For the first 15 or so hours (The first two full loops) this was the most fun I think I have ever had with any game in a long time, and then somehow, halfway through the third loop, the game had a massive dip in quality, still decently enjoyable, just not as spectacular as the first two loops, only to be followed with the WORST ending in the history of any medium of storytelling ever. Raging Loop will go down in my mind as one of the greatest, and THE WORST video game of all time. The title is very accurate because I'm filled with Rage every time I remember that this game exists, just save yourself the time and quit after the third loop ends.

Rock, paper, shotgun.

An excellent visual novel that went over my head at times, and left me with dozens of thoughts to loop (haha) through as I lay in bed. It's a great find, sale or not, for that mystery/horror itch you may have. It's great value with the extras and 'revelation mode' tacked onto the plentiful main story.

The characters are all beautifully written, and I loved revisiting each one and seeing a new side of them individually. The music is catchy, and had me creepily humming the prayer to Shin'nai. The CGs struck that great balance of disturbing and mesmerising.

The only gripe I may have with the game is that in the last act, where you're gathering the last few major keys to the story tree, it is a huge slog of information-dumping. Less action, cunning plans (aside from the two village's politics, you'll get what I mean if you've finished), or horror, and more kanji education, backstories, and paragraphs of diary reading. The information is majorly cool to the overall world-building, but it's a noticeable change in gear to the last two acts of the game.

Overall, I highly recommend! Please play this just for the great voice acting alone!

lit

I played this game mostly in offline mode, putting ~50 hours into it. I have kept this as spoiler-free as possible.

I am conflicted on this review. There are a few things it does that I genuinely like, but when it comes to VNs it's all about sticking the landing, imo. Raging Loop fails in that regard in almost every way imaginable. The first act is interesting, the second really grabbed my attention, but the third act? Sweet Lord, it's a mess. A disaster, even. The game throws such an intense amount of information and lore in the closing hours of the game making it very difficult to understand what's being said (it doesn't help that there's no small amount of word play with the native Japanese, but the game does its best to keep the reader in the loop). It honestly feels as if the author wanted to create what was presented in the final 1/3 of the game but the producers wanted a "werewolf the VN" and what we got was this poorly sewn together combination of the two. It feels like two different ideas mashed together.

When the game ends it gives several epilogues to see what happens next with some characters, overall immaterial to plot. It also offers a sort of NG+ where you can replay the game to get characters' thoughts and perspectives throughout. This is interesting mechanic but ultimately it shows how much of the MC's thoughts are completely hidden from the reader for the purpose of "what a twist this will be later!" It relies so heavily on the unreliable narrator that it begs the question of why make this a 1st person narrative and not 3rd? The MC is presented as this genius paragon who, whenever he figures something out, says something like "ah, so that's what it means," leaving the reader guessing (he's also clearly a self-projection of the game's author which... is not a good thing here). This is not a bad thing in small amounts, but when it covers 50+ hours of reading, it feels disingenuous and frankly is just bad writing.

I'm frankly amazed at the overwhelming positive reviews for this game. It had its good moments, but if you're going into this thinking it's a werewolf simulator where you can choose who to vote on or that it has dynamic dialogue options (who should I talk to today?), you will be disappointed. This is a very linear story, which isn't bad at all, but I was hoping for more player choice in a social deception story.

暴露模式神中神

The first 80-90% of the game was really strong.
The limp dick ending kinda ruined it for me. It genuinely made me viscerally angry.

I still recommend the game because of the interesting mystery, nonlinear storytelling, the soundtrack, among other things (IT HAS A FLOWCHART). I just hated the resolution.

You know its a good game when you start to get dreams about slaughtering and getting slaughtered in a distant village.
Very nice game, good narratives, plotlines that immediately draws you in. Would recommend even if you are usually not a fan of horror - this game definitely makes its players tense time and again, but mostly through music and story-telling, rarely (if never) with visual depictions or jumpscares.

I could not stop reading till the very end. Now I am depressed. 9/10

This thing is amazing

"Like hell I was gonna stay outta the loop any longer!"

Easy recommendation for fans of Phoenix Wright games, Spike Chunsoft games, or other games with heavy story and character focus.

Expect strong, increasingly ramping immersion, with the characters and story well-integrated into the light yet meaningful game aspects.

bad. just bad

Overall enjoyed it. I thought the ending not quite as bad as other reviews seem to complain it to be, but I felt a lot of the final details about the true nature of the story were confusing and vague or simply dissatisfying, especially for a kind of story/medium that usually overly explains things.

Just finished the game and the sotry itself is very good with intresting plots aswell as twists but the ending fell very flat on it's a*s and puked up all it ate and left itself hungry and hollow, 7/10

Good game so far, I really enjoy the premise and the whole mystery aspect- though im yet to finish so i cant speak about the ending. BUT I absolutely despise Rikako and hate how much time I'm forced to spend with her, no I will not elaborate. I miss Chiemi :(

After finishing this VN I was no longer the same person.

I went through all 5 stages of grief.

From start to finish. You can definitely tell that everyone who worked on this VN put their soul into it making it amazing.

Marvelous localization too!

My only wish is to reincarnate with new sets of memories and reread this masterpiece.

Luckily my memory is pretty bad so I wont have to wait for too long before diving into this story again.

i have somethings to say about Raging Loop, mostly being that it's broadcast as having multiple endings and a non-linear storytelling, but to be honest, it doesn't. There are "endings" sure but there's only one final ending, and actually it's storytelling is linear. Other than that, the story to me, is great, it takes something simple and turns it into a riveting mystery tale which had me on the edge of my seat the whole time, it was so good and was only let down a bit by the 'final ending', but even though I was kinda let down and somewhat even disgusted by the ending. I still enjoyed Raging Loop and don't regret getting it at full price, so I'm still recommending it.

doesnt matter how good the story is, my fucking controller doesnt work half the time, these game devs need to be shot

drags gnosia down by association. good characters and plot beats in there but holistically bad. occasionally feels like the developers are laughing at their own inside jokes, and the player is meant to sit there and watch. starts out strong then fumbles the ball hard. gross writing. music is decent.

Cannot immediately recommend this game because of the ending, though the beginning is very strong and good.

The premise is great. It starts out great, and its logic is both clever and planned exceptionally well. It teases some [SPOILER] and makes you think and curious for more. The tutorial and hints are a bit wordy, but thorough and helpful.

But the ending... The quality of writing is not consistent. The author sells you this psychological horror mystery, but by the time you get to the end, they have forgotten the purpose of the game, and begins info dumping for the sake of covering every detail imaginable about the world, at a blindingly fast pace, at the expense of the experience.

I loved Raging Loop!!
+ Excellent cast of characters
+ Loved the replayability and QoL within which made it soo easy to go back and choose different choices, etc.
+ Loved the 'loop' aspect (unlike Deathloop which sucked) that encouraged getting to know a few characters really well in one loop then focusing on others in a different path until you really got to know all of them and their backstories well.
+ Great V/O all throughout.
+ Amazing extra content that gave me another 5-10+ hours.

Honestly didn't even mind the ending which gets a little meta / silly. RIKAKO SAMA FOREVERRR

Summary:
I've played a lot of VNs, but this is in my top 3 right up there with Stein's Gate. I've played through this 40 hour game twice several years apart (finally supporting the devs properly, yall I'd forgotten just about every plot point)

Pros:
The lore is a fun take on a party game your probably familiar with, with folk songs, and a village's customs/religion/lifestyle and the slightly different rules another world abides by. Characters are all engaging, developed and don't fall into too many tropes, including the MC. Voice acting is peak with some great writing throughout. There aren't many tracks but they are atmospheric and a few stay with you.

Cons:
-The last few hours are a bit 'info dumpy' as some put it which felt rushed, but they added SO much extra content post-game to clarify on a lot of the mysteries. imo It more than makes up for any weaknesses giving you hours of extra content.
-There is a 'hint corner' that carries a lot of extra writing/VA content in it. That and you caaan get lost for a few minutes without it so imo engage with it.

Este juego quiso tomar tantos elementos que terminó siendo un sin sentido, si odiaste el final de Blood C, ni pierdas tu tiempo, es peor que eso. Y para explicarte todo te terminan diciendo que en realidad algunos personajes tienen una especie de stand capaz de alterar la realidad y los sueños.
Y para mí tiene el peor personaje principal que he leído, es incapaz de tener una sola personalidad a cada momento esta cambiando y parece que la razón de todo eso es que es escritor.
El raging loop era el que da este juego leyendo por décima vez la diferencia entre Ookami y el lord Shin'nai.

Imagine making an extremely good visual novel only to ruin it with the "true end", I still think it's worth experiencing because everything that comes before unlocking the true end is amazing. However after you experience the true end there's a very good chance you'll end up irritated and sad with the writer/writers for ruining such a good visual novel with such a true end.

At least that's what happened to me and I'm sure many others feel the same way, all the true end does is ruin what came before it and create plotholes in the story because they seemingly weren't planning to end the visual novel this way initially but for whatever god forsaken they eventually chose to end it the way they did, it just leaves a bitter taste in your mouth.

Let me preface this by saying: I REALLY wanted to like this game. Mystery and Folk Horror are my favorite genres and Werewolf is my favorite party game. And in all fairness, there were things about this game I truly enjoyed. Unfortunately, the things I didn't weighed a lot heavier.

I'd sum it up like this: Can you enjoy an otherwise decent mystery story even if its final act and resolution is absolutely terrible? If yes, I'd recommend this game. If not, you probably shouldn't get it.

Because yes, Raging Loop's resolution is exceptionally stupid, and that is in large part due to it apparently not knowing what its tone is supposed to be, or where to stop with the ~twists~. To put it in VN nerd terms, this game is trying to be an unholy amalgam of Umineko and Higurashi when it would be much better served by being Death Mark. It does not set up most of the themes or plotpoints it ultimately decides it's about and the climactic showdown of the game happens basically offscreen the first time - you have to play NG+ to even see it. The explanation make no sense and then it's all made moot in the Epilogue anyway.

As I said, it's not all bad, though. Act 1, 2, and especially 3, had aspects that made me roll my eyes a little, but I would say that they are worth experiencing for the discussion scenes alone. Those are fantastic, especially in terms of the social dynamics. The horror aspects are also really solid in those Acts. It's just unfortunate that Act 4 (and some parts of Act 3) looms large over all that is good in this game.

A mildly spicy game of Ultimate Werewolf in VN form, but every player is a midwit.