Vera Blanc: Full Moon Review

I’ve played quite a lot of visual novels recently, generally they have revolved around some kind of romance plot and most have that classic Japanese anime style. There has been the odd title with a more western feel about it but not many. Vera Blanc: Full Moon is the latest visual novel to drop on my lap, this seems to look more like a choose your adventure kind of title rather than the usual anime-centric visual novels that have been released over the last few months.

In Vera Blanc: Full Moon you play as Vera Blanc who is a young woman who possesses a special gift, this gift is the ability to read other people’s minds. Vera is the daughter of one of the richest people in the world, Emmanuel Blanc. However, Vera has decided to leave the luxury lifestyle behind and use her unique powers to work with paranormal detective Brandon Mackey. The plot of Vera Blanc: Full Moon revolves around a serial killer on the loose and it appears to be a werewolf, it’s up to Vera to find out who the culprit it before more people die. Vera Blanc: Full Moon is similar to visual novels in the sense that there is a lot of dialogue and choices to be made. In the case of Vera Blanc: Full Moon you have more choice over where you go as there are several places that can be visited in practically any order, this is when the dialogue comes into play and where most of your choices will be. There are also mini-games you can take part in (you can turn this option off) which will further the story as well.

Vera Blanc: Full Moon contains a few extra mechanics than your usual choose your own adventure story or visual novel. Vera’s reading minds ability is often an option in the interactions you have with the characters. If you choose to read someone’s mind then this is done via a simple word puzzle. What they are thinking can only be unravelled by clicking the right letters which then populate the gaps in the same way you would in The Wheel of Fortune, if the whole sentence is populated then you move on, but you can mess this up. There are other mini-games such as Spot the Difference and a memory game which help add a bit of variety to the proceedings. Differing again from most visual novels is the ability to investigate between different areas on a map, Vera Blanc: Full Moon is not completely linear giving you the option to return to a previously visited area like a Town Hall or Forest. The story of Vera Blanc: Full Moon is split over 7 days, and you can save at any point.

You can also die at several points in Vera Blanc: Full Moon, so that sense of dread as you find yourself in a predicament knowing the wrong choice will result in your death makes Vera Blanc: Full Moon quite an interesting game, you’ll also find yourself randomly dying not thinking the choice you made had such ramifications! Saving regularly is key in Vera Blanc: Full Moon, there is a back button, but that in some instants can only take you back to so far. The plot and dialogue can feel somewhat cheesy in a sort of straight to DVD way, but Vera Blanc: Full Moon does just enough to keep things becoming to nonsensical because to be fair you will want to know how the story ends. Whilst choice picking and the mini-games are easy to navigate, moving around the map is more annoying than it should be.

Graphically Vera Blanc: Full Moon has an excellent comic style going for it in the form of quite detailed panels. The mini-games do resemble something from a past era, but are fine for what is required. Musically Vera Blanc: Full Moon builds up the mood in a satisfying way and works well in conjunction with the visuals. There is a couple of different endings which give Vera Blanc: Full Moon a bit more longevity, but they are both based on a late decision so depending how quickly you read the text Vera Blanc: Full Moon could take an hour or two to get through. Beyond the two endings, there’s no reason to go back and replay Vera Blanc: Full Moon.

Vera Blanc: Full Moon has an innovative comic style and offers something more than your standard visual novel. The mini-games and interactions give the player a better than usual visual novel experience. Whilst the story and dialogue may become nonsensical at times Vera Blanc: Full Moon is something you should play if you like the choose your own adventure or visual novels genres. What’s not to like about a mind-reading supernatural detective?

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Nintendo Switch code was provided to Bonus Stage for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to press@4gn.co.uk.