BlueberryNOVA is a yuri visual novel about Aika’s first year at school and two love interests.
Foreword: published December 31st, 2021
For the purposes of this review, I will only be discussing the patched game.
Gameplay: published December 31st, 2021 (3/5★)
There is little “gameplay” to BlueberryNOVA (even by visual novel standards). Every once in a while, you will be given a choice between a two or more replies; your responses will determine how the game ends. If you’re interested learning everything about everyone, you’ll need to experiment with new playthroughs.
Sexual Content: published December 31st, 2021 (2/5★)
BlueberryNOVA has a few sex-scenes, but I’m confident they’re only there for sales. They’re too infrequent, and the overall heavy themes of the story (such as suicide) don’t lend well to erotic content. On the brighter side, the artwork is pretty good! I enjoyed seeing the cast naked, but it’s worth mentioning most of the sexual content is non-consensual. This isn’t an issue for erotic games, but I’m skeptical the intended audience for BlueberryNOVA will be keen to glorified rape.
Story: published December 31st, 2021 (1/5★)
While exploring her new neighborhood, Aika stumbles upon a lonely girl. Her name is Eva, and she is more than meets the eye. Eva harbors a traumatic past which includes the main protagonist. Aika has since forgotten Eva, but it seems fate has brought them together once again as college freshmen. Eva wants Aika, but she’s not alone: Aiko wouldn’t mind spending the rest of her life with Yukino, an outgoing girl with similar interests. Eva and Yukino have everything Aika needs — but their fates belong to you.
BlueberryNOVA is like a bad creative writing piece. One day, the characters are strangers — by the next, they’re fine with being raped by each other. I don’t complain about throwaway rape scenes in erotic games, but BlueberryNOVA is not a pornographic game. There should be build-up and consequences for the characters’ actions.
The descriptions for each character listed on the store page represent their full complexity (paper thin). For example, check out the description for Yukino:
President of the anime and manga club in our college. Cheerful and self-confident girl, gets along well with all students. Wears overhead ears: 3
Yep, that’s Yukino alright. I don’t think the cat ears are even explained by the sequel, but they are one of four of her character traits. Eva “suffers from loneliness” and Aika is “A kind and intelligent girl.” Did a child write these characters?
Coincidently, everybody “Loves to read manga”, no doubt a basic attempt to give them all a reason to relate to the main protagonist. By having everybody share the same interests, it shows Nova B12 and OtakuNovel can’t write for shit.
Depending on your choices, the story may end with suicide. Now, suicide is a touchy subject; many of us have been exposed to suicide, perhaps by a family member or someone at school. Some of us have even considered killing ourselves.
Suicide is a sobering subject.
In BlueberryNOVA, suicide is as inconsequential as losing your pen — it’s humorously blown off before the game abruptly ends. I couldn’t help but laugh when I read the insultingly insensitive dialogue which followed. It’s clear Nova B12 and OtakuNovel used suicide as a device to make their game seem deeper than it actually is.
It’s worth mentioning BlueberryNOVA is translated from Russian (and I read the English version). Perhaps the English translation is shell of it’s Russian origin?
Sound: published December 31st, 2021 (3/5★)
The sound effects and music are nice. They sound stock, but the developers did a good job regularly switching tracks to prevent stagnation. I wasn’t “wowed” by the game, but I didn’t feel the need to mute the application either.
Visuals: published December 31st, 2021 (3/5★)
BlueberryNOVA looks and feels stock, but the characters are really cute! Had Nova B12 and OtakuNovel put the time and money they invested into the optional sex-scenes into the base game, I think the visual experience would have been dramatically improved. Considering how short the game is, an extra four or five CGs would make a big difference!
The artwork of BlueberryNOVA is similar to BlackberryNOVA, but I hated how the characters and backgrounds differ from the latter. If the events of BlackberryNOVA are intended to take place roughly a year or two after BlueberryNOVA, then it doesn’t make sense for the backgrounds to change or characters to have different eye colors. I was hoping for the art of BlueberryNOVA to help me understand BlackberryNOVA‘s crazy plot twist (but I ended up more confused than I started).
Verdict: published December 31st, 2021 (2.5/5★)
I bought BlueberryNOVA to gain a better understanding of BlackberryNOVA‘s hidden ending. Not only was I left just as confused, I was disappointed by the writing. BlueberryNOVA is over as soon as it starts — if you don’t pursue each ending, there’s no chance you’ll recuperate your money’s worth. BlueberryNOVA tries to be an emotionally charged, dark romance, but it tries to be more than it should be. BlueberryNOVA downplays depression, suicide and heartbreak so much it’s almost insulting. This is a game you should pass, even if you’re coming from the sequel.
