ef - a fairy tale of the two. Review by OneManArmy

[OneManArmy 82]

This review doesn't contain any major spoilers, so feel free to read.

 

http://s.vndb.org/cv/53/6653.jpg

 

 

Description

Amamiya Yuuko, a mysterious girl dressed like a nun, and Himura Yuu, a mysterious gentleman who is somehow attached to the church where Yuuko first appears, are having a reunion in a church during Christmas time. Despite her attire, Yuuko is not affiliated with the church. She always appears generally out of no where, and disappears just as quickly in various places throughout the story to talk with Hiro or other characters and give them advice. Yuuko and Yuu reminisce about the past and remember events of the previous year around the same time at the beginning of the first chapter of the story. Yuuko hints of events that are revealed throughout Ef: A Fairy Tale of the Two...

 

 

Important Side Information

I'm writing this review after I finished ef for the second time and so you can already imagine how much I adore this game. Two years ago I wasn't able to find the time for writing a proper review but now is the perfect opportunity to catch up on it. Nevertheless I won't write a real review because it would be too fucking long. I tend to think about stuff too deeply and often end up writing over 5000 words. So yeah, I'd love to do a spoilerish discussion but right now I'll write more an introduction of the game than a real review. I'm still calling it review though lol.

 

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Art - One word, superb.

The best point about ef's art is most likely the insane amount of little details. The artist must have spend a lot of time on each background because even the clouds are drawn so well that I want to cry. Another highlight is the huge amount of CGs. Nearly every scene has its own CG and nearly all of them are drawn perfectly. The artist also loves to use light effects which were sometimes a little bit over the top though. The game also has mouth and eyes animations which improves the overall quality a lot because the characters seem more alive and this makes the story more believable. The characters are also drawn pretty neat and they have a shitload of different facial expressions which is obviously a good thing. So yeah, the style of art is probably not outstanding but it's still absolutely awesome due to the huge amount of time and love the artist put in it. The two openings and the ending are also full of little details and amazing animations.

 

http://i1214.photobucket.com/albums/cc486/OneManArmy369/v98m_zpsa1te981u.jpg

^The clouds! Take a look at the clouds!!!

 

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Music - One word, beautiful.

The music was for me, besides the story, the best part of ef. It's hard to desribe but the tracks were sometimes able to change my mood completely. They also do a good job with improving the overall atmosphere of the current scene and they also deliver certain feelings quite good. Especially the emotional tracks were pure pleasure for the ears, but sometimes pain for the heart. If you can't stand piano and violin music then don't play the game because it's full of them. But don't worry, ef has also a lot of funny and rather typical slice of lice tracks so there are also times when you're feeling happy because of the music.

 

http://i1214.photobucket.com/albums/cc486/OneManArmy369/dyjr_zpsvmwaims3.jpg

 

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Voices - One word, authentic.

Albeit I didn't like all voices I still have to admit that all of them fit their characters very well. Most of the voice actors did a wonderful job and especially the emotional scenes were performed without any flaws. Well, I actually can't say much about the voices because either you like them or not. My favourite voice actors were the one of Chihiro and Yuuko. Yuu's voice was also pretty epic but sadly too low. Oh and the male character you're playing as (obviously changes in each chapter) isn't voiced which is sometimes a real shame because specific scenes would have been voiced so much better.

 

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Characters and Routes

http://s.vndb.org/ch/36/1636.jpg http://s.vndb.org/ch/37/1637.jpg

Chapter 1 - Hirono Hiro, Miyamura Miyako

 

The first chapter of the game contains a little introduction of the story and obviously the first couple of the game. Hiro is a manga artist and is also visiting school wich gives him a hard time because of obvious time reasons. He's a hard working and serious kind of dude. Miyako is the total opposite because she mainly enjoys doing nothing, doesn't care about her future and she's never really serious. The story itself is pretty much slice of life with a little amount of drama. The chapter was rather uninteresting but at least the conversations with Miyako were partially fun. You'll most likely enjoy this chapter if you like Miyako, otherwise just read through it, it's not that bad.

 

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http://s.vndb.org/ch/39/1639.jpg http://s.vndb.org/ch/38/1638.jpg

Chapter 2 - Tsutsumi Kyosuke, Shindou Kei

 

The second chapter is sadly the biggest flaw of the game because it's totally uninteresting and simply boring. Kei is a member of the basketball team of the school and Kyosuke is in the film club and wants to make a film, about her. It's pretty much a mediocre slife of life story with no real climax and rather plain characters. And that's the reason why most people decide to stall or drop the entire game, something I can totally understand because I did the same back then. I finished 50% of the second chapter and I just couldn't take it anymore and so I stalled the game for 2 months. When reading that chapter I always have the feeling that the art and music are too good for the story. Thank god that I decided to continue the game because everything after this chapter is pure win. On a side note, this time I skipped the entire second chapter. Just survive this chapter, it'll be worth it.

 

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http://s.vndb.org/ch/29/1629.jpg http://s.vndb.org/ch/30/1630.jpg

Chapter 3 - Asou Renji ,Shindou Chihiro

 

And finally the first great chapter. Renji is a rather normal student who don't know what to do in his future and he loves to read books. Chihiro is a mysterious girl who I can't say anything about because I would have to spoil a lot but both of them are meeting at an abandoned train station and start to be friends. The game begins as slice of life but fastly turns into a rather dark and melancholic story. The beginning is slightly boring but if you finally found out what's so special about Chihiro then you'll start to enjoy the chapter more than you want. The ending also fits the characters perfectly. Oh and Chihiro's voice is just amazing.

 

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http://s.vndb.org/ch/60/9160.jpg http://s.vndb.org/ch/61/9161.jpg

Chapter 4 - Kuze Shuuichi, Hayama Mizuki

 

A chapter which is actually a little bit weird because you read 80% of it, then chapter 5 is inserted, and afterwards you're reading the missing 20%. In my eyes not the best idea because you basically don't give a shit about chapter 4 after you finished the 5th one. Well, whatever. Mizuki is one of those characters who are always happy and are smiling the entire time. Shuuichi is a famous violionist who dropped his career because of unknown reasons. This chapter is about human and how they wear masks and rarely reveal their true self. The chapter itself was interesting but it wasn't able to suck me in.

 

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http://s.vndb.org/ch/08/9208.jpg http://s.vndb.org/ch/83/7083.jpg

Chapter 5 (the awesome chapter) - Himura Yuu, Amamiya Yuuko

 

And finally the train of awesomeness arrives. Ef is all about this chapter. The previous stories are just bird poop compared to this epic work of awesomeness. Yuu is the best student at his school but has a very complicated personality and is most of the time rather hostile towards everyone. Yuuko is one year younger and on the same school as Yuu and is always smiling and joking around. She also wears her winter uniform in the summer. Both already met in the past. Through the chapter you'll obviously find out why and from that point the game will pretty much turn into drama deluxe³. It's even worse than clannad. I could say so much about this chapter. If you're starting to play ef then please, please survive until this chapter because it's so worth it. I never read such an emotional rollercoaster before and especially the epilogue nearly broke my fragile heart, again.

 

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The Anime

Isn't that bad but they totally fucked up the last chapter which is obviously 100% blasphemy. I did like some scenes from anime but it's overall still bad. The first season was kinda enjoyable (they left out the entire second chapter, wooooo~) but like I said some moments ago, the second season is about the last chapter and they totally destroyed it. Why did they decide to change the story that much? Idiots. If you liked the anime then you'll love the game.

 

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Score

What can I say? I still love this game even after finishing it for the second time. What I realized is that the game had a higher emotional impact when I was playing it for the first time (obviously) but now I had the feeling that I understood the game itself, the message it wants to deliver, way better than before. I even dare to say that I enjoyed the game a little bit more than during my first playthrough. The game itself is probably not the best (due to its first two boring chapters) but it's definitely the game which had the strongest impact on me. If you like slice of lice stories with drama (like Clannad) then go for ef a fairy tale of two. The reason why I gave it 8.5/10 is the last chapter (obviously) but also the message the game wants to deliver. And that message is just beautiful. To end this review, I'll most likely do another replay in 2 or 3 years because ef is a game where you'll notice each time something new.

 

http://i1214.photobucket.com/albums/cc486/OneManArmy369/ot71_zpsr8aftsab.jpg

^Message of the game

 

8,5/10

 

Edit: Some people aren't able to watch the epilogue when playing the game (because of some weird driver reasons) and that's something I can't accept. So here's a download link: http://www.mediafire.com/watch/841v3...t_me_babe~.mkv

Edit 2: Forgot to mention that I'll definitely buy ef from Mangagamer if they're selling both tales together.

Edited March 1, 2015 by OneManArmy

[Maoh 13]

Nice review, im not usually interesed on vns that dont have any magic-swords-powers-kitsunes-spaceships on them but this one looks promising i'll give it a try

Btw does this contains all chapters? cause i dont want to play till chapter 2 to notice i have to download the rest, i usually get bored and do something else when that happens

Aaaand... does this contains +18 content?, not that i care i just wanna know

Edited August 16, 2013 by Maoh

[desi 53]

That release contains the first 3 chapters. It was the official release by MG and has an official translation with h-scenes mostly uncensored if you care about that stuff. The latter tale will get released later by MG. Though if you want to play the game right now, you should just download "ef a fairy tale of the two". And yep, it's 18+.

[Gerard the Lone Wolf 10]

Btw does this contains all chapters?

Aaaand... does this contains +18 content?, not that i care i just wanna know

Ef-the first tale is the official release of MG and it contains the first part of the story. The later part is called Ef-the latter tale and it's not officially released yet.

 

Ef-a fairy tale of the two is the fan-translated version and contains both parts of the story. And yes, it's 18+.

 

Edit: Beaten by Desi. D:

Edited August 16, 2013 by Gerard the Lone Wolf

[Maoh 13]

Thank you both, i'll start downloading right away

[OneManArmy 82]

does this contains +18 content?

Reminds me that I don't know a single person who was able to fap to Yuuko's sex scenes.

[iLoveTsundere 10]

Reminds me that I don't know a single person who was able to fap to Yuuko's sex scenes.

 

Kami faps to literally everything. Even spriteless backgrounds.

[Gerard the Lone Wolf 10]

He's done in just 2-3 minutes too!

[OneManArmy 82]

Reminds me that I don't know a single person who was able to fap to Yuuko's sex scenes.

Kami faps to literally everything. Even spriteless backgrounds.

Person ≄ Kami

[Maoh 13]

Reminds me that I don't know a single person who was able to fap to Yuuko's sex scenes.

 

[boukyaku 10]

For those who love the music in ef, don't just stop with the game OST. Apparently a good portion from the game music is missing from the OST. You can find the rest of it in the anime OST (they're practically the same music).

 

ef / MLA really has good art and character animation, brings everything to life. I'm wondering why newer VNs don't apply the same techniques (like Grisaia no Kajitsu). You would think everyone would've copied and utilized the same engine by now.