Harmonia (from the English - “Harmony”) is a Japanese computer game in the genre of visual novel , developed by Key and published by VisualArt's. The release took place on September 23, 2016 for Windows [1] . Like Planetarian: Chiisana Hoshi no Yume , Harmonia is a “kinetic romance,” as the gameplay does not offer any options or alternative endings. Instead, the player goes through the story exclusively by reading.
| Harmonia | |
|---|---|
 Game Limited Edition Cover | |
| Developer |  Key |
| Publisher |  Visualart |
| Date of issue | September 23, 2016 |
| Genre | Visual novel |
| Creators | |
| Supervisor | Kai |
| Screenwriter | Nakamura Tsuzuru |
| Painter | Itaru Hinoue |
| Composers | Shinji Orito Ryo Mizutsuki Tomohiro Takeshita |
| Technical details | |
| Platform | Windows |
| Game mode | |
| Interface languages | and |
| Carriers | DVD , digital distribution |
Content
Setting
The game world of Harmonia is post-apocalyptic , and events unfold in the future [2] . After the world's population reached its peak of 10 billion people, human civilization began to decline rapidly, the main reasons for which were pollution and war. During this time, the so-called “phyroids”, artificially intelligent androids designed to become partners for people were developed [3] . Although phyroids were initially powered by batteries for the first two generations, they subsequently gained the ability to eat human food, which made them virtually indistinguishable from humans [4] . Artificial memories can also be implanted in phyroids, which makes them highly desirable for people, thereby establishing mass production of phyroids, which ultimately begin to compete with the human population at a time when the planet’s demography is low [5] . Ultimately, nuclear war and the resulting nuclear fallout destroyed most of humanity and turned the planet into a globe covered with dark clouds and ashes, blocking sunlight from vegetation. There was only the ocean incapable of supporting life [2] [6] . Some people were placed in cryogenic objects in order to freeze their bodies until the state of the environment improves [7] .
Gameplay and the World
The computer game Harmonia is a visual novel in which the player takes on the role of Rei. The gameplay is minimized. Most of it is occupied by the player reading the narrative and dialogues. Key calls this kind of games “kinetic novel” [1] . The text in the game is accompanied by headings of the names of the characters Ray is currently talking to, as well as the sprites of the characters themselves. Throughout the game, the player encounters artwork of computer graphics (CG) at certain points in history that demonstrate the situations and emotions of the characters occurring at the time of the game [8] . Once the game is completed, the CG Gallery will appear on the screen accompanied by background music. The story unfolds in a city with a stable source of water that supports the life of a small population. Among the places that Rei visits is the church where the protagonist and Shion live; the library where Tipi lives and the town square. The city also has various establishments like a shop, a photo studio and a bar. Although there is no electricity in most cities, the library has a solar panel . On the outskirts of the city there is a destroyed plant of phyroids near the city dump [9] .
Story
Harmony begins with Ray ( レ я ) waking up at an abandoned object without any recollection of who he is and where he is. Ray notices that his right hand is mechanical, and when he sees the phyroids scattered around him, he makes the assumption that he is a phyroid at the creation stage, since he also realizes that he does not have any emotions [10] . Ray leaves the site and wanders for several days, eventually reaching the outskirts of the city, where he is discovered by a girl named Shion ( シ オ ナ , seiyu: Kaori Mizuhashi ) , who takes him with him to the church in which she lives and gives him the name "Ray" [11] . To repay Sion for her kindness, Rey decides to fix a broken music box that plays a song composed by Zion’s brother. Ray goes to the library to find a book that will help with repairs and meets a librarian, a little girl named Tipi ( Jap. テ ィ ピ ィ , seiyu: Misaki Kuno ) , who is always saddened [11] . When Ray repaired the music box, Ziona performed a song in the town square to her melody. With the help of the townspeople, Ray also repaired the projector to play the film of Maddo’s son ( マ ッ ド , Seiyu: Kenta Miyake ) , the owner of the store [11] .
Design and release
Harmonia is Key 's 12th visual novel and second kinetic novel subset after Planetarian: Chiisana Hoshi no Yume . The script for the game was written by Kai (previously worked on the script for the anime Angel Beats! ) And Nakamura Tsuzuru. Itaru Hinoue was again appointed Artistic Director and Character Designer. Work on the game was the last contribution to Key before resigning in September 2016. The soundtrack of the game was written by Shinji Orito, Ryo Mizutsuki and Tomohiro Takeshita. The single, containing 2 songs from the game, was released on April 11, 2015 by Key Sounds Label. Harmonia was announced in April 2015 to mark the company's 15th anniversary. The game was added to Steam Greenlight in October 2015 and has been ported several times.
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Harmonia has been released on Steam . Date of treatment October 22, 2016.
- ↑ 1 2 Harmonia | Story . Key Date of treatment November 7, 2016.
- ↑ “ Rei : Once the human population hit its peak of 10 billion, a rapid decline began. Air pollution, water pollution, contamination, abnormal weather, conflicts ... The list of causes was endless. During this time, the Phiroids were developed. They were deeply emotional partners for humans. ”- Key , Harmonia. Ed. VisualArt's . Windows (September 23, 2016).
- ↑ “ Rei : Phiroids were originally equipped with batteries, but afterwards an oral energy supply model was developed. They could be powered by eating food. ”- Key , Harmonia. Ed. VisualArt's . Windows (September 23, 2016).
- ↑ “ Shiona : It was the dawn of an age in which families unable to have children purchased Phiroid children, and people who lost loved ones ordered Phiroids with their memories. Almost overnight, the number of Phiroids multiplied, and they were produced in numbers that rivaled the human population after just ten-odd years. ”- Key , Harmonia. Ed. VisualArt's . Windows (September 23, 2016).
- ↑ “ Shiona : They didn't even feel hesitation when they pressed the buttons on the weapons that razed the earth. The rest came quickly. Revenge demanded revenge, and it didn't even take five days to blanket the world in fire and ashes. "The polluted, poisoned earth, the black clouds blocking the sunlight, the ocean that couldn't support life ..." - Key , Harmonia. Ed. VisualArt's . Windows (September 23, 2016).
- ↑ “ Rei : It was a facility to sleep in until the polluted lands of the war-torn, uninhabitable earth improved even a little.” - Key , Harmonia. Ed. VisualArt's . Windows (September 23, 2016).
- ↑ Estrada, Marcus. Review: Harmonia . Hardcore Gamer (November 14, 2016). Date of treatment November 18, 2016.
- ↑ Key , Harmonia. Ed. VisualArt's . Windows (September 23, 2016).
- ↑ Visual Art's / Key's Harmonia Kinetic Novel's Trailer Reveals English Release on Friday . Anime News Network (September 22, 2016). Date of treatment November 7, 2016.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Harmonia | Characters Key Date of treatment March 13, 2017.
Links
- Official website of the game (Japanese)