Date-A-Live: Rio Reincarnation Comes to PS4 and PC

Date A Live – Rio – Reincarnation
Rinne-Utopia

Trailer:

Modes

Game Modes

Controls

-GeekyGamerGirl87-

It has been quite a long time since I last written an article, let alone read a visual novel. Every so often you just want to escape with a great story and get engrossed in a new world. Therefore, when here at thedailygamepad.com we were offered the opportunity to cover the new visual novel Date A Live: Rio Reincarnation I was more than happy to cover the visual novel. However, before I begin my review of Date A Live: Rio Reincarnation I would like to thank the developers Idea Factory, Compile Heart, and Sting. As well as the Publisher, which is Idea Factory International, Inc. For providing us here at thedailygamepad.com with a free review copy of the visual novel. It is due to their kind giving nature that I was able to write the review for the visual novels.

For those who are not familiar with the history of Date A Live. Date A Live began as a light novel and even moved into an anime adaption before coming to originally Playstation 3, PS Vita and finally, Playstation 4. Date A Live: Rio Reincarnation combines the first two visual novels, Rinne-Utopia and Arusu-Install –previously released on PlayStation 3— with the third story Rio-Reincarnation – previously released on PSVita – which is now available on PS4 and PC.

When it comes to the stories for each of the games I will try to be as vague as possible as I don’t want to ruin the story for those who do have an interest in reading the visual novel themselves. I also do spoiler-free reviews as a sign of respect to the writers of the novels. As this visual novel is a trilogy set, I will list the synopsis of each novel separately so that it is less confusing. It should also be noted that the novels need to be read in this order to understand what is going on in the series as a whole. That order is as follows: Rinne-Utopia, Arusu – Install, and finally Rio-Reincarnation. 

In Rinne -Utopia, You play as the character Shido Ituska, who while looking for his sister after a spacequake – an earthquake from space –  comes to know about spirits. Spirits are powerful girls with magical powers that are not supposed to exist. They are also the reason for the spacequakes that occur because as they enter the world the spacequake happens involuntarily. When this happens, a massive force bears down on the region causing an explosion and leaving a crater. First one happened 30 years ago at Eurasia’s center killing over 150 million and is known as the Eurasia Sky Disaster. After that smaller spacequakes began and that’s why people fear the Spirits calling them the harbingers of disaster. In Tengu City, which is where Shido Ituska lives; a spacequake occurred and they built a town to test the latest technology. Shido wants to bring peace between the spirits and humans. The Only way to do this is to get the spirits to fall in love with him. However, the spirits are becoming unstable which makes them a little dangerous. Shido then helps to see what is causing the spirits to go unstable.

In Asuru-Install, You again take on the role of Shido Ituska, although this story takes place sometime after the first visual novel. One autumn day while attending a festival, Shido tries out a new VR game. The game is very similar to Shido’s everyday life, however when Shido attempts to leave the VR game he realizes he is unable to leave the world. He is then asked the question by one of the virtual girls “What is love?” To show the virtual girl what love is and to escape the VR game, Shido must now date the virtual girls inside this world.

In Rio Reincarnation, (the third novel on this trilogy visual novel compilation), You again come back into the life of Shido; this time it is some time after what occurred in the digital world. After venturing into the virtual world and coming back out, Shido has a very uneasy feeling about things when he finds a duplicate key in his room. Feeling he is supposed to give the key to someone, but not remembering who. He then is approached by a young girl who looks awfully a lot like someone he once knew. She tells him that “it’s no good if you don’t find the most important thing to you.” However, to find out the answer to what is the most important thing to him and investigate what is going on; Shido must again date the girls of this familiar place and get them to fall in love with him.

The Game does feature Japanese voice over with English subtitles. However, there was no voiceover for the main character Shido which I would have liked if there would have been. It would have added a little more to the novels in my opinion. Another thing that I did like in all the games is the there was a great balance of still frames as well as some animations. This is starting to become a trend in most visual novels where they are beginning to add animations to the novel as opposed to keeping the game with just still photos, which can help hold the attention of those who have a hard time reading visual novels.

Another thing I enjoyed about the third novel in this series, and that if they continue to make more, they keep this element is that unlike the first two novels, there is an actual game system. The game system is a map that allows you to select certain events in the novel and interact with them giving you a bit more of a free reign in reading the story. I love novels that allow me to take the time to read the story the way that I would want to read it.

Overall, I would recommend Date A Live: Rio – Reincarnation especially if you are a fan of light novels, romantic novels, and a fan of anime. I really did enjoy all three novels and hope that there may be more in the future. If you would like to read the Date A Live: Rio Reincarnation series you can do so on PC at the following platforms Steam, Humble Bundle, Fanatical for the price of $49.99 USD for the Standard Edition and $59.99 USD for the deluxe edition which adds extra items to the novels. You can also check it out on PlayStation 4 for the price of $49.99 USD.