Genre: VN.
I guess Fuyuzono Sacrifice was solid, depending on what you come here for.😅 The name
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v49601
Release date: 26-2-2025.
I honestly wasn't sure whether or not I was going to get this but two weeks before
release I thought on it, the regular edition cover art was nice and I kinda
liked the setting of it? sadly I noticed the price was steep and it really
seems otome games or new games in general have become luxury products.
I sure was nervous buying it at such a steep price, still I liked the setting
and heroines outlook of wanting to decide her own destiny, so I bought it.
Pro's
- Great cast of characters.
- Each route has unique ways to solve the key problem in good or tragic ways.
- Lot's of sweet/cute scenes with the LI.
- Beautiful artwork.
Con's
- Short and doesn't have much substance.
- Can be a bit cliche or cheesy.
- The final LI has barely any presence outside his own route.
Art was gorgeous, I loved the fantasy look and soft colours.
Seiyuu seems to be a mix of ones I know and then some I am not familiar with.
Music was pretty fitting but nothing wowed me, I liked the theme that played on the main menu
and the OP song was good too, definitely stuff i'd let play when I boot the game up.
Story well I am just gonna say I had 0 expectations, my first impression was that its
rather basic, the heroine had only a short amount of time before it would be her
doomsday aka the day she was going to be wed to the god of winter.
The story itself was easy to follow, there was not a lot of infodumping and it flowed well.
The worldbuilding itself was solid and have no complaints on it.
The LI were interesting so it was still fun to see what was gonna happen or learn more about them.
The prologue and common route are short and to the point...
Fuyuzono definitely won't take you eight common chapters to get to a route!
Oscar's route started out comfy but I couldn't help but feel a little sense of dread
over the heroine's upcoming fate as the bride of the god of winter.
Something I absolutely loved was at times there was a change in POV enabling you
to see things from the perspective of the love interest. The heroine had no sprite in
the bottom left but she did appear on screen if there was a perspective change which was nice.
The pacing was okay, it wasn't that slow I was getting bored, still this was also not
a long game either. I'd say its perfect if you're tired of longer games.
The game seems to encourage multiple playthrough's since I keep getting extensions
of the very first scene in the game the more routes I completed which was a nice touch.
Characters
Oscar... I liked him a lot but I think that's pretty much because of his personality.
His route was pretty much focused on his character but didn't touch upon all plot threads
because that was sacrificed for the romance. I thought Oscar was pretty great
despite that and this man is willing to go very far if need be...
Elias route felt like it was good for introduction due to him explaining a lot
about the legends surrounding the gods. It wasn't too focused on romance
but it did take babysteps towards that so it wasn't bad. While it was also focused
on his character, I think they over did it with the angst in some part near the end.😓
Still I think Elias needs an honorable mention because he also was a stellar supportive character!
Dylan was an amusing character, if I had to recommend one route from the game
to anyone it would probably be him. That's mostly because the relationship
started from zero instead of already being friends.😄
Besides there's definitely an audience for guys like Dylan...
Regis was quite likable, but his situation was more complicated than I'd thought
and this game has some really dark undertones that tend to get glossed over.
Like we can see some of it in Dylan's route but in his own that isn't part of the main issue.
For a poster boy he wasn't too bad but romance wise it felt kind of similar to Elias
where they went from acquantance to friends to lovers but with Regis... it was
very obvious he liked Laeticia from the start. I guess its okay not everyone
has to be so curt like Dylan or the friendly guy everybody knows like Oscar.
Regis route also felt like it was the main one and the rest didn't quite compare.
Hiver probably stood for hibernation because he just doesn't exist outside of his own route.
Regis hinted at him but did so in a way that made me full of dread... and I almost
skipped out on doing his route, but I persisted for the sake of the conclusion. I liked his story
but yea I couldn't fully get into the route of a character that crawled from under a rock.
of the game suggest tragedy but the synopsis hinted at seize your own destiny kind of thing.
So it could be a miss if you come here for the former, for me the best ends were satisfying
however there are tragic ends and they can be kind of sad, atleast I thought Oscar's was.
I don't recommend this game if you hate cliche's and cheesy stuff or you have high standards
and want to be blown away by stellar writing cuz while its solid I wouldn't say it was stellar.
I think this game is best for those who have very little experience with the otome genre
and/or don't mind any of the above and just want a short&sweet otome game.
---
Personally I didn't have much in the way of expectations nor did it absolutely blow me away
but it was a pleasant experience. I loved the medieval-ish fantasy setting, I didn't think it
was ever that deep in terms of plot, it had the basics down to a T
but due to the short length isn't able to explore its own setting fully.
I liked all love interests a normal amount, they didn't do much to upset me
but Oscar was definitely my favourite, my apologies your highness.(Regis)
Its not as lengthy like trouble magia or an ero novel in disguise like honey vibes and while
there are bad ends they are not great in numbers. Romance wise there's not going to be
a lot of time to begin with due to plot elements but there's enough to build
a connection between characters... though its easy to say it could seem rushed.
At the very least it didn't overstay its welcome which was a good thing.
Still I want to say otomate should've done better because it seems like they're in a hurry
and not taking their time. You know if this game had like a one more chapter for every route
there probably would have been enough but instead we're left with
a snowflake that falls unto your hand and just melts away quickly.
7/10
My playorder: Oscar > Elias > Dylan > Regis > Hiver.
Only the last route is locked till you do all others, I might recommend Elias first due
to being good with introduction and it doesn't throw you into a whirlwind romance like Oscar.
Though if you care about the plot i'd save Regis for before the final route.
Play order I recommend:
Oscar / Elias / Dylan > Regis > Hiver.
I don't think it matters too much who you pick with the first three so its pick your poison.
There's still some spoilers after the jump cuz I blabbed too much on hiver's part
and rambled some more about the characters while sharing some fav cg's.
So if you want to play this game best stop reading here!
