So it’s been quite a while since I last reviewed anything. This is mostly because I haven’t had the time, or motivation to do so. But, today, I actually want to review something, one of my favorite VNs/games ever, Tears to Tiara.
STORY
The prologue is centered around the precognition-gifted priestess of the Gael tribe, Rhiannon. She is kidnapped by a rogue priest of the Holy Empire, Drwc, to be used as a sacrifice in a ritual meant to resurrect the Demon King Arawn and put Drwc in his favor. As a response the Gael people burn their village and swear to bring Rhiannon back or exact revenge on the Empire. In the middle of the ritual, as the Gael people attack Drwc’s soldiers, Arawn is resurrected and offered Rhiannon. At this point, he kills Drwc, frees Rhiannon, and proclaims no intention in wreaking havoc which the legends attributed to him. Instead, he shows interest in Rhinannon’s brother Arthur, the First Warrior of his tribe. Rhiannon, on the other hand, falls in love with Arawn, and by declaring her decision to marry him, makes him the chieftain of the Gael tribe (hers and Arthur’s father was the previous chieftain, but Arthur could not assume the title due to being the First Warrior).
As the prologue ends, point of view is switched from Rhiannon to Arawn, revealing him to be the protagonist of the game, and the story continues with the exodus of Gael tribe to the neighboring island of Albion (or Insula Britannica, as shown on an in-game map) in hope of eluding the Empire.
[Stolen from Wikipedia]
I consider the story of Tears to Tiara (or TtT as I will be calling it) to be FANTASTIC. It’s one of the greatest stories I’ve ever read. I absolutely love it, and everything within. In a lot of VNs, there’s at least one moment that I dislike, but this is a rare case, where I can’t think of a single thing I didn’t like. Hell, I even shed tears not just once, but twice. That’s how wonderful it was. Seriously, I cannot describe how great it is.
CHARACTERS
Words cannot describe how much I love this character cast. It’s one of the best ever. There are just enough characters, and they all get plenty of love, and screentime, and are all, for the most part, super likable.
Arawn is the main character and BEST DEMON KING. I freaking LOVE Arawn. He would easily make it into my top favorite characters ever. He’s fairly cynical and cool, but also a badass showoff. Also, HE IS ACTUALLY VOICED! It is so rare to find a main character who is voiced. So, as you can tell, he is definitely not a self insert character. I can relate to quite a number of his actions. He really is so well-written and deep.
Riannon is the main heroine. She is the seer of the Gael Tribe, and a oracle as well. After being saved by Arawn, she falls in love with him, and becomes his wife. Riannon is really well written. Man, I love her so much. Prepare for me to gush about a lot of these characters, since I love them a lot! Anyways, Riannon is a very traditional shy, moe, kind, and beautiful heroine. She reminds me of myself in a number of ways, and is best girl.
Arthur is the First Warrior of the Gael Tribe. He, along with Riannon, is a decent of the Elf king, Pwyll. He is very much a hero character, being very noble, and dedicated to his sister. However, Arthur is still not very smart. He does grow significantly throughout the events of the game, and becomes such a wonderful character. His arc is one of the greatest things ever written. Seriously, it’s on Muv-Luv or Daibanchou levels of greatness.
Ogam is Arawn’s old friend from the past, and his self-proclaimed “sword and shield.” He is very wise and mature, but still has a bit of an odd side to him. Ogam is freaking amazing, and puts a pretty unique spin on the “wise old man” trait. Though I’m not gonna spoil why, since I REALLY want you to play this game.
Morgan is the Second Warrior of the Gael Tribe. She often fights with Arthur over the position of the First Warrior, usually said fights involve food in one way or another. Oh yeah, Morgan is a HUGE foodfag (yes, I can use that term). She’s one of the biggest in all of fiction. Morgan becomes one of Arawn’s wives as well, in a pretty entertaining scene. While she is pretty simple, I still like Morgan a lot. Also, she is super autistic, in her first H-Scene, she calls Arawn’s —– “Demon King Class.” She’s bubbly and energetic, but I like that about her.
Llyr is a pessimistic Water Elf who believes herself to have very bad luck. She was sent to work for Arawn after his resurection by her people. She became his wife after he burnt her seal pelt by accident, and she was not allowed to return. During her time working for him, she is taught how to do some chores, and does generally improve. Llyr is very shy and sad, but grows to believe in herself more over the events of the game. I like her a lot, and is also very relatable (especially since I don’t have the best of luck either).
Octavia is a former noblewomen, whose house was brought into ruin, which brought her to become a soldier who worked for the Holy Empire. She became Arawn’s wife in a really funny scene where Arawn was basically like “So are you going to become the Demon King’s wife?” and Octavia replies with “Yeah, sure.” Ok, well, it was technically because he grabbed her hand, which is considered to be a proposal in the Holy Empire, but whatever. Octavia is fairly stern and strict, but still has a heart. While she’s not the smartest person around, she is still very talented, and likable. She seems to be the fan-favorite heroine, along with Riannon.
Rathy is a Miner Elf who runs the hardwa- I mean weapons store “Hardware Store.” Yeah, not exactly subtle there. She’s originally thought to be a guy by the party, but it’s later discovered that she’s a girl. This is something that is actually done much better in the original, since Rathy looks MUCH more feminine in the remake. Though this is technically something that’s up to the opinion of someone. Anywho, Rathy is very shy and kind, and gets along well with Llyr. She’s also very good at arm wrestling, only being able to be beaten by Ogam.
Taliesin is a Wandering Bard, or Minstrel if you prefer. He is heir to the Brigantes Tribe, but has not taken up said position, due to not wanting to get the same fate as those who have come before him. There’s also this funny scene where Arthur and Riannon learn that he’s related to Pwyll as well, leading him and Arthur having a mini-battle over who is Riannon’s true Onii-Chan. Taliesin is very calm and intellectual, but has a fascination with the Merchant Elf, Epona, often hugging her if he gets the chance. Though there are a number of times where he comes off as odd a number of times. Along with that fact, his class is “Spoony Bard” which, as a Final Fantasyfag, I naturally appreciate that reference. Whether it was intended or not, I don’t know, but it’s still great.
Also, despite being a main character, he doesn’t get one of those wallpaper thingys, so here’s a moe CG.
Limwris is one of the House Elves who works in Avalon Castle (Arawn’s castle), and a very talented one as well. She is able to clean, bake, and do all kinds of housework exceedingly well. She is also very dedicated to Arawn, and is willing to do anything for him, especially due to the fact that she has feelings for him, due to his past heroic acts. She is very kind, though does still tease Arawn at times. Limwris is one of those characters who is simple, but still very well written. You don’t need a character to be super deep to be likable.
Ermin is the other House Elf in charge of taking care of Avalon Castle, along with being Limwris’s apprentice, and almost like her younger sister as well. She also really loves Arawn, and becomes one of his wives due to confessing to Arawn, being one of the only wives he has where he is initially on board with the idea. She is fairly upbeat and childish. While I didn’t know what to think of Ermin at first, her cute antics quickly grew on me, and I really like her a lot now.
Epona is a Merchant Elf who runs the shop “Good People’s” in Avalon Castle. She loves money, and will do almost anything for it. She also is very playful, constantly trying to pull tricks on Arawn, but, he tends to catch her bluff, and makes Arthur try them out instead. She’s a really fun character, and I like her a lot, with a most of her scenes making me laugh. There is some pretty good comedy in this game, with the game having the mix of wacky comedy and serious moments, reminding me of an AliceSoft game.
ART
The art is something a lot of people dislike, but, to be upfront here, I adored the art. Yes, it’s derpy, but man is it moe! Though maybe I’m a bit biased, since I adore derpy anime girls (for perspective, Itaru Hinoue is my favorite artist, and I find things like Kanon to be beautiful and adorable).
The CGs are great, and so are the character sprites. H-Scenes are also quite nice, and I think there are just enough to not make up most of the game, but still give you plenty of good ero-ness.
There is a remake on the PS3 which completely re-drew all the visuals. The art of the remake is beautiful, though I don’t really have a preference between the two. Both are really great.
SOUND
Tears to Tiara has a really great soundtrack (that I have to finish uploading at some point…), and many of the songs I find myself humming at times.
As for voice acting, it’s very nice. Like I mentioned before, Arawn is actually voiced, along with every other character in the game. There are a number of scenes that aren’t voiced at all however, but it wasn’t much of a problem for me.
CONCLUSION
So, in conclusion, I adored every second of this game, and I give it the highest recommendation possible.
Oh yeah, also, I’m ditching the scoring system. It took some thinking for this, but I think that reviews should boil down to whether or not you should play/read/watch something.
Thanks for reading, and have a nice day!
Cecelia's Random Thoughts 