Battle Girls
A short, mecha fighting story with some romance options brought to you by the Dharker Studios.
You were chosen as a mecha pilot to represent your nation in an international competition. Just to be clear, there is no mecha action here, it’s pure VN. You have several battles to go through and multiple choices to reach one of many endings. While the VN is relatively short, to complete all scenarios will likely double the length so it’s not bad. Your choice will also influence if and who will you end up with. Writing quality is acceptable but there is not enough character development here. No real heroines' backgrounds or motivations present. Also, the main character was left as a blank slate, no sprite, no face, little to none personality. There are some slip ups and inconsistencies, e.g. wrong names used or story referring to events that did not occur due to the previous choices. Still, I enjoyed it more than expected from low budget VNs. One of better VNs from this developer.
– Real player with 14.5 hrs in game
Read More: Best 2D Fighter Casual Games.
So some background. I’m a FPS and RPG kinda person, but have played various other genres. My first visual novel was Doki Doki Literature Club, and it changed my life (good game, check it out it’s free). So when I was making a badge and got a coupon for this game, it peaked my interests.
However, instead of being just some cheap game with no depth, I was surprised to see how much depth this game’s story went into. I will admit, I don’t get the whole thing about it being a school or something, and yet they are battling other countries so they get an untrained dude to fight for them. But whatever….
– Real player with 8.1 hrs in game
Symbiotic
Story
Symbiotic is a sci-fi action drama visual novel with dark undertones, and a love story which will be a roller coaster of emotion. As Zaydin and company go through the rigorous training to master the use of their symbiote partners, they must overcome numerous obstacles and fight enemies far beyond their control, all while dealing with the emotions that come with being teenagers. The race is on for the survival of mankind in this grueling war with another world!
Zaydin is a young complicated kid trying to cope with the loss of his mother, an evil entity attempting to control his mind, and the war of the worlds waged by alien Symbiotes, who have come to eradicate or consume all life on earth. While attending SCAR institute, the principal of the establishment, Neolinus, acts as his caretaker/guardian, at the request of Zaydin’s deceased mother. Neolinus is seen as a pain in the ass to the young orphan. Elliosa and Kadin, the friends he never wanted, have extremely different views on Zaydin. While Elliosa has a major crush on him, Kadin, being the protective big brother type (Even though they’re not related) sees him as a dangerous jerk, though the question of why he hates him so much still lingers. They are joined by their symbiote partners, Tama who belongs to Zaydin, Pinkie Elliosa’s loveable friend, and Spike the “tough guy” belonging to Kadin. Together with the rest of the school they will discover what it means to be at war, not only with the aliens but also with their own emotions.
About
Seasons & Chapters:
This Visual Novel is based around a system of Chapters and Seasons. All chapters within the first season would be free to play once you have bought the game, and those chapters have been released. The following season would be purchasable DLC due to the size and amount of content that will be put into it. Chapters come out when they’re finished, so you don’t have wait for the season to be finished to continue the story.
Season 1:
The first season begins with introductions to the cast of characters, and the main protagonist, Zaydin, being rebellious towards SCAR Institute and his caretaker, Principal Neolinus. Zaydin must deal with his emotions, repressed memories, “friendship” with Elliosa, rivalry with Kadin, unintentionally befriending another girl at the school, and a dark evil presence lingering in his mind as he goes through this warrior high-school setting. The war that wages between Earth and the symbiote planet, Metamor, threatens to destroy everything, and forces the children of Earth to rise up and protect the planet against the monstrous creatures that are sent to it, but another possible threat looms that could undo what the school has done to protect the planet. As you progress through the Visual Novel you will be sent on required (and some optional) missions to kill the Sym-Monsters sent to Earth from Metamor. Zaydin’s ego and bad temper constantly get him into trouble, whether it’s his caretaker/principal, the Class S president Alastair, or even his own “friends”, Zaydin acts out and antagonizes everyone around him… but is he doing it because he’s a bully, or for some other reason?
Psychopath or Savior:
As you progress through the story and missions you will be given a choice that decides whether you will be punished like a villain or hailed as a hero. In missions you can fight Sym-Monsters and save Civilians. It is required that you fight and kill a certain number of Sym-Monsters, however it is NOT required that you save the civilians, this gives way to a moral dilemma… do you save everyone like a true hero? Or do you let them all walk into the fates they would have endured had you never even arrived? Doing either of these to an extreme degree may result in a secret ending as well as changing the game later down the line, recruiting allies, or causing you to encounter something truly terrible…
Visual Novel Styled as a Kinetic Novel (Kinda)
“A kinetic novel is a linear type of visual novel where no narrative or gameplay choices typical to the latter are presented.”
Symbiotic is more akin to a Kinetic Novel then a traditional Visual Novel, since the story is more linear and the ending is the same regardless of what you ultimately decide to do; however, it is possible to change the difficulty and variety of the game, as well as changing HOW the ending plays out and what happens to the characters. As mentioned above you can get a Psychopath or Savior ending in every chapter of the game, with this comes new challenges, allies, or minor story aspects you wouldn’t see otherwise. The new allies can replace party members in missions allowing you to customize how you play through the missions. The challenges come in the form of unique enemies that are angry, vengeful, and prepared to kill anything they see.
Read More: Best 2D Fighter Exploration Games.