Area-X

The apocalypse has come and gone, and the survivors now live in underground cities to escape the toxic wasteland on the surface. There, MC works as a time traveler, seeking the secret to restoring the world to the way it was. But, nothing is what it seems...

In the end of X-note, the author, who admits English isn’t his first language, states the following in the end: “It is far from perfect and the basic idea is quite generic. Yet, I have never felt so much emotion when it comes to my own stories. I was absorbed like never before.” To me, this sums it up better than I could have.

The same is true for this game, the storylines and general romance are still quite simplified still. The characters are also not incredibly dynamic. In complete contrast, the complexity of the overall world, backgrounds and the tie-in to X-Note are amazing. The charm comes from this overall sense of silliness, where the game clearly does not take itself too seriously. I am catching such small details here and there that are so significant, and I get excited every time. Add some updated graphics, and I must say, this game was worth my time. I chose to make separate pages for the games, because this game is definitely playable as a standalone, individual game, but if X-Note is played first, this game will feel much more satisfying. However, this game has a lot sadder undertones than its predecessor, and I'm not over it yet...

In terms of criticism, I found the replay is a bit clunky and tedious, the passwords are not easily accessible (the game uses password to skip chapters) and the pathways are not always intuitive. I also found the mini-game puzzles more annoying than fun, and stopped trying to solve them on my own. Zeiva makes this part easy, on their website a complete guide and puzzle answer key can be found. I saved all the passwords that I found and added them to this page.

Still, I like this game a lot. Especially the general character concepts in the art above, which is why I featured them on both reviews, respectively.