Menherafflesia: Flowering Abyss

More pretentious pornography of misery hiding under cutesy aesthetics. A vile utsuge that exploits psychological suffering, where the only "good" endings are peaceful suicides. Repugnant on every level.

I went into this game without prior knowledge of the prevailing themes in CHARON's work. The art in the game was simple but nice, and complements the story well. Based on the title, I honestly was hoping for a simple menhera game or something along those lines, but I was (maybe pleasantly?) surprised to find a game with much a much more intense and suprising plot line. The game turns out to be an effective horror game, where each route breaks down a more generic, "quirky" and emotionally unstable character into an analysis of trauma, manipulation, and psychological horror. The best way to describe the game would be as a subversion of classical tropes, where the yandere becomes the stepford smiler, making the reader question whether the relationship is based on anything more than pain and desperation. This is not a game for everyone, and certainly not for me. I came looking for more romantic virtual novel, and when I reached the first ending I did not enjoy the sudden change of tone. There was a lot more death in the game than I expected, and it made me feel a little too depressed for my liking.