Fault: Milestone one is the first VN game of the Publisher ALICE IN DISSONANCE and is the start of an evolving series.
We start the Visual Novel in a dark night where the country of Rughzenaide and its capital is being attacked by an unknown paramilitary assailant. Suffering heavy losses, this unknown force is invading the Kings Palace, where they intend to kill Selphine the princess because she possesses a greater power that could put every military force to falter.
Being cornered and unable to escape, the Princess's life guardian resort to a last hopeful escape through a special mana current, but for some reason this mode of escape did not go the way it was intended too. They were able to escape, but not to the actual destination they planned. Instead, they were sent to the other end of the world. To make matters worse, all of this is in a zone where is no mana to be found in the surrounding area, which is necessary for them to be able to use their manakravte.
After realizing and discovering their true situation, they forge a plan to find a way back home. While walking in the city, they meet a girl named Rune who offers to help them and to show them around the town.
The Princess and her guardian find themselves involved in a series of discoveries where they decide to take the time and investigate the matter concerning Rune and are drawn to one of the leading scientific companies, the Zhevits corporation, where they find out Rune's real identity, and uncover the full extent of the scheme behind her persona.
Overall, you have a lot of events that draw your attention, the burning capital during the attack, the city where they ended up after their escape, and the complexity of the Zhevitz property and laboratories.
You have very enjoyable and lovable characters which includes: a protective guardian ready for everything to protect her dear friend and princess, the princess who is rather shy and relies on her guardian although she is proving herself to be a little clumsy in an adorable way, and a new friend they made in their escape which possesses mystery after mystery behind her identity that does not fail to surprise the reader. There are also a few key characters in the city that will be very helpful in discovering Rune's true identity and as potential future allies.
The actual world build up, the mana, and the manakravte are very intriguing concepts that do have their own importance in the story. It features many different elemental possibilities and use which is a very nice change of the usual known magic.
The artstyle has adopted an appropriate medieval appearance, the characters and the world are well drawn and detailed.
The developer has also adopted an encyclopedia, which highlights special words during the novel that can be explained in the encyclopedia area of the menu to understand the exact meaning. This greatly helps to better understand the world that the story takes place in and is a great feature to have.
The Background music is very pleasant and it does accompany the story progress in an adaptive way depending on the current situation or event that is taking place.
When we enter the games menu, we also have the chance to see a prologue movie scene which we can play. Its content is mysterious, which gives off a feel of hopelessness and sadness, possibly as a teaser for a sequel.
In the end, fault - milestone one proves itself to be a really enjoyable visual novel that has a very fascinating and detailed world and story. With additional features such as the encyclopedia of the world, intriguing intro, and Steam achievements, I feel comfortable recommending this title to any fan of visual novels.
Fault: Milestone one Steam Store Page
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