Vtuber Connect is a recent Vtuber-based VN that was made by VerumVincula, we would like to thank them for providing a copy for us to review.
There are many rising Vtubers that have captured lots of fans. In Vtuber Connect, we follow Mana an up-and-coming Vtuber who also has gained her own fan base. With her extreme positivity and very creative talents, she has impressed many, including the likes of Shoma Hasegawa. Shoma is hesitant about forming a personal relationship during his first year of college. He is not immune though when it comes to Mana’s charms as he is already a really big fan of hers and takes comfort from her Vtuber persona.
Shoma’s sister requests that he goes out to try and get to know people and form relationships. Fortunately, he meets a girl who goes by the name of Makato, who has bitterness toward the world. They both seem to know Mana-chan very well and because of this, a special bond between the two begins to form.
Pros and Cons
Pros
-The message that is delivered about Vtubers is very touching and well done
-Nicely done art style that most will appreciate
Cons
-May not fully appreciate the characters if you are not familiar with Vtubers
-Pacing issues cause the story to drag on longer than needed
Characters
Let's talk about the characters, there are only two main ones (Shoma and Makato), and two side characters, one being Shoma’s sister, who does not appear until later, as well as the character Mana, who is also a Vtuber.
Shoma is a big fan of Vtubers and whenever he talks about them, he reminds me of the father from the Inuyasha skit from Robot Chicken. Like I picture him and Makoto in this scenario like this. Vtubers are my life’s work, while Makoto herself is just shocked by the whole thing. I myself, will only watch an occasional Vtuber stream, so I feel as though I may be missing out on some of the humor or relatable aspects of his character interactions. I would imagine that those who are true Vtuber fans would get more out of the characters than what I experienced.
One thing I will give Shoma credit for is that he has very good taste in anime as he has a Roxy Migurdia figure from Mushoku Tensei on the right side of his room, along with other references to different anime, games, and Vtubers. Also, Shoma has enough time in his day to watch Vtubers and play games, something I'm personally jealous of.
Makoto is the next character who has a different outlook on life, which is somewhat negative, but still has meaning to it. Like, if a Vtuber acts differently outside of their stream is it really a bad thing? Questions I bet some of us have asked ourselves a few times. She is also a fan of Mana-Chan and seems to know a lot about her.
Makoto comes off as a mysterious character, but she does bring up a lot of good points when it comes to life as a Vtuber. Overall, I would say that both Shoma and Makoto actually are pretty good characters.
Lastly, there is Shoma’s sister Yoko, who supports her brother and tries to find people to talk to. She does not appear until near the end of the visual novel, leading her to be the least developed character out of the three.
The message that the game tackles is worth bringing up as it tells us the struggles of what it’s like being a Vtuber and I definitely applaud it for doing so. It takes dedication, talent, and a lot of hardships to be a Vtuber out there in the world. Vtuber Connect contains some extreme themes of depression, self-hate, and anxiety, but just not in the same way as Needy Streamer Overload.
It also portrays how not every Vtuber is happy behind the scenes as they are probably going through hardships as well.
One of the glaring issues with the story in this visual novel has to do with the pacing. At times, I felt as though the dialogue was a bit too slow, dragging on for far longer than it needed to.
Art Style and Performance
The art style for Vtuber Connect is very well done and is bright and colorful, while there are only a select few scenes available in the visual novel as a whole. I tested the game on an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB, AMD Ryzen 5 1500X Quad-Core Processor 3.50, and 16 GB of RAM. I came across no issues whatsoever while I was playing it.
Final Verdict
All in all, despite not being able to fully relate to the characters as a true Vtuber fan may, Vtuber Connect was still a worthwhile visual novel to play. With an absolutely free price tag, you are definitely not losing out on anything and if you are a fan of Vtubers then you will definitely find enjoyment in this visual novel.