Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception

While Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception won't break new ground in terms of narrative novelty or tactical depth, it remains an attractive, polished fantasy romp that will especially delight fans familiar with the original story. Everyone else, though, should be prepared to pick up the sequel, lest they leave the story halfway done.

When I heard the news that the series was finally returning to PC, I just had to see how the ports turned out. Which is why it hurts to say that the ports have some rather major issues.

Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception functions well as a visual novel. Unfortunately, the rest of the game suffers, with a battle system devoid of difficulty or punishment and an agonizingly slow start. Be prepared for hours of boredom before getting to the good parts.

Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception is a good visual novel that blends that genre in fairly seamlessly with strategy RPGs. It's far more of a visual novel than an SRPG, but when the SRPG elements come in, they're well-done.

Great art, great music, gameplay that actually doesn’t feel like a distraction from the main story, and a story that’s both unique and well-written. The two games have a lot going for them and the fact that they’re actually decent PC ports is also a nice bonus. It’s about time we got them on PC and now it’s just a wait to complete the trilogy with the release of Prelude to the Fallen.

Go in expecting a chill visual novel and not a grand strategy epic, and you’ll have a good time. There’s a lot here to like, so long as you don’t mind your strategy games with more drinking parties than battles.

Having the upcoming sequel hanging over it doesn't do Mask of Deception any favours.

Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception tells two different stories—one serious, one sexy—that are so at odds with one another that it loses itself in the process.

I had a lot of fun with Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception. It features a very nice art style and striking cutscenes, which are always a big plus for visual novels, not to mention a solid story that will keep you engaged as you move forward. It's strategy, and tactics gameplay mechanics are a nice counterpart to the visual novel side of things, with a deep and rich battle system in which every choice you make can have a considerable impact on a battle's outcome if you play your cards right. I highly recommend this visual novel/tactical RPG on PS Vita and look forward to playing its sequel later in the year!

Overall, I found Mask of Deception to be a slow affair with big chunks of the game being text-based and the battle sections few and far between. I’ve played a few other VN’s in the past so I knew what to expect but I wasn’t expecting it to be that text-heavy. There were moments where I’ve set the text to autoplay, and I’ve not touched the controller for a few hours. The battle sections are very enjoyable to play, although at first, they can be quite confusing to understand. Mask of Deception isn’t a bad game, the story is very enjoyable, blending in humour and seriousness very well, and the artwork along with the background music are some of the best I’ve seen in a Japanese game.