I will start off by saying that I am a great lover of Visual Novels and games of the sort.

I will admit that coming into Analogue: A Hate Story, I was fairly skeptical and I wasn't sure what to make of it. The only real negative was that I found the game did not make it very easy to get into and I felt like the user interface was a little bit unclear in sections. A factor that I have no doubt would initially put people off.

Little did I know that later on I would come to the conclusion that this game is worth every second I invested into it. The story is incredible once you have managed to piece things together and after some time you begin to learn new things and discover new secrets. The level of depth and thought that has gone into the creation of this game is incredible and I would reccommend everybody to play it. There are some fun little additionals which are added into the game through the use of the command centre, which is a nice little addition which I haven't seen implemented in too many others.

At £6.99 it is incredibly reasonable for a visual novel and there isn't really a good excuse not to buy it.

What would you do if you were to wake up tomorrow, having been thrust into a completely foreign society? Being greeted by your "new family" who tell you what to say, what to think and even how to feel in order to not violate their social norms? Being told that your identity, the place you carved out for yourself in the world, is long forgotten, but that they already have a new role good and ready for you? That your dreams no longer matter?

This fate, among many others, is one of the gears in the complex machinery that would end up removing all traces of life from humanity's great hope, the huge pioneer starship Mugunghwa, in Analogue: A Hate Story.

In this unconventional sci-fi/mystery visual novel, you are a space investigator hired to find out the truth about what happened to the Mugunghwa and how it got lost on its mission to settle foreign planets. Arriving at the wreckage and linking up to the ship's computer, you are greeted by the archival A.I., who offers to help you sort through the letters, reports, and diary entries of the people who lived on board before a mysterious catastrophe killed everyone. You quickly learn that very little is as it seems, and there are so many personal motives wrapped up in the situation that actual honesty is hard to come by.

The presentation in Analogue sets up a computer-y atmosphere with abstract backgrounds and actual in-story explanations for things like the multiple choice "dialogue wheels". The effort put into the art is largely concentrated into the two highly detailed on-screen characters, who delight with a plethora of poses and facial expressions to convey their emotions. The soundtrack, especially the character themes, features recognizable melodies (sometimes in several variations) realized in a consistent style that works extremely well with the atmosphere constructed by the rest of the story.

For most visual novels, the user interface tends to be an afterthought, and only rarely is it a point of contention in a review. Analogue, however, eschews the medium's tradition of a branching linear narrative and forges its own path in regards to navigation inside the story. In essence, every piece of text that you can find is one of the "files" of the ship's archive that you can view in any order, and you can also talk to the A.I. or drop back to the command-line interface at any point. This provides the player (a term that I use deliberately, because for Analogue, being a mere "reader" really isn't enough) with a high amount of agency that few visual novels choose to provide. It also creates a proportionally high number of opportunities to fail, for example if the player is not quick on their feet when it comes to using the computer terminal as the situation requires.

This sets up an interesting contrast with the main character's agency in the plot. After all, many years have passed since the events you read about and there is no way to influence the outcome or to save anyone. The only thing you can do is to find out the truth. There is a present-day plot involving the main character and the two artificial intelligences that still reside on the ship's computer, but the focus is on the mercilessly unchangeable past.

The people on the Mugunghwa lived in a surprisingly traditionalist society with strong codified gender goles and rampant classism. The members of the noble families all struggled for power, but no one seemed to heed the big picture or pay any mind to the ship's course. It was a troublesome situation in which a little girl from hundreds of years ago was awakened from cryostasis. Her family hoped that the Pale Bride might bring them salvation, but what could she do to find her way in a society that was so radically different from the one she knew? You notice early on that she seems to be somewhat of a focal point for the events on board following her reawakening, but how does she factor into the eventual genocide? What caused the ship's undoing? And why do the two A.I.s despise each other so much?

Analogue is, at its core, a mystery story. While it is still a visual novel and you can gloss over most of it without really internalizing it and still get to the end, it is a more rewarding experience to actually untangle the relationships of the characters and understand how their motivations propel them to do what they do. There aren't really any mechanics in place to support this endeavour, other than the family trees that the A.I.s helpfully provide you with. I found that my enjoyment of the story increased significantly as soon as I started taking my own notes with pen and paper. I would encourage you to do the same, because otherwise it is very easy to lose your perspective as you wade through the countless documents, each colored by its author's perceptions.

Bit by bit you wrestle the truth from the ship's archives, and slowly you piece together the puzzle until you are able to see the full picture in all its horror. All aspects of it, from the psychological through the sociological to the interpersonal themes of the story, paint a drab picture of loneliness and despair. It poses the uncomfortable question of whether the ship's population as a whole might have been beyond salvation for who knows how long, doomed many years before the finale of the story; whether the event that put an end to all biological life on board was merely the logical conclusion, much like you would turn out the lights when you leave an empty room. It's hauntingly honest in its depiction of the darkest depths of the human soul, and after completing the story for the first time, it left me with a strong feeling of unease about what any one of us might be capable of, given the right circumstances.

It does also have its lighthearted moments, and even though visual novel connoisseurs will find many tropes and clichés conspicuously absent, Analogue coquets with the expectations carried over from its genre siblings in certain moments, such as when one of the A.I.s invites you to dress her up in various outfits. It's no stranger to fun and there is plenty of clever humor to be found in the data logs and the A.I. banter.

The overall execution in this VN is so congruent and polished that any perceived shortcomings almost have to be rooted in personal taste. Some people might not care for the minimalist presentation, others might have preferred a more linear way of storytelling, yet others may have their reasons for not wanting to read a story where gender inequality is a prominent theme. But judged on its own merits, I can find nothing but praise for Analogue: A Hate Story within me. It's unique and interesting, and if you think that a mystery visual novel with deeper than average gameplay mechanics might intrigue you, I can recommend it without reservation.

In this game you spend yout time reading people's private messages. It is funny because in real life I also like to read the mail of people.

Years after the Mugunghwa broken down an investigator from earth had come to investigate what happened on board the Mugunghwa. This korean visual novel will entice you with its beautiful art style and very well written story that is broken down into logs and messages sent to one another on the Mugunghwa. The logs cover topics from betrayal to topics of forbidden love. All while having the same undertoned theme of hate hidden in almost every single log that you open from the first log to the last log. The multiple ending will also provide you with hours of gameplay all while being very diverse from one another.

The story is actually great and mature, unlike some visual novels. That's why I had no high hopes, but before I knew it I was 2 hours into it. It is fascinating. You know what happens but it is fun to see it unfold. Very dramatical loves and you get to read it in their personal correspondance.. (a bit like facebook lol) I can't say much about the art. The AIs are cute and the interface really works well. The costumes are a great bonus!

A visual novel that comes 95% as a novel. There's the command line for 2%, and 2AI's for the other 2%, and 1% as you try to unlock all the logs (and endings). There's barely any music, you stick to the same scene 98% of the time (once midway when danger hits, and then the ending screen), and despite all it's reading, overall as a game it's short.

I got 98% of the logs (all but 1). And I doubt I'll go on to it's follow up game Hate Plus unless I choose to finish what I started entirely = =.

If you're not in to visual novels, please don't get this game. If you're in to it's themes, or learning about them or experiences involving them - mysoginy, sexism, ofc add feminism, even lesbianism - then you might want this game. The themes are a little dark, but barely perverted (thinking 50 shades here. Far from it) . Depending on YOU, it'll be emotionally charging--wasn't deep enough for me. Especially with idiot men and most ( not all) women the same. But I stress, that's the most you'll want it for...reading an author's perspective on such. Not much of the game itself =_=, in action, visuals, routes--ultimately even decision making is ruined, as you need more info regardless!!

The most interesting thing to me? Having to be only able to say yes or no to the AI's. I found it an odd irony: threshing out the integrity and dignity of women, yet so often only being able to go fire or ice on the subjects.

If reading's your jam and you're feeling feminism hype( as opposed anything w/o fem. hype, including being a feminist. Ikr), come along. Otherwise, cya around space cowboy

Analogue: A Hate Story is a visual novel where you play an explorer/salvager working your way through database logs on an abandoned starship, attempting to figure out how all its inhabitants passed away.

As visual novels are all about the story, it's difficult to say much more about the game without reducing the experience of the player. The majority of interaction takes place speaking with sentient AI on the ship, with communication limited to a few binary (yes/no) prompts and sharing specific information. The story is told via the ships' logs being revealed from this communication with the AI. In addition, there is a small amount of (sometimes timed) interaction via a terminal interface, akin to DOS/UNIX operating systems.

The story is decently told and interesting, if containing a bit of distracting and extraneous detail at times. I will admit to some personal dissatisfaction at the ending/final revelation, which has left me a little uncertain as to how I feel about the game. Ultimately, I think the experience is worth a look if you're into and enjoy visual novels, but this probably wouldn't make for the best visual novel for someone to experience.

A wonderful way to spend an evening. It has a good soundtrack, tho I wish there were a few more tracks to it. It does an excellent job of using the music to adjust your mood between scenes. It is a lot of reading.
I haven't found my way to all the endings yet, but I don't care. No matter what you do the characters really do come to life. Instead of feeling like I was reading descriptions of people's lives I felt that I was reading a well-written book and could imagine all the characters and how their daily lives looked.
I was pretty completely surprised by one turn of events that I honestly had no idea was coming and it really felt like a genuine shock rather than just observing a cut-scene in a game that just pulls you out of the moment to watch something.

I thought it will be an interesting game, different from other visual novels and I was right. After playing this game for an hour I was very disappointed. I was like "What the hell is this? That's sexist and boring, I want my money back!", but after I finished this game I can honestly say it was one of the best games I've ever played. Good story, interesting characters, beautiful music and graphics (drawings and the user interface). At first I liked *Hyun-ae, then I changed my mind about 3 times, now I like her even more. Analogue: A Hate Story is full of surprises, I would never have expected this game to be so good.

Thank you for that game, I have also bought Hate Plus and both soundtracks. I'm looking forward to seeing more games like this one. And thanks for Linux support!

This was surprisingly one of the most emotional games I’ve ever had to complete/say goodbye to. It’s so short and I wish it wasn’t because the characters, matched with the soundtrack, just becomes haunting. Once finishing the game you just sit there and muster over the options you’ve chosen and wish there was more to experience with these characters you’ve come to love.

This isn’t a dating sim, it’s hardly got to do anything with actual romance, but more of a story being twisted between two AI women. You’ll follow these two women, collecting information from them (as you’re assigned to) but all the while you’ll come to know them on a personal level, so much so that you’ll become impacted personally (as your character) by these characters. Their personal stories will break you.

You’ll have to make sacrifices after you’ve come to terms with Hyun-ae and Mute and that’s the hardest part.

Gameplay wise, it’s very smooth and the soundtrack was very enjoyable. It got stuck in my head within just an hour of playing. (I even had to go hunt down the OST online.) The controls are easy, of course it’s just a point and click visual novel, nothing too complicated there. The artwork is nice, the characters show reasonable amounts of emotion at necessary times; nothing too childish or over exaggerated.

It’s got a good bit of humor, mixed in with a whole bunch of despair, but not so much to ruin the flow of the story.

In short, if you get this game and play through it fully, you’ll be haunted by how great the story telling actually was. It isn’t just another junk RPG dating game but it actually has an enjoyable in depth plot.

An interactive novel that combines some sci-fi with historic korean culture, if I remember correctly. Whether you consider it good or not will probably depend on how interested you are just based on that description.

Before you buy this game, a word of warning, this Visual Novel has a LOT of text that you'll have to read yourself, if that's not what you want, then look elsewhere.

This is basically a game where you are a detective and have travelled to a space colony that has been lost for 1000 years, however there is no more human life aboard. You log into the ships computer and with the help of 2 AI, Hyun ae and Mute, you must uncover the truth of the colony and why there is no one alive on it anymore.

You will have to do some basic programming to find all the info you need so there is input despite all the logs you'll have to read, some go into 6 pages in length so prepare your reading glasses and pay close atention to the details, you will be quizzed by the AI girls at intervals during your investigation to get your opinions on some of the things that you read in these logs and possibly get them to give you more logs.

You will read a number of different stories that happened during the final years of the ships human life, you may be shocked, you may be disgusted but it will make you want to read on and find out the whole story.

This game would take about 5 hours to complete one playthrough, but there are 5 different endings including a special harem ending (Yes they may be Computer programs but if you so choose you can agree to get married to them)

I give this game a solid 8/10, the interface isn't perfect but it does it's job and it gives you a little extra input and involvement than other Visual Novels, so if that sounds good to you it'd be worth your time to pick up.

Maybe the Metacritic rating is the real Hate Story here. Zing.

Seriously, I enjoyed this (and the sequel) personally and don't get the low score, but I know these are not for everyone. Subject material gets pretty dark You'll probalby like it if you're into most visual novels or have played any of the author's other games. She has some available free on here site if you're not sure.

Analogue: A Hate Story is a visual novel in which you try to uncover what happened to a lost spaceship and more importantly, it's crew. The story is presented via numerous documents and two A.I.s who also serve as pursuable love interests, all the while trying to influence the player's decisions. The experience is quite short-lived, which feels weird, considering that the story is clearly trying to emotionally influence you and centers around some fairly dark themes. More often than not though, these are presented in a pretty hamfisted way and the addition of extremely stylized characters makes for quite a mixed-bag overall.

Apart from an input-based sequence I encountered right at the end, there really is not any gameplay to speak of. The soundtrack served it's purpose as background music for you to read notes too but that's it. And finally, there are several different endings and achivements to obtain.

Most of this should not be news to any Visual Novel aficionado out there but rather maybe serve as a warning to anyone looking for a different experience. So for anyone interested in a decent enough VN, I would recommend getting this game on sale because even considering possible replayability-incentives, it's a very short-lived tale. Overall though, I will not recommend this game to a general audience which is most likely looking for more game and less novel.

Great game, IF you like narrative driven, visual novel games. There is no combat in this game. No weapons. Not many screen changes/differences.

But, there is an amazing story that you get to see unfold from multiple perspectives (make sure to play through as Mute and *Hyung-ae). Plus, it's extremely refreshing to play a game that isn't base on combat or graphics, and pretty addictive trying to get all of the pieces and achievements. The artwork doesn't change a whole lot through out the game, but it's still very appealing.

Before Analogue: A Hate Story, I had never heard of a visual novel. Now, I wish I had discovered the genre sooner.

As a fan of the dystopian novel, I feel like this game hits all the right notes. It is dark, without being oppressive or daunting; the plot is complex, but engaging; the themes are relevant and meaningful. A good dystopian novel makes me question myself, my world, and my place in it, and this game has done just that.

The story is, truly, heartwrenchingly beautiful. I can't recommend it enough. Thank you Christine Love for writing such a wonderful story. I won't forget it anytme soon. I can't wait to see what you do in the future.

TL;DR: The story, and perhaps more importantly the storytelling, are both excellent, which are absolutely critical for the genre. Good soundtrack, excellent attention to minor details. I only wish the game itself was longer.

I've decided to write this review before playing the expansion, Hate Plus, so that that experience wouldn't color my impressions of this game.

No synopsis, that would just be repetitive, not to mention rude. Play the demo. After decades of exposure, I've lost a lot of interest in the manga style, but I tried the game anyway and was oddly drawn to it in a way that is difficult to relate. Perhaps not being Japanese played a role in getting me to give it a shot, I'm not sure. The music is good, but there are not many pieces in the soundtrack. That stuff said, let's just focus on what sets this game apart.

The game itself is one part first-person narrative from the perspectives of many people within the setting, you know, 'before the incident', and one part interaction with one of the two main, interactive characters. If you were to add a repetitive action game in the middle, you'd end up with a far better written and more mature .hack game. I was thankful for the silent protagonist role, having a pre-written stand-in to take on 'your' feelings and beliefs can be very immersion breaking.

The place where this game really excels is in the 'little things'. I'll not spoil what those little things are, but they make the characters that you can interact with feel a lot more believable and 'alive'. Clever use of game devices give the illusion that the interface is natural, which adds a lot to immersion. While some parts are extremely blunt (borderline shocking, considering the context), I felt the story and presentation overall had an alluring subtlety and mystery to it that is strangely devoid in most game stories and, well, from most books, music, and television shows as well.

My main complaint with the game is that it is short. While I don't believe in dragging things out for the sake of length, and there is certainly enough there to get the story across with the degree of completeness that I would consider necessary, I felt that the brevity left an empty feeling. A, 'But, wait, I like these characters! It's over already...?' feeling. It's actually a bit ironic. Loneliness as an underlying theme makes much of the hurried feeling in the dialog quite forgivable (even endearing), but again, there's still an abruptness to it that feels disheartening.

Regarding the style and themes of the game, this is by no means a critique of the writing, which is excellent. But, without looking, I easily pegged who the author is as a person from just the story. For those who know, that is probably not too surprising, but I felt it was worth mentioning. The writing is highly indicative of that person's personal tendancies, experiences, and perspective, which do give it a richness that may otherwise be lacking. I would be very interested in seeing the author involved in collaborative projects (in part because the loneliness is just falling off the plate...).

The author appears to go to great lengths to give a feeling of neutrality overall, aside from the innate societal problems related to the mysterious transition back to the Confucian culture and Chinese writing system of the Joseon era. By the way, if you're on the fence about trying this game, it would be extremely helpful to you to watch the excellent Korean television shows Dae Jang Geum and/or Tree With Deep Roots (both extremely relevant, for different reasons), though I'm sure other Korean 'period dramas' set in the Joseon era would help spark your interest and understanding.

But, finally, the most important part of the game is the storytelling. In the end, the story itself is not as horribly complex as its made out to be as you go through it, but the way everything is revealed, piece by piece, has you drawing conclusions and asking questions that, of course, you cannot voice, but still feel more immersive and palpable than if you were to quietly come about them while reading the story as a plain narrative text. Having the characters play as guide and co-discoverer with you give a feeling of 'togetherness' that is traditionally difficult for games and books to thrust upon their users.

In closing, I can't wait any longer to play Hate Plus, and I hope to see more material from this game's author in the same vein.

Analogue: A Hate Story is a visual novel and this is my first time playing one and I can honestly say I enjoyed it.

The story without giving much away is that you are sent to recover as much data from this spaceship as possible, as you dig into the data you start to see the political agendas of the residents, their relationships with eachother and how things were on the ship, theres two diffrent AI on the ship that you can interact with, they both have very different personalities and thats all i can say about them without spoiling the story.

The entire game is more a menu that you are in and go through and its a ton of reading so if you dont like reading then stear clear.

This game as most other reviews have pointed out it has feminist themes and thats not entirely a bad thing given the way their society functions and its all that, society, does that make everything they do right? no, but you can understand the way it can be viewed as wrong or right, everyone in this story is/was a product of their education system.

All in all this game is a VERY story driven game that had me caring for the people in it or haiting them with a passion which is what good story telling is supposed to do.

PROS
awesome story
great characters
easy to understand interface

Cons
DOS like interface can be hard for someone thats never used it before.
awkward scene to read in "Block2" totally nsfw...or anywhere with people look at your computer for that matter haha.

I give this game a 8/10.

First of all, know that you will spend most of your time reading plain text without pretty images in this game. This is by no means a game for everyone, but if you like reading books that do not shy away from heavy subjects and social issues, this is probably a game for you.

This story explores a real period of history with extreme gender inequality, but puts it in a science fiction setting. The start is a little hard to get into, but soon enough a highly compelling mystery story emerges, touching on topics as surpression, marital problems, abuse, forbidden love, and having to adapt to a society that is not your own. It is not pretty and some parts may be hard to read, but the interpersonal, psychological, and sociological aspects of it are very deep and realistic, and the pieces of the story come together in a horrifying yet unique and captivating way.

If all of that sounds interesting to you, I highly recommend playing/reading this interactive novel.

Also, be prepared that due to "technical issues" in the computer system of the space ship Mugunghwa, the AI will at times force you to give overly black and white answers to questions that really need a third option. When that happens, remember that in the story your possible answers are formulated by the AI, and as such are colored by their own way of thinking, not that of the protagonist.



PS: if you want to experience almost all the story the game has to offer AND not spend a lot of time on multiple playthroughs, I have a small tip with only a very minor spoiler: At a certain point in the game you will be asked to confront the AI *Hyun-ae with questions. Find out everything else you can and save the game before asking the questions.

Hyun-ae did nothing wrong