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.

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

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.

Hyun-ae did nothing wrong

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.

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.

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.

This game was very Intense

It's Dark and Emotional plot has more than once had my Blood Boiling from certain aspects, Deeply Sympathetic from others.
This was my first Visual Novel and never usually Pick something like this as a first pick, However my fears that i had starting it up, were quickly replaced with a desire to explore more of the Visual novel.

The plot itself left me Pondering if such an event could of been Salvaged further than it has been so. The Political aspects were very Intense in how they were carried out. The thought of this being a valid possibilty has struck me more than once during my run through it. Yet i enjoyed the Story itself, despite what has happened.

Regarding the two Characters you see throughout the story, they are too Life-like to be regarded as just AI (One having more reason to be more so than another). From the Refined and Pleasent Persona of *Hyun-ae, To the Feisty but yet Proud *Mute, these two "AI" are two girls that are able to relate to a wide Audience for many different reasons.

I could talk alot more about this game, from the Intense Curveball that is thrown at you, to being forced to pick between two sides.

All in all, This VN Deserves more Attention than it gets in my Opinion.

Would i recommend it?

Y.E.S

Final Score 9.8/10

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!

A very clever, if short, Visual Novel that tells a tale of a horrible tragedy, the man sent to investigate it, and the two AIs that help him uncover the truth.

The player is sent to investigate a colony ship that has been out of communication for a very long time. You are told to figure out what happened, copy the files, and get out, and that the ships AI, *Mute, would assist you. But when you arrive *Mute is disabled--and instead, you run across an AI called *Hyun-ae. Who is *Hyuan-ae? What happened to the colony ship and the passangers? What about *Mute? To find out the answers to these questions, you must read through the various ship log files (letters, diaries, etc.)--and chat with the AIs.

What you uncover is fascinating and disturbing. If it were told in realtime, it would be a horror novel. But by setting most of the action well in the past, it allows the player to discover a happy--or at least happy-ish--ending.

If you like murder mysteries or period dramas, or crazy little love stories, give this Visual Novel a read.

Last game I was required to play and now review as part of my deal with Alex.

I am ashamed to admit that I actually enjoyed this one. No real cliches here, not really weeb ♥♥♥♥, just tells a good story and happens to be an anime game.

Because the story is actually good, I'll warn that spoilers follow.

It is a visual novel, just told using interesting mechanics, and player choices are abundant, so I'm okay with it.

Epistolary novel -- story told through series of documents, letters, and text entries. A narrative is made clear by reading accounts given by other people of events. Also uses the unreliable narrator mechanic, the persons giving you information and exposition withhold information and hint at things to be discovered later. I like both of these things.

Your character is an investigator or mercenary of sorts investigating a ship that was lost contact with thousands of years ago. It was apparantly a ship holding an entire society meant to establish the first colony in another star system. AI on ship *Hyun-ae greets character. Many documents, letters, and diary entries detailing life on the ship before everyone died give the player a sense of what was going on.

The story revolves around the character 'The Pale Bride' which is mostly a tragedy. A young girl, the 'Pale Bride', of 13 on the ship was put in cryogenic stasis b/c she was dying and they figured those in the future would have better medicine on the ship.

Stasis pod is shattered, she awakens to a deeply backwards society resembling ancient China, Japan, or Korea, one of those. Complete with emperors, family dynasties, and deep misogyny, the new society does not at all have the means to heal her, and rather intends to have her married off to the 'emperor'.

The character protests at first and maintains her own free will, but is slowly degraded and controlled. The girl's real name was apparantly Hyun-ae, the name of the supposed AI on the ship.

The last diary entry revealed details the girl refusing to be married to the emperor, only to have her tongue cut out by her adopted father for speaking against a man. Her description of the scene is rather disturbing and you'll quickly come to be horrified by and hate the society she's awoken to.

Everyone on the ship has been dead for 600 years apparantly. The security AI on the ship, *Mute, entirely accepts the backwards beliefs of the ship's culture, but reveals things to the player about what happened to the ship. Primarily, she reveals that *Hyun-ae is responsible for everyone's death.

When questioned, Hyun-ae will reveal a diary entry where she had become a submissive, dehumanized wife of the emperor, having almost entirely forgotten her past identity and sense of self. During a visit to her adopted family, her 'father' says how happy he is with her, as she used to be so protesting and angry, but that she's really surprised them all and become a success.

Upon hearing this, she suddenly remembered all that had happened, how she had lost herself, her identity, and now that her adopted father was actually praising her for how she had become dehumanized and made into an object, she wanted nothing more than to kill him.

She could not bring herself to stab him with the knife she held. The player will recall an earlier entry where it is detailed to 'The Pale Bride'/Hyun-ae that the password to the emperor's shipcomputer is her birth name, as a sign of appreciation. This is willingly revealed to her b/c it is assumed that women couldn't ever use a computer. Using this, she accesses the computer and disables the ship's life support and downloads her consciousness onto the ship through some sci-fi absurdity.

Of course, there are many other details and sub-stories, but that is the gist of it. There are five endings allowed for the player depending on their choices. The easiest is to simply gain the password to the computer, download the ship's files, and leave the AIs behind. The four other endings require a more thorough search and understanding of the narrative.

I started the game not expecting it, but I must admit that the game is dark/disturbing, tells good stories, is not plagued by awful cliches, has good music, requires player agency and choice, and has multiple ways to complete it.

I recommend this game.

An absolutely lovely and engaging story, filled with really good moments and well developed characters. It makes you pause to think, and progresses in a very pleasing way. The soundtrack is great, which is one of the things I always notice about a game. Would absolutely reccomend this to anyone who enjoys graphic novel style games with a strong narrative that doesn't focus on sex or romance specifically. It's a joy to play when you want to just sit and unravel a good story, and I look forward to unlocking the other endings.

An evocative tale with a very well composed soundtrack. The writing's top notch, though it may get a little difficult to keep track of names and stories-- there are mechanisms in-game to make up for this. Not everyone's cup of tea; if you don't like reading through layers and layers of documents to get the gist of a tale, this is probably not a game you'd enjoy. The two AIs, Hyun-ae* and Mute*, are developed well (though I personally tired of the attempts the limited dialogue trees made towards pairing one of the AIs romantically with the player.)

Overall? Text-heavy, though it's all very readable, and the tale that unfolds is worth giving this a try.

|RATING: 9/10|

Analogue: A Hate Story is short, but it has been one of the most satisfying visual novels that I have ever played. Considering the game's length, it is easy to pick up and finish in one sitting. You'll be hooked regardless, so there is no need to worry. There is some basic puzzle solving and you most certainly must have the ability to read in order to fully enjoy this game. The themes are rather mature, so I would not recommend that younger audiences play this game. Now with this out of the way, let us delve into it. Let us delve into the past.

You are a simple pilot investigator flying in space when you come across a ship. The ship has no life on it; however, you decide to connect to a computer terminal where you meet an artificial (yet cute) inteligence named *Hyun-ae. She greets you with much respect seeing as she hasn't had contact with anyone for over six-hundred years. The game works as a series of log files that are shown to you by *Hyun-ae, and you simply read them and talk to the artificial inteligence to listen to their responses. The AI will ask you a few questions and you'll have the ability to modify values in the terminal in order to change your story path accordingly. The concept may seem simple and boring; however, it is far more interactive than it seems. What really makes this game special is the content itself, which for emphasis, I will add, is what really takes the cake.

If you're a fan of seeing characters develop, you are most certainly looking in the right place. What really stands out though is this game's reoccuring theme regarding sexism, sexuality, and sex. The game itself portrays these themes in very unique ways, but I would just recommend playing it since there isn't much else I can say about the game's story. The themes displayed in the game are even more than just that, though. The game explains much more and will require your experiences to interpret them. There are multiple endings that allow for the players to experience each theme in a different light and perspective. Analogue: A Hate Story does not disappoint, and I highly recommend that even people who are not fond of visual novels pick up the game.

Honestly, this one is a life changer.

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.

The start of this game give no indication that it's going to head the way that it does. If you like reading, then the story is ♥♥♥♥ing brilliant! It touches topics that most movies won't, never mind most games! The main character is cute and I empathized for her. There is also, of course, a few dirty bits in there. So it's an over all winner tbh.

I really didn't know what to make of this at first. Mostly I got it because the bundle was in sale and I vaguely recalled hearing an acquaintance mention that they'd played it. I generally enjoy visual novels, though, so I figured I may as well snag it while it was on sale.

Anyway, I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this really wasn't it. The odd and disjointed storytelling was a little off-putting at first, but curiosity about the Mugunghwa and what happened kept reeling me back in. The plot is pretty dark, and some of the log files are a little difficult to read. The resolution of the mystery is honestly pretty heartbreaking, but I couldn't help but keep reading.

Overall, it was super enjoyable, and I definitely recommend getting the soundtrack.

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.