Game: Saya no Uta ~ The Song of Saya
Platform: PC
Genre: Visual novel
Style: heavy Lovecraft influences
Verdict: Recommended
Buy: JAST | Steam
Saya no Uta, or The Song of Saya, is one of the most delightfully disturbing visual novels I’ve had the pleasure of reading.
It begins with a young man named Fuminori whose life changed forever when emergency surgery resulted in him seeing the world as a nightmarish landscape filled with monstrous beings. The one thing that keeps him sane is meeting a mysterious girl named Saya, the only person he still sees as human.
Saya no Uta is a horror eroge (a visual novel with erotic scenes). That might sound like an unusual mix, but it works. Far from detracting from the horror, the sexual content adds to the unsettling atmosphere that Saya no Uta builds up so well.
While the story begins with Fuminori, who narrates from a first-person perspective as is common for visual novels, it also has sections from the perspective of other characters who still see the world normally. The story uses these alternate perspectives to great effect, and the overall presentation is much more compelling and disturbing than if it had Fuminori’s point-of-view alone.
I won’t go into too many story details, because Saya no Uta is fairly short. It took me under 4 hours to see all three endings. What I will say is that it’s definitely a Lovecraftian story, and a darn good one.
It’s the sort of horror story that sticks with you. Long after I finished it, I kept thinking about it and the dark, horrifying tale it told.
There are only two choices to make, leading to the three endings, so you’ll spent the vast majority of your time reading. Between that and its sexual content, it’s definitely not for everyone… but if those aspects don’t put you off and you want to read a disturbing visual novel, I can’t recommend Saya no Uta highly enough.
Note: A remaster was later released, including an all-ages version for Steam, with a free update patch that makes the enhancements available to owners of the original game as well.
Get this out the way: “Nice upgraded to the site; like red on white and it now load up with snap of my fingers!” 👍
There also a fan sequel/upgrade: https://vndb.org/v22591 Unfortunately there no English version yet.
Glad to hear it! The loading time was the main reason I wanted to switch. The old version felt slow.
Huh, interesting. I wonder if it was any good. From the looks of the discussion there, it sounds like the sequel was never finished.
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