Developer: Key/Visual Arts	Publisher: Key/Visual Arts	Genre: Visual novel
Release: 9 Sep 2000	Price: 9,800yen

Review by SAITAMA Tarou (30 Apr 2001)

	Story:: Yukito Kunisaki is a wanderer. With only a puppet as his partner, he wanders around Japan trying to unravel the legacy his mother left behind. He is gifted with a power, his mother once told him; a power which allows him to manipulate his puppet without touching it, and the same power which will one day save the girl whom he's destined to meet. There is a sad looking girl in the skies and a brave yet tragic one on earth who will not live into adulthood, his mother also said, and he has the power to save them. So with those words etched in his mind, Yukito continues with his wandering until, one day, he ends up in a remote town after running out of money. There he meets the girl Misuzu--and his own destiny.

Air © 2000, Visual Art's/Key

The entire story is told in three main chapters--Dream, which has three parts featuring the heroine Misuzu (or rather, the protagonist Yukito) and the other two sub-heroines; Summer, which is based on the Heian period and about the ascendency of the story's 'winged angel' into the heavens; and finally Air, the final chapter about Misuzu and her foster mother.

Anyone who's played Key's Kanon should know what to expect from Air. Key brings up the tragedy/miracle theme again in Air, but the treatment is very different. While Kanon's has a magical, fairy-tale likeness to it, that in Air is more mythical and the story and the treatment of the characters more complicated. Granted that the simplicity and innocence that made Kanon so beautiful is missing from Air, but in many ways both are as different as Anderson and Dickens. Some fans may not like it, but we all have to grow up and mature at some stage, and so do the stories that game companies write.

Other than that, Key did stick to the same old fomula in most areas--the hero bickers a lot with the girls; the heroine talks funny (exchanging ugu for gao this time), and most of all, Air is every bit a real tear-jerky, especially the climatic scene in the last chapter. Air tackles bigger issues like the bonding between parent and child, or among siblings. The themes are more universal, and when tragedy strikes in the story, you'd end up feelig really gutted. And given that Yukito's role (and hence the player's) is reduced to that of a mere onlooker late in the game, that sense of helplessness even more unbearable.

In terms of its artwork and soundtrack, Air is top-notched. Vibrant colours are splashed across most of the game's still images, though sadly since the game only runs under a resolution of 640x480, the same applies to the artwork. Air uses CDDA for its BGM, and the soundtrack's impressive too. There are three song tracks used (Tori no Uta, Aozora, and Farewell Song); all catchy and used to good effect--especially Aozora towards the end of the game. The music's also some the best you'll ever hear in an adult PC title.

The only gripe I have with the game is that it tried too hard to spin a complicated tale, and as a result raised more questions than answers in the end. At times the story is a bit difficult to grasp, and the epilogue wasn't just vague, it was somewhat confusing too as to what eventually happened. Whether Key had purposely made it so is anyone's guess, but a check on the bulletin-board on Key's offical web site revealed that i wasn't alone left scratching my head.

Like Kanon, it's unlikely that Air will ever be translated into another language, and the gaming world is certainly poorer for that. So polished is Air--in terms of its artwork, soundtrack, and most certainly the storytelling--that it puts many more conventional game titles to shame.

Most visual novels are judged by their stories (admit it, what gameplay is there to talk about for this genre?). And as stories go, can it get any better than this? I doubt so. Gamers who bought this game expecting just romance will find that it has a lot more humanity. Those who were hoping for erotica (this is, after all, an adult title) will find Victoria's Secrets tenfold more tiltillating than Air ever will be.

As an experience (as reading a book is), Air is a revelation, But like so many visual novel titles released in Japan, it is also destined to remain, at best, an obscurity outside its native Japan. Sad, really.

	Good: Great artwork and soundtrack. More than just a love story--without doubt the best story you'd ever find in a PC bishoujo game title for quite a while. Bad: Very (yes, very) low on gameplay. Story can get confusing at times, while the ending's too ambiguous. Verdict: Anyone who still thinks Japanese PC adult games are nothing more than pornography should sit through Air (and Kanon too). A moving story with more humanity than you'd ever find in other so-called big titles, whether on the game consoles or Windows platform.
Overall Rating: 9 (out of 10)