ARTISAN

Deserves a Megami Tensei game/JJBA anime treatment.

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ARTISAN
Developer: STARRYWARE, The Order of the Frame
Publisher: STARRYWARE
Pros:
1. The story's setting is straightforward; a battle royale. The plot is fascinating being centered on artworks but we the human goes up on display, our life is the canvas. Easy to understand and easy to jump into, however the characters are what stands out the most. Each character and their Artisan are made with so much care, it's amazing to see. For example with Link, his Artisan can't attack unarmed individuals, this goes along with his personality as he is a good natured person and strives to do what is morally right even if the only visible options are wrong. To go more in depth, the following will be hidden to not spoil anything. Link's Great Wave's other ability is Thirty Six Views of Fuji, where Great Wave can take form into entities that can counter the corresponding opposing fighter. This also fits in with Link's moral compass as he truly wants everyone to band together and escape using their capabilities. Ferris' Vetruvian Man's ability to scan others goes with how she wants to get the edge on everyone such as stealing their personal information databases. Holiday's Guernica is like an embodiment of her ailment, a fatal illness taking over the body, even with multiple treatments, it'll come back stronger. There are more characters of course, but I want to include Cruz as her Artisan is The New Collosus, it fits her perfectly as its abilities that it can't attack but also has immense durability, showing Cruz strong will to not back down to do what is necessary in order to get her goal that costed her parents. The characters in ARTISAN are outstanding for sure, and are all great to see, even if it's a man whose presence may come as forgettable. They all have their ideals, morals, and upbringings which shows so much of how they are handling the situation in their own unique viewpoint.
2. The art is superb, all the characters and animations are all done by the artist/developer; Bruce Vernon. There are a few animations, but they are done extremely well ranging from an introduction to The Garden of Earthly Delights to a whole whopping minute of a battle sequence. It is awesome to watch along with the impressive fact that a lot of work is done by just a single person. My favorite part about the art, is the realization that the Artisans are named and designs go by their corresponding artworks and/or poems. Examples you will see are "The Great Wave off Kanagawa" by Hokusai, "American Gothic" by Grant Wood, and "Guernica" by Pablo Picasso. There are definitely more, and when you do finish the game, you are treated by the end credits displaying these as well. As for the character designs, I find them all to be excellent. They are all full of life ranging from a rowdy college student to a meek desk worker, literally normal people you might see on a daily basis. The backgrounds do a good job in fitting in with the story, some being royalty free backgrounds as well.
3.
Music is an important part of a story, some can prosper. ARTISAN's music does a fine job in making its scene help ease you into the mood whether it be a mundane chat with an upbeat track or an intense bloody battle with aggressive electronic guitar. It's a treat hearing the end credits song with vocals too.
Cons:
1. The story is missing some areas such as the what and why. We are given some information regarding this mysterious art gallery and its inhabitants, and how the people are equally and randomly selected, but we don't know much about this world, even after finishing the game, we don't really know what it was and how it came to be, the few things we know is that it can eventually come to an end. It also makes it hard to know who Link is, we are him yes but who exactly are we? We understand he is a good natured kid, has been to Japan frequently, and grew up in hard environments, but we don't him as well as the other characters.
2. Some settings don't save such as changing the text speed, whenever I open the game again, it is reverted back to it's default speed. Some more save slots would be appreciated too.
Conclusion:
ARTISAN is a fascinating visual novel that is packed with characters, designs, and animations that have been made with love. The story is easy to get into but the characters definitely shine the brightest.
Score: 9/10 OUTSTANDING

This is actually just an amazing story, I am shocked that I can't find anything else from Starryware, this does not look like a first project.
Artisan does not just compete with the greats, I would say it surpases them.
The charaters are amazing, the story is incredibly creative, the writting is masterfull...
Honestly I could praise this novel for hours, I hope to read more from the same that crafted this.

(Insert Night Gallery Intro here) Jesus. Christ. I am EXHAUSTED. I honestly want an adaptation of this now. That's not an easy feat. How are more people not talking about this? I honestly want an adaptation of this now. Would I say pick this up? Hell yes, I would. Art's good, the references I appreciate, the animation is good, but the draw for me are the characters. There's multiple endings to this, apparently, and I'll likely going to see what some of them are.

ARTISAN is an amazing Visual Novel. The Story is well told and it includes different choices that can lead to different endings. The artwork and the 2d animated cutscenes are beautiful.
The game is well worth the money and time.
ARTISAN Playthrough Link:
Steam Curator Page:

This vn deserves a lot more attention. The story, characters(Cleo is my favorite), and art/animation are all great. There are also different endings. I'm really surprised that almost no one has heard of it, with how much work & love was put into it, and that this is the only project that The Order of the Frame/StarryWare has done. I would love to see more from them or at least find the writer or artist.

More of a visual novel than a game, but incredible either way. 10/10 would cry over fictional characters again.