Kuroi Tsubasa

I should preface this by saying I went into this VN totally blind. I had no idea of it's history, nor am I familiar with any of the VTubers associated with it. If I had to sum up this game in one word, "Charming" describes it best. Blackwing is certainly the most adorable devil EVER!
Essentially the friends you make keep getting possessed and it's up to the MC to save the day with the power of empathy. The sequence of events does become a bit formulaic but the journey and mounting progression kept it engaging. Full of quirky characters, well illustrated art and fitting BGM. Though I did find some character designs a bit overly simple. And what keeps happening to Puka's hands?? I particularly like the tea-house theme; and pretty sure one track is heavily inspired by The 7'th Guest. Don't get me wrong, I like Kevin MacLeod's music but it does dominate the VN landscape. It's refreshing to hear something unique.
This is a VN with a few good chuckles and moderate drama. Though even at it's heaviest moments it relatively lighthearted, nothing to break out a tissue box for. My only real technical complaint was the default text box color made it difficult to read. I did create a mod
But the dev has added an alternate textbox color option since then.

FREE FREE FREE and over 25 HOURS of AMAZING CONTENT!!!
PROS:
Great Story/Characters: At first I didn't like how Kureha let people boss her around... BUT after playing the game I was able to see how AMAZING her and all the characters are. They are all unique and special in their own ways. The story is well written and empathy centered. We can really appreciate the characters and all their motivations made sense when it came to why the Shadow took them over.
Lots of Music/Art - There is lot of music and art to enjoy. Some of it doesn't add up perfectly but it's very nice and high quality and some really cute music and art montages.
Anime Feel - I don't get this vibe with many games but I could feel like it was an anime and I imagined each story as an episode or a cliffhanger or the next episode... if that makes sense? I could definitely see this as an anime on TV. Multiple Choices - While we don't really change much with the choices it WILL add additional content and show some things that happen with other character that we may miss with other choices.
CONS:
That Ending - You know what you did!!!! Ok this isn't really a con but you'll have your eyes gushing out the tears with what happens!!!
Art - Okay so the art is amazing but it did have some glitchy moments where characters kept turning back to their old forms... The side characters could use an upgrade as well. Aside from that AWESOME ART! Also I would have totally loved if they kept their transformations at the end when we click "Ascend" and find out what happens after the "END"
Repetitive - Ok so this also is not a con really for me but some people might dislike this. A lot of the way that the Shadow is cleared is kind of repetitive I actually like it but Kureha is always talking in an empathetic way to help resolve the issues. I actually LIKE it because it made it seem like an anime where that is just the way issues are resolved! But some people may not like that.
CONCLUSION:
Recommended!
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
Attention - This game definitely need WAYYYY more attention so I hope it gets many more downloads and plays. Great Game!
Metube - At the end we get a song and a montage. We see Kureha's name entered into "metube" and you can search that yourself if you want addition info.

ATTENTION ...
CUTE GIRLS AND WHOLESOME STORY INSIDE !!
100/100
A i finished the game .. and it was a blast ...
A bit sad .. many feelings ...
But overall its all good .. you should try it !!
Give it a chanche and you wont regret it !!
Today i revisited the game , to refresh some memmories , and its quite a blast !

Good VN accompanied by a professional-level soundtrack, MVs, and collaborative art style. While I did not like all of the character art (since they vary quite a bit from character to character), I do like most of them. The mid-story MVs were a refreshing break from your typical VN experience and were of very high audio quality. I jammed quite a bit to all 3 MV breaks. I had never heard of Kureha Kurono before but the game helped me look her up and I'm glad I did. My favorite song from the VN was "A Long Journey" (look up "A Long Journey - Kureha Kurono (黒乃くれは) Official Music Video" on YT). The story itself was decent, but I honestly gotta say that Blackwing stole the show. Whoever created the character concept deserves a pat on the back because that's one of the cutest mascots in a VN I've ever seen.
My only suggestion is that they optimize the skipping experience for when someone does want to skip. When skipping any scene at full speed, the game feels very choppy due to the huge amount things going on in the VN.

i finally got to reading this. i only have a little time so far, but i experienced the first shadow encounter. it's charmingly written.
thank you for making this

best game, pog. it teaches about the importance of life and love. 10/10 a certified gaming experience.

Kuroi Tsubasa is a visual novel developed and published by Blackwing Gaming. You take on the role of Blackwing, a devil who wanted to come to the human world after having heard about it from his grandpa. However, once he arrives in the human world, his shadow escapes, cauing havoc and mayhem. As Blackwing is unable to contain it himself, he searches in a human town until he encounters Kureha, an office worker in her early 20's. She enlists her help and turns her into a magical girl. As Kureha shows unwavering positivity, he hopes that Kureha will be able to defeat his shadow. Of course, the shadow is going to cause trouble, taking advantage of vulnerable humans and their emotions. However, Blackwing and a reluctant Kureha are up to the challenge. I'll end my story synopsis here to avoid spoilers and all that.
As for the gameplay, Kuroi Tsubasa is a linear visual novel despite that it has multiple choices presented. Basically, regardless of the choices that you make, you'll get the same ending. However, certain choices can affect what CGs and/or Steam achievements are unlocked. Since I bring it up, yes, there are LOTS of CGs as well as several Steam achievements although the achievements won't count towards a user's global total until the game is out of "profile features limited".
Now that I've gone over the story and gameplay, I'll move onto my critique. A while back, a friend recommended this visual novel although it's only now that I've gotten around to it. Upon first playing, I found the story to have an intriguing hook. It's narrated a lot from Blackwing's POV, and he comments on how negative humans are, which makes finding a partner difficult. But then, he finds Kureha and enlists her help. Although Blackwing does so initially for selfish reasons, he ends up developing a very close friendship with Kureha and because of Blackwing's actions, Kureha (who was once with hardly any friends in a foreign city, as she moved from her hometown) ends up making a motley crew of friends. The story itself is full of comedical moments as well as dramatic ones and even a bit of horror. I won't reveal the ending for spoiler purposes, but I'll just say that it ties everything all together. As for the characters, I loved the cast of them here. There are a variety of personalities. We have Kureha, the quiet, timid office worker who initially isn't able to stand up to her supervisor. However, as she spends time with Blackwing, Kureha develops a backbone and has confidence in herself (despite that it might waver at times). Through Blackwing and Kureha's adventures, they end up making friends, like Puka (Kureha's office worker who loves video games and manga) and Onizuka (who looks like an intimidating Yakuza but is really a softie). I'd name more of the characters and comment on how much I liked them, but I might go over the character limit for this review, so I'll stop here. Suffice it to say that I enjoyed getting to meet all of the characters and learning about their backstory and whatnot.
As for the writing, I found it pretty well-paced. The events take place day-by-day, and at times, it might feel like the story is progressing a bit slowly. However, even the slow events build up towards the dramatic moments, mainly when Kureha has to use her powers to help the person possessed by Blackwing's shadow. I noticed places occasionally where commas could have been placed to make the sentences read more smoothly, and there was a line towards the end of the story that was untranslated. (I played the English version, but I believe the original language is Japanese.) As for the art, it's in the usual anime style, which I enjoyed viewing. The backgrounds are pretty basic, but since this is a free-to-play visual novel, I can accept that. As I mentioned earlier, there are LOTS of CGs, and they are beautiful to view. I liked the use of colors, and I noticed that purple is present. In regards to the soundtrack, there are several tracks and they have a good variety, from the happy-go-lucky theme to the more horror-themed one. No voice acting is present, but it isn't necessary for this story.
Overall, would I recommend Kuroi Tsubasa? I found it a pleasant hidden gem to play, and I really enjoyed it. For a free visual novel, the story is pretty lengthy, especially if you're a slow reader like me who enjoys taking their time. Also, it has Steam achievements for those who like that feature. I highly recommend giving this a try, and it's free, so there's no reason not to give it a look. ^^
Flying free and writing reviews solely for The Introverted Gamer.