Volume

Have you heard of this game? If it hadn’t been making the rounds in my social circles, I would have completely missed it. I did not see any coverage for this game at all when it came out. I follow some game journalist / critic folks who usually pick up pretty much everything of interest to me but this game remained completely under the radar. That’s a bummer because Misericorde may actually be one of my favorite visual novels of all time.
You play as Hedwig, a nun living in a monastery in 1482 England. Not only has she left society behind to live a secluded life devoted to prayer and servitude, she actually went one step further and chose a life as an anchoress. Day by day, Hedwig sits in a cell reading scripture, copying books and offering religious advice to anyone who seeks it. She lives a completely isolated life, an existence cut off from the outside world. Everything is fine until one day… the door opens, Hedwig’s space is violated and in comes the mother superior with a gruesome tale and a mission.
One of the nuns has been murdered, quite brutally so and the one suspect is a farmhand who seems rather unrelated to the crime. Since you are the only nun with a perfect alibi, it is now your task to act as impromptu detective, spy on your fellow oblates and find the true culprit behind this brutish act of violence.
As a huge fan of The Name of the Rose and Pentiment, this setup alone had me intrigued from the first minute. Hedwig is such a weird and perfect protagonist for a game like this. Just like the player, she has no real grasp on the reality around her. Since she spent her entire life in a dark cell, even the most simple facts of life are a mystery to her. You walk around the monastery asking about everyday affairs, politics and the clash between orthodoxy and lived reality. Like Hedwig herself, we as players get to know Linbarrow Abbey, its inhabitants and customs and we even peek behind the veil to uncover one or two mysteries.
What I love about this game is that the suspense never lets up. From minute one, you feel like something is wrong about this place. Hedwig has strange visions about demonic beings lurking in the shadows, she hears sounds that really shouldn’t be there and she develops a paranoia that may actually be more than the product of her imagination. As you slowly make your way towards solving the case, more questions pile up and instead of getting to the bottom of the mystery, things actually start to get even weirder.
All the while, Misericorde also deals with themes of isolation, madness, shame, inferiority… self-hatred. Hedwig truly is a miserable little wretch; one that I sympathize with a lot. Imagine the situation she finds herself in. After being cut off from life for 20 years, someone storms into her room, makes her break her vows and imposes a nigh impossible task to solve. To make things worse, she then has to face the realities of monastic life, the bickering and scheming, the lack of devotion and the fact that this is also a place for women outcast from society for various reasons. There are many tensions and intricacies here; say something wrong and you may have made an enemy for life without even knowing it.
There is also a lot of love, trust and true comradery among the sisters. You get to know each and every member of the order and by the end of the game, you have a pretty good idea about who they are and what their backstory is. Despite the fact that the cast is rather large and the game hasn’t much to work with in terms of visual distinguishability between the sisters (they are all wearing habits after all), it’s remarkable how unique every character is displayed. There is much personality in the mimic, the posture and the way they talk. Every sister feels like a true individual and I grew fond of them all by the end, even the ones that do and say pretty despicable things.
I also love the humor. Even though the setting and the plot invite a very serious tone, there is plenty of humorous banter as well. The entire framework of how the story is told is used to great effect here. What I mean by that is that the events of the game aren’t just presented by a neutral narrator but by Hedwig herself who tells the story to another unknown anchoress in the future. That way, she comments on her own actions, making jokes about her behavior and criticizing her past self, it’s really funny.
There are some things that I have to criticize though. Even though the pacing is great overall and I never really got tired of continuing the story, there are some exceptions here. Some scenes (for instance the night in the eponymous Misericord) just drag a bit without adding anything of value to the narrative. It’s a minor thing and the writing is really strong overall but it did bug me a bit occasionally.
Another problem is readability. The game’s color scheme is black and white which does wonders for the atmosphere but makes text really hard to decipher sometimes. When there is white text displayed on a mostly white background, things just start melting into an unreadable mess sometimes. Add to that the fact that there are quite a few typos (especially towards the end) and visual clarity really starts to suffer.
Then there is the music and let me start by saying that the OST is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ fantastic. There are like a billion songs and it’s incredible what the solo-dev put on the table here. However, some pieces feel really out of place and break the immersion for me. Again, just a minor nuisance among an ocean of greatness but I had to bring it up.
Lastly, I just wish the game would tell us more about Hedwig as a character. She finds herself in a pretty interesting situation, don’t you think? Why does one become an anchoress, choosing a life of complete isolation? Why does one end up in a monastery in the first place? You find answers to these questions for some of the other sisters but for Hedwig, the backstory remains rather clouded. Maybe this is something that will be tackled in the sequel but I just hoped to get a little more insight into her life here.
These minor points of criticism aside, I had a blast with this game. Among the relatively small number of visual novels I played (and this really is a visual novel in the strictest sense of the word with no interaction or branching paths or anything), this is one of, if not the best. I was glued to the screen searching for answers; I needed to solve this mystery and the writing was so intricate and gripping that I never lost that eagerness to go on. This is only the first of three games which sadly means that you won’t get a satisfying conclusion in the end. However, I am not disappointed by this. Quite the contrary, I can’t wait to dive into the next game and learn more about the sinister plot that takes place at quaint Linbarrow Abbey. If you’re at all interested in detective stories with a medieval setting and a mystical twist, get this game, it really deserves more attention.

This kinetic novel, “Misericode – Volume One”, will make you feel as isolated as the abbey that this kinetic novel all takes place in. To be clear, while there is a lingering mystery, it does not get solved in this volume but it does intrigue you to push for more. It’s easier to think of this game as the first introductory half of this whole story; it’s not bad to start off with at all.
The art is gorgeous and the game is purely monochrome. This can be difficult at times when the text is white and, even with the filter on, it can be difficult to see the text on screen so use that history function liberally as possible when it comes to those parts of the story. Another thing to note is that while technically it is playable on Steam Deck, as of this review, there’s no Steam Cloud function so whatever you choose, make sure you’re comfortable with it. It’s not the best to use on Steam Deck but it is doable. I do think the monochrome does work, though, in favor of the story (excluding my issue with the text) because it forced the artist to make use of the nuns and their voices and body types. They’re so distinct in the best way possible especially when working with such simple colors in the first place. I do think that readers will have at least one favorite nun and one least favorite nun but not because there’s a lack of information about them; rather, you’ll find yourself wanting to learn more despite that or because of that and I love that sort of writing.
The music, though, can and will surprise players because it sounds a bit modern for the medieval mystery story that’s going on. However, while I’m not that well-versed in medieval history, it is clear that this is a labor of love. The author did their research well and it’s shown but there are other instances that may drive sticklers up the wall with how many anarchisms there are. They’re certainly a choice, but I’ll refrain theory-crafting as it does require all scenarios to be read. In the meantime, all I can say is: I’m sure there’s a reason for that choice.
As for the choice to pick for the main character, I can’t agree more that Hedwig is simply perfect for the job. She’s perfectly within the abbey, but also not, at least until it’s time for her too. I will say that while I do think Hedwig is perfect, she is one judgmental ♥♥♥♥♥. Whether you’ll agree with her or not, it’s up to the reader but while I don’t disagree with her entirely, I find myself not agreeing with her entirely either. She’s greatly nuanced, and the other nuns are just as nuanced too, with their decision to take the vows. One thing I can appreciate is that while the other characters can (and do) make references above Hedwig’s head, it’s not above the readers’. Granted, poor Hedwig will let us know how much she hates being left out or treated a certain way (and she’s completely fair to feel that way), but it does feel like the readers, in a way, created a rapport with the others without the nuns knowing it. I thought it was rather well done, honestly.
While Hedwig is as judgmental as it does, the story does allow quite a bit of nuance for why a woman would take vows. It doesn’t shame those who willingly join and it does the same for those who were forced to it. One thing that I find is that stories with nuns tend to be judgmental of those women for one way or another; I can appreciate the fact that this was at least treated with care. Granted, I can see how many people could have umbrage with how certain characters talk (especially with all the cuss words), but, personally, that didn’t bother me. Still, a warning for those that it might. However, I do think that it’s an important discussion to have in the scope of the story.
Now for the scripture portion; I confess that I am an ex-Catholic for a variety of reasons, but games like this always remind me how beautiful, and how ugly, it was and still is. There’s quite a bit of Latin being uttered by the nuns along with direct passages to hymns and books relevant to the situation (and how Hedwig wants to use them against the others). Luckily, these can be looked up to be translated or to read to get stronger symbolism to what’s going on. A lot of it, unfortunately, I did forget but it’s not so heavily within the plot that it’s an absolute must that the reader should know these things. All I’m saying is that – having that extra knowledge would likely be more beneficial and enhance the reading experiences. However, if you’re not that familiar with it, you’ll still have a good time with it otherwise.
There’s one thing that I’ve neglected to bring up: the creepiness. This visual novel has a surprising amount of creepiness and jump scares that are way more effective that I expected. If you’re looking for a visual novel free of supernatural beings, you may want to sit this out; it’s still a mystery, ultimately, of what happened to Catherine and why. However, what is a good religious story that challenges someone as pious as Hedwig without her faith being put through the ringer, truly? And I mean a real challenge; demons could be lurking in the abbey just as the nuns do and I find that interesting. The question I found myself asking whenever it came up: “How could this happen? Who did this? Is this just Hedwig’s mind?” Considering the poor thing has been through the ringer since the moment she stepped out, I think that part only elevates what’s already there and I’m eager, simply eager, to read the next game!

This is a kinetic visual novel (no choices) so you should think of it as more like reading a book with enhancements (music and character art) rather than playing a game. There is no voice acting, but I thought it was fine without it.
The writing is high-quality and does a great job setting the mood and environment (15th century monastery life). A mystery is set up in the beginning but this is part 1 of 3 so unfortunately not much progress is made towards its resolution. It's a bit awkward to just rate the first portion of a story, but if treated as standalone, this is entertaining enough and well worth reading.

I'd recommend this with the disclaimer that this is part of a trilogy, and only two parts have been released so far. The story is definitely worth it, but given the complexity it wouldn't be a terrible choice to wait until you can experience all of it at once.

This is very good, i dont tend to like VN's but the writtings great and i have a complex relationship with religion and women. I recommend it

An excellent visual novel with a distinct and striking visual style, amazing music, great character writing, and a really compelling central mystery. Cannot recommend it enough! Seriously please play it, I need to talk about it with people.

Fantastic. Was midway through the sequel, life happened.
Looking forward to coming back. Very special to me as someone with complicated feelings about mean women, nice women, and God.