The reader has quite a few choices to make, which at some point results in the story branching off into one of the routes. It’s as generic a setup as it gets for romantic comedy visual novels. He is not particularly good at anything and doesn’t stand out but for some reason or another, all of the girls of the main cast are interested in him. The reader interacts with the world through Takeru, who is very much a blank slate. From representing pretty much every popular character stereotype in some form or another, right down to the sex scenes that are often associated with visual novels. Now let’s take a look at each entry of the trilogy:Įxtra reads very much like a stereotypical visual novel. While the latter portion is the same in all 5 routes, they play out differently due to the varying personalities of the characters Takeru interacts with. Each route focuses on its central girl’s problems and backstory and ends with the girl in question getting together with Takeru, our protagonist.
Different routes tend to have vastly different outcomes from one another, though bad endings are sometimes similar across various routes.Īs an example, Muv-Luv Extra has 5 “main” (one could argue there are only 2 main routes but that’s not the point here) routes, one for each of the heroines. Different routes usually branch off a main route, which depends on what decisions the reader has made, whether the reader has triggered certain flags or scored enough points with a certain character etc. Each route can have one or more endings, some good and some bad and sometimes there’s even a “true” ending. But that’s not what I really want to talk about.īefore I go on, let me clarify what I mean by a “route”: Traditionally, each route in a visual novel focuses on a different heroine (or less commonly hero), whom the reader decides to focus on, on a particular read through. A lot of scenes will probably need some rewriting and the fact that Alternative is really long may result in a lot of inconsistencies being introduced. There are plot related issues that make me slightly worried about the prospect of adding routes. I’d even say having more routes won’t add anything to the story and would mostly serve to please fans, which isn’t necessarily bad, mind you. On the other hand, I firmly believe that Alternative doesn’t need additional routes. Some people were disappointed that Muv-Luv Alternative didn’t have multiple routes like so many other visual novels: It sounds like a good idea and to be honest if it does end up happening, I sure as hell won’t complain if it is done well. With the recent announcement of the Kickstarter for the localization of the Muv-Luv and Muv-Luv Alternative visual novels (and possibly other Age visual novels as well), one of the ideas for stretch goals being thrown around is to add routes to Alternative. Warning: There will be some spoilers regarding Muv-Luv and Muv-Luv Alternative.įirst off: If you haven’t heard of the Kickstarter for the localization of Muv-Luv and Muv-Luv Alternative and are a fan of the Muv-Luv franchise or Age and their visual novels in general, check out and follow twitter to find out more.