Virche Evermore (Shuuen no Virche) actually made me sob my eyes out, and we need to talk about it. It’s a fan-favourite and one of the most highly anticipated English otome game releases in 2023, and I think for a good reason. As someone who prefer fluffy, romance-heavy games, I was pleasantly surprised at how obsessed I became over Virche!
Disclaimer: the route overview section contains minor, out-of-context spoilers.
Contents
Basic information
Dev/pub: Idea Factory (Otomate)
Director: Yoshida Misa [other work – Tlicolity Eyes]
Scenario writer: Nakayama Satomi [other work – Code: Realize, Café Enchanté, Variable Barricade]
Illustrator: Yomi [other work – Ken ga Kimi]
Console: Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch Lite
Genre: Tragedy, Psychological, Dystopian, Sci-fi, Romance
Rating: CERO D (17 years and above), ESRB Pending
Release date: 7 November 2021 (JP), 9 November 2023 (ENG)
Japanese: 終遠のヴィルシュ -ErroR:salvation-
Visit the official website here (JP).
Synopsis and setting
In Arpéchéle, a small country in western Europe, people are born with a curse where their life ends by the age of 23. The cause is rumored to be the flower of misfortune, black Lycoris.
To overcome this curse, a genius scientist in Arpéchéle invented “ReLife” – a process which allows people to download and transfer their memory into a clone and live an eternal life. However, these clones are not without limitations – they forget, and cannot comprehend the feeling of “love”.
The protagonist, Ceres, is a girl known as the “God of Death,” as people she comes in contact with dies faster than normal. Just as she is about to end her life in regret, a mysterious man who calls himself the “Watchman of Death” offers to help Ceres uncover the mystery behind the curse and the endless misfortune which befalls her…
FUN FACT!
Lycoris radiata or red spider lily, the flower featured in Virche, is also known as the corpse flower. The bulbs are known to contain notable levels of toxins. If ingested, they can cause a host of medical complications including diarrhea, vomiting, convulsions and even death. However, a certain chemical extracted from the bulbs has been used to develop treatments for Alzheimer’s disease.
✤ Trigger warning.
This game contains highly sensitive and dark content, including blood, murder, genocide, dismemberment, self-hate, suicide ideation and attempts, cults and extremism, discrimination, and human experimentation and trafficking.
Main characters
Ceres
✤ Voice actor: Not voiced.
✤ 18 years old. An orphan.
✤ People call her the “God of Death” because those who are close to her end up dying.
Lucas Proust
✤ Voice actor: Hirakawa Daisuke.
✤ Same voice actor as Laito (DiaLovers), Cinderella (TaiAli), Saint-Germain (C:R), Ukyo (BroCon), and many more!
✤ 22 years old. Gentle and has a strong sense of justice. He is a teacher.
Mathis Claude
✤ Voice actor: Amasaki Kouhei.
✤ Same voice actor as Emilio (Piofiore), Aira (Ensemble Stars!), Tweedle Dum (SpadeAlice), Fuma (MoneyPara), and Touka (9 R.I.P.).
✤ 17 years old. The youngest son of Claude noble family. Timid and shy, a bookworm.
Scien Brofiise
✤ Voice actor: Hosoya Yoshimasa.
✤ Same voice actor as Shu (Bustafellows), Loki (KamiAso), Rintarou (Kenka Banchou Otome) and Tousuke (Meikoi).
✤ 23 years old (physical age). The genius scientist behind ReLife and is a ReLife product himself. A bit cocky and can appear heartless. His room is always a mess.
Yves
✤ Voice actor: Saitou Souma.
✤ Same voice actor as Mineo (CxM), Kyoya (CharaMani), Shungen (Birushana), Kikunosuke (Tengoku Struggle), YOFY (Sympathy Kiss) and many others!
✤ 18 years old. Runs a handyman service and also a part of vigilante group. Sincere, kindhearted, and magnanimous.
Adolphe
✤ Voice actor: Yashiro Taku.
✤ Same voice actor as Raul (Cupid Parasite), Amir (Money Parasite), Goemon (Tengoku Struggle) and Tweedle Dee (Shiro to Kuro no Alice).
✤ 21 years old. An orphan who grew up together with Ceres. He is a “brother-like” figure to Ceres and is very protective of her.
Ankou
✤ Voice actor: Okitsu Kazuyuki.
✤ Same voice actor as Masaomi (BroCon), Kyrie (OZMAFIA!!), Korei (Jakou no Lyla), Leon (Reine des Fleurs), Rindo (Cendrillon PalikA) and Youji (SympathyKiss).
✤ The mysterious Watchman of Death who stopped Ceres from ending her life.
Side characters
Salome
✤ Voice actor: Kuwashima Houko.
✤ Manages the orphanage where Ceres lives.
✤ Intelligent, loving and very protective of her ‘children’. She is a ReLife product.
Jean
✤ Voice actor: Takatsuka Tomohito.
✤ A butler who lives in Claude mansion and looks after Mathis.
✤ Always worries about Mathis. Mathis sees him as his own family.
Nadia
✤ Voice actor: Kubota Risa.
✤ Lucas’ younger sister.
✤ A sickly young girl who has spent most of her life living in a hospital. She is bright and sweet.
Capucine
✤ Voice actor: Sawashiro Chiharu.
✤ Nadia’s doctor and director of the hospital where she is hospitalised.
✤ He is the leader of the anti-ReLife cult.
Dahut
✤ Voice actor: Toki Shunichi.
✤ Deputy director of Arpéchéle’s national research institute. He works closely with Scien.
✤ Friendly and loves making sweets. Always cleans after Scien’s mess.
Hugo
✤ Voice actor: Yamashita Seiichirou.
✤ Yves’ best friend and also part of the vigilante group.
✤ Cheerful, caring and reliable. He is very protective of Yves.
Route overview
Lucas
✤ Brutal
✤ Some horror-elements
Lucas often visits the orphan home where Ceres lives to teach the children there. He is kind and gentle, but surprisingly has great physical strength.
Lucas teaches various subjects, including about the curse in Arpéchéle and ReLife. One of the recurring themes in Virche is the dilemma whether one should live eternally through the ReLife process, or to die at the age of 23 as a human. Lucas encourages these young children to understand the world they live in from various viewpoints, and make an informed decision about what they want to do with their life.
ROUTE IMPRESSION
Lucas’ route was painful, intense and action-packed. If I could summarise everything into one word, it’s ‘brutal’. Lucas’ route also had some horror-like elements to it – honestly the first half of his route had me sh*tting my pants scared. 😆 The second half, however, I was in deep sorrow.
Not only was this route full of twists and turns, the man himself was also full of surprises. His love for Ceres was so deep and intense, making all the miserable things that happened to them just that much more painful. The moral dilemma in his route left me feeling so conflicted! Lucas was my first route, and I think he’s the perfect route to start Virche.
Lucas’ route rating: 10/10
Mathis
✤ Very babygirl
✤ Most mind-blowing twist (imo)
Mathis was the only remaining son of the Claude noble family. He had lost his brother to a serial murderer and now lives with his butler, Jean. He grew up away from the outside world so he gets a lot of anxiety around new people. Whilst generally a soft and pure-hearted young man, he tends to lose control of himself when it comes to avenging his brother’s death.
ROUTE IMPRESSION
Mathis was such a darling! I found the innocence and pure love portrayed in his route incredibly heartwarming. On the other hand, his route was straight up crazy. 😂 There were some twists that I wouldn’t say I didn’t see coming, but not to the extent his route ended up being. Prepare for some mind-blowing reveals.
Whilst I found the journey through his route hellish to the core, personally his Despair (bad) end didn’t faze me. His Salvation (good) end was EPIC – it was bittersweet in the most amazing way. I just need someone to tell me where to sign the paperwork to adopt Mathis because he is my babygirl through and through.
Mathis’ route rating: 10/10
Scien
✤ A messy and emotionally unavailable genius
✤ Prepare for the science lessons!!
Scien is a prolific scientist and leads the country’s national research institute. His technological breakthrough of ReLife even led to him being called “God” by some, while also being seen as an enemy of the anti-ReLife cult who view his invention as unethical and unnatural. He has great confidence in his ability and values efficiency. His ultimate goal is to remove the strange curse which befalls Arpéchéle, and contrary to what the haters think, he actually views ReLife simply as a mean to an end.
ROUTE IMPRESSION
Scien’s route was a slow burn to me, especially compared to Lucas’ or Mathis’. Not to say that’s a bad thing, in fact I enjoyed the lore a lot. His route goes into all the nooks and cranny behind ReLife and what it took to get there. The details on “what it took to get there” felt somewhat superficial, but not enough to bother me because in the end I felt like I had a solid understanding of his true character and motivations.
Scien is also the only reliver LI in Virche, and so he has zero love and affection to offer Ceres. Personally I think this made their story even more intriguing. Although Scien cannot comprehend the feeling of love, he recognises that Ceres had taught him a million things his experiments couldn’t, and made him do things he “didn’t quite understand”. Their development, to me, was so damn beautiful. Also, his unbuttoned shirt and messy room drive me insane – for a genius, this man sure needs to get his act together. 😂
Scien’s route rating: 10/10
Yves
✤ Loves people and wants to be loved
✤ Ceres’ saviour
Yves is an easygoing young man who runs a handyman shop. He is also a part of a vigilante group whose goal is to protect the peace in Arpéchéle. He is the living embodiment of forgiveness, and believes even those with the cruelest of sins deserve a second chance. Yves rescued Ceres during a fire incident when they were children. The iconic mask that he wears is to hide the wound he got from the fire.
ROUTE IMPRESSION
Yves was such a beautiful character in and out. His story as a young boy was nothing short of fascinating, and I enjoyed learning about his true feelings and desires and how they came to be. So many mysteries were uncovered in his route that you could stop playing the game and still feel satisfied to some extent.
His Despair end was a horror show. I still remember freaking out when the game took me back to the menu screen and his Despair end CG appeared, and Saitou Souma delivered some beautiful lines….it was truly pain like no other. I was also surprised at how much Yves had in common with Ceres. If I wasn’t an Adolphe fan, these two would have been my OTP for sure!
Yves’ route rating: 10/10
Le Salut – Adolphe & Ankou
✤ Where everything comes together
✤ A f*cking roller coaster
Adolphe is an orphan who grew up living in the same facility as Ceres. He treats her like his own little sister and is incredibly protective of her. Adolphe lives in a small shack away from the facility and would visit Ceres and Salome from time to time. He has a calm and mature demeanor, but has childish and adorable side too (my Adolphe bias taking over here, LOL). Le Salut mostly covers Adolphe’s story.
Ankou is the Watchman of Death who mysteriously appeared in front of Ceres, and stopped her from ending her life. Not much is known about him other than he appears to be some kind of Otherworldly being. He is arguably the most elusive character in this game. He seems to care a lot about Ceres. A small portion of Le Salut covers his story.
ROUTE IMPRESSION
Le Salut was a monstrous route! It took me a few days to complete as it covers Adolphe’s story, a bit of Ankou’s story and what is essentially the finale. This was easily the best locked finale route I’ve ever experienced in my humble otome gaming era. Sure, I’ve only played 40+ games, which is not that many compared to some of the more experienced players….but still. How everything about all the characters and events came together in Le Salut was spectacular. I loved it!!!!!
Being an Adolphe fan from the get go, I was of course really excited to know more about him (I love him so much you guys….). Initially, it was just his character design. Then I found out he is the “brother-like” figure in the game, which completely demolished my sanity. Of all the LIs, Adolphe’s got the best romantic moments for sure…which is a bizzare thing to say for a game like Virche. 😆
Ankou….oh my god, Ankou. It’s impossible not to love Ankou. Reading his story was the ultimate pain – the kind of pain that just touches your soul so deeply. I was SOBBING SO HARD! My heart still ache whenever I recall his story or see some of his CGs. He truly deserves the world and he well damn deserves to be on the cover of the FD.
Le Salut route rating: 999/10
Route order
I suggest you start with Lucas (since the “twist” is lowkey obvious imo), followed by Mathis and Scien. Yves’ route will unlock after completing Lucas, Mathis and Scien. Le Salut will unlock after completing the previous four routes.
Le Salut contains Adolphe’s and Ankou’s stories, and the game’s finale. I am aware many players say Ankou does not have a route. In my opinion, he does (in a way), but the main focus of Le Salut was certainly Adolphe.
TLDR, here’s my recommended play order.
Lucas ➸ Mathis ➸ Scien ➸ Yves (locked) ➸ Le Salut (locked)
Note that the game mechanics require that you sit through all the Despair (bad) ends first. Once the Salvation (救済, also means “relief”) end in Le Salut has been unlocked, then you can read all the Salvation ends from previous routes. If you have played even if TEMPEST, it’s a pretty similar process. Other types of ending include Eternal (終焉) end, which is only found in Le Salut, and mid-route bad ends which tend to be shorter.
As you may have seen above, I’ve pretty much given perfect scores for all the routes. I enjoyed them SO MUCH and they were special in their own ways, but I’ll still do a route ranking just for fun. In terms of LI, I am definitely an Adolphe enthusiast…but seriously, I love all the characters. Even the side characters!
Vira’s route ranking:
- Le Salut
- Yves
- Scien
- Lucas
- Mathis
Vira’s LI ranking:
- Adolphe
- Ankou
- Scien
- Yves
- Mathis
- Lucas
Ceres
✤ The purest angel
✤ Pessimistically optimistic?
One of the most fascinating things about Virche is figuring out whether Ceres is TRULY the cause of all the misfortune!
Ceres is an interesting protagonist in that while on a surface level she appears to be pessimistic, she is in fact, actually quite an optimist. She is a “the glass is half empty…but at least it’s not empty” type of person. This is on clear display particularly after a certain event in Yves’ route.
Ceres’ life is truly tragic in every possible way. I mean…imagine being shunned all your life for being accused as the God of Death, and witnessing your loved ones die miserable deaths, likely because of YOU. I really need the FD to make it up to me because I hated having to see her cry so much…my babygirl needs a break.
Game features & experience
Notable features
✤ Protagonist name change
As with most Otomate games, leave Ceres’ name on default if you want to hear the LIs say her name.
✤ Love catch and static screen
Love Catch featuring the Lycoris flower
Love catch is a pretty standard feature in Otomate games and can be turned off in the settings.
The love catch features the Lycoris flower, and the love meter also features Lycoris which gradually glows brighter when affection is raised.
If you select a choice which leads to bad end, a static will briefly appear on the screen.
✤ Skip jump mode & font change
Aside from the standard skip-read and auto mode, Virche also features a skip-jump mode. It will take you to the next choice or unread text, whichever comes first.
The text font is also modifiable – there are four different types to choose from.
✤ Flowchart & scene list
Virche’s flowchart system
The flowchart will unlock a new path after completing a new scene, but it doesn’t tell us how many paths or scenarios remain. If you play (mostly) blind like I did, the scene list is a more helpful guide as the scenes we have yet to complete will be listed with question marks (“????”).
The flowchart also has indicators whether the chapter has CG or choice, and which characters are featured in that scene / chapter.
Art and graphics
Yomi’s art is stellar, and the CGs in this game are so incredibly breathtaking. I think there was one Scien CG that I didn’t really like because of his head placement, otherwise the rest are A++.
The atmosphere in Virche was incredible! The cool-toned colour palette adds to the eeriness of the setting. It was immediately clear to me that while Arpéchéle seems like a normal place, everything beneath that is cold and sinister.
The sprites are also beautiful. Some of their poses are quite dramatic, which I absolutely adore. Adolphe’s facepalm and his supermodel-like hand-on-waist poses are my favourites. 😆 Honestly, these men are STUNNING. Their costumes also really fit the gothic European vibe.
Some of the game features remind me of Jakou no Lyla, particularly the glowing Lycoris as the love meter (vs. the glowing lanterns in Jakou no Lyla), and even the flowchart design is similar.
Music
The OP song, “Lycoris no Ai” (リコリスの愛), is sung by LOVERIN TAMBURIN. This song has got to be one of the best otome game OPs, surely. It slaps so hard! I don’t believe the full song is available for sale nor on mainstream music platforms (at least at the time of writing this review), which is really surprising. The ED song is “Shuuen no Yume” (終焉の夢), also sung by the same artist. It’s got a catchy melancholic tune – I really like it.
This game is mostly filled with distressed / angsty BGMs, and honestly they all sound good. My favourite track is “Nibiiro no Sensen -Sword-” (鈍色の宣戦 -Sword-). Whenever this tune comes up, I just try to prepare my heart because sh*t is about to go down!
Length
It took me 75 hours to clear Virche. I played it in Japanese and had it on Auto most of the time, with the speed on default which was around halfway iirc. Being a Japanese language learner, of course I had to stop occasionally to look up words, particularly in Scien’s route because my science vocabulary is hopeless. 🤣 But reading along (and ahead if I can) when voice acting is available just really works for me, and is good fun.
I’ll update this review once I play the English version because I wanna check on localisation quality and all that stuff, but I suspect it will take me ~40-50 hours to clear. I read English text really fast so I tend to not listen to all the voice acting unless it’s a scene I’m really interested in.
Overall, Virche was a big boy – perhaps quite similar to Piofiore in terms of length, especially with the lengthy Despair (bad) ends.
Summary
✤ Save your tears..
..because this game is going to drain them, probably. I tolerate angst and pain really well, and if I had to rate the pain level, Virche is probably a 7/10? The only route that had me sobbing was Le Salut – specifically Ankou’s story. Scien’s Despair end and Mathis’ Salvation end hit me hard and I had tears welling up, so close to bursting. There was also one event in Scien’s route that crushed my heart so, so bad…
While I was really invested in the story and the world – I played Virche fairly slowly (over 3 weeks) and took mini breaks here and there. The angst really did make me feel uncomfortable. The devs also said “let’s take it up a notch” and made me sit through all the Despair (bad) ends first…oof, it was genuinely brutal. I would suggest staying away from this game if you are not currently in the best mental state.
✤ Story-heavy, and just enough romance
The game features a long common route. My stance is in-between when it comes to long common route – but this was a good one because the plot was intense, and I enjoyed getting to know the LIs to some level.
Every route has a slow build-up. Most events at the beginning are “lighthearted” – relatively speaking. You need to enjoy this moment because once sh*t hits the fan, it’s a looooong and ruthless ride of misery.
The writer also has this clever way of leading us to believe a certain thing, only to be shocked or get absolutely bamboozled by the truth. The game is also really good at foreshadowing – it’s done in such a lowkey yet clear way that it made me feel a bit like a fool for not realising. Truly god-tier story-telling!
I have seen comments saying there is not enough romance. I came into Virche anticipating exactly this, and we can all agree this game was not designed to fulfil our romantic wishes anyway. Ironically, I ended up feeling satisfied with the amount of romance. Not to say there was plenty, but certainly enough. Mind you that’s coming someone who prefer fluff-heavy games.
✤ Everything is a 10/10 (in my book)
I am aware I am a generous rater, and I’m just not picky in general…but hear me out. Virche is an easy 10/10 if you love angst and dark stories. There is nothing I would change about this game (well, maybe a voiced MC, but that applies to almost all otome, haha). It was a painful ride, yet I would happily do it all over again.
✤ Things to consider
Here are some of the things you may want to consider before playing:
- Do you love tragic stories?
- Can you sit through all the routes’ bad ends before being able to play the good ends?
- Can you tolerate all the major TWs (see above)?
- Are you in a good mental state to play a depressing game?
- Are you okay with bittersweet, not so happily ever after, canon endings?
If you answered yes to all these questions, then you’ll probably love Virche Evermore.
If you decide to play, I hope you’ll love this game as much as I did. If you have played Virche, I am always curious to hear what people think!
+
- Dark and disturbing, and game mechanics ensure maximum pain
- Incredible story-telling full of twists and surprises
- Superb interconnecting plot
- Beautiful graphics and art with breathtaking CGs
–
- Only suitable for those who can tolerate angst
Great review! I’ve been looking forward to playing Shuuen No Virche ever since it got announced, and since I can’t understand Japanese I was absolutely ecstatic to see it get a English localization! So glad you enjoyed it since I usually find that I tend to agree with so many of your opinions. Plus, I’m also most excited for Adolphe’s route since I read that he acts very “brother-like” to Ceres (so cute!!! I love them so much already ahh!) so I’m so glad that you, who was also looking forward to him, enjoyed his route a lot!!! What would you say you liked most about his personality and behaviour towards Ceres? (If you don’t mind lol idk if this is considered spoiler-y)
Also loved your formatting of the entire review, everything was very well-placed and it was a really enjoyable read! Thank you for writing this 🙂
Aaaa so glad to have another fellow Adolphe enthusiast here!! Well he has some adorable quirks which you’ll see later when you play hahah and all the sh*t he’s gone through for Ceres not just in his route but also in some other routes omg you’ll love him times infinity after the game I’m sure <3
Thank you so much re your feedback about the formatting!! I've been thinking a lot about how to make my reviews better in terms of format, length, what people actually want to know etc. and was quite happy with the way this review turned out... so I'm so glad to hear it from a reader's perspective as well 🥹💖 thank you for reading!
Hey i really want to learn to read Japanese to play some Japanese otome how did you learn?
Otome game is a great medium to learn Japanese with imo. In short my learning method is immersion, I think! Basically I started by using whatever free Apps I could find to learn hiragana and katakana, and then I used Anki and used the 2000 essential kanji deck to build up some vocabulary. I spent around 1-2 weeks doing this and went straight to reading manga that has furigana in it (most shoujo manga would have it)! If you are not lazy like me, try to also build a dictionary (maybe use Anki) so you don’t forget the new words you learn. I think after a month I started feeling really good because my familiarity with some common kanji increased, and from there I just kept going. I use anime, J-drama, whatever the hell I am obsessed with at any point in time, the point is to consume anything in Japanese. For example, when I watch anime on Netflix, I would turn on the subtitle in Japanese. For context I started learning during lockdown. I was fairly new into otome game at the time and didn’t think I could use it to learn Japanese! So I came into playing Japanese… Read more »
Omg your review was so good!! It was wonderful to read!! Thank you for all your dedication in writing such a complete and interesting review! ^_^
You are the sweetest Wanju, this honestly made my day 🥺 thank you so much! *hugs*
“I would suggest staying away from this game if you are not currently in the best mental state.” That warning is so TRUE. I played the game bcz so many people talk about it in Twitter and I thought I was fine until I reached blood bath scene in common route! I was okay-but-not-okay then continued playing and came to Mathis’ route first since it was recommended by Otomate, they said. I know the warning, but maybe I don’t quite understand. I watched Law and Order, Criminal Minds, CSI, and thought I could handle it. I never play bad end even if there’s CG, maybe once or twice in Amnesia bcz I didn’t know there’s something called walkthrough. I read some twisted drama CD translation and guessed JP like writing those kind horror, horrible, wild imagination stories. But I can’t handle my heartbreak after finishing Mathis’ Despair End, nothing I’ve watched and read could prepare of what’s to come. I know there’s otoge route that’s included “certain place” at the ending, but I finished his route w/ bitter taste of betrayal and I’m still angry at Mathis! >:( I can’t even start Lucas’ route and whenever I saw Mathis online… Read more »
Thank you so much for sharing your feelings!! The angst in Virche is truly no joke and the fact that they make us go through all the despair ends first is so, so insane.
Yes omg I loved the game so much like there’s nothing I would change about it and I’m not super critical about a lot of things in general hahah so 10/10 for me!
I hope you find the energy to get back to it someday because it’s such an amazing story. But even if not, it’s cool that you at least tried; your wellbeing is most important!!
Ahh I’m also currently deep in Love and Deepspace hellhole and it is truly healing~ Xavier is so handsome!