Inside the grassy patch

This is a wonderfully surreal, all-ages (sort of) game about three students and an alien researcher during a summer vacation.

This story is set in a rather small Japanese prefecture, where you the male main character, stumbles upon one of your classmates dresses in a humiliating outfit. Shortly thereafter, you are contacted by an alien and told that you are part of a social experiment, and your adventure goes on from there.

I very much enjoy the author, Awatake Takahiro’s unique blend of the surreal and the mundane. While most current artists tend to focus on cute/sexy characters to move the story along, Awatake does more and really lets the setting tell the story. Every one of his stories, no matter how simple, has some hidden depth in the background which makes you think “Something is a little bit… off here.” You can’t find that kind of quality nowadays.

Story: 10/10 Although short, the story was charmingly put together. The text is in Japanese, so you will either have to know how to read Japanese, or find a translation patch.

Art: 10/10 The art is charmingly old-fashioned, in a modern kind of way. It is difficult to explain. To me, the art feels like a sexier version of Dennou Coil (an anime that I absolutely loved).

Music: 5/10 …It has no music, which was a bit disappointing. Some background noise, such as generic insect noises, with the occasional cicada chirping, would have drastically improved the ambiance. However, the silence is strangely fitting.

Replayability: 3/10 There are two routes with no branches or choices beyond who you decide to follow around. You will probably play through the game twice, to see each girl’s route and unlock all 14 pieces of CG.

Overall: Besides the lack of music and low replayability, this is a great game from a talented, if not well known, artist. I sincerely hope that more of his work comes overseas, because he is a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stagnant (although still entertaining) market.

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