Forgotten Trace: Thanatos in Nostalgia - Chapter 1 Complete Edition Reviews
Forgotten Trace: Thanatos in Nostalgia has a great first chapter that may be overly wordy, but sets up a gripping mystery. However, it almost immediately turns into a mess due to poor pacing and character building. The timeline feature works to a point but fails to really capitalize on the system, which ends up doing nothing for the narrative. Hopefully, the sequel delivers a more promising structure for these characters to grow in.
Even as I’m writing this, taking the game in its entirety, am I struggling with my feelings for Forgotten Trace – Thanatos in Nostalgia. It has its moments of pure brilliance, but they are buried under such striking flaws. I also cannot ignore Almaz’s development of this series, as this Chapter was originally completed and released back in 2015 in Japan, meaning it has taken five years to reach this point for Western audiences on top of the fact that little progress has been seen from Almaz since. And so I find it incredibly difficult to recommend this game, both as a stand-alone visual novel, as well as the series prologue it’s meant to be. This first Chapter will leave players with a sense of ambiguity due to the lack of closure and there has been little news coming from Almaz, leading me to believe that the continuation, let alone an eventual conclusion, to this series will not happen in a reasonable amount of time. I don’t fault Fruitbat Factory for bringing this visual novel to Western audiences, but given the fluctuating quality of the original product and the assumed length of time before we may see any continuation, this might be a hard pass for many. It’s truly unfortunate, as I, myself, am enticed enough, desiring to see the Forgotten Trace series to its next installment.
All-in-all, Forgotten Trace: Thanatos in Nostalgia is a really great beginning to what seems to be a very interesting story. By focusing on a lengthy but very much enticing setup, Forgotten Trace, has the ability to quickly and skillfully draw its players into Kazuya’s world, and provides plenty of material that I assume will allow the story to continue to become even more exciting than it already is.