My Aunt Is A Witch is a visual novel published by Sometimes You of Explosive Jake and Awesome Pea fame. While I personally am not a fan of visual novels as I like more game in my games, fans of the genre should appreciate the story, the vivid visuals, and slight adventure game mechanics.
The obvious focus of a visual novel is the story and this particular narrative has potential to hit a little close to home. Playing as a young boy who essentially gets kicked out of his house because his dad’s new wife doesn’t like him, the player is sent on a bizarre trip to go live with that aunt you barely know. Sure enough, she is a witch, wants to create potions, and has a crazy talking cat that enjoys cookies. Explaining more would spoil the plot but just know there are plenty of details to absorb from a story perspective and visually. Sometimes the dialog can get a little wordy and repetitive, like when a character will say the exact same thing only worded differently two panels ahead, but it doesn’t bring the story to a halt.
After a long opening segment, the player will actually be introduced to interactivity. Here, the player can click on parts of the environment and mix things together from your backpack. Thoughtfully, the player can instantly see which parts of the environment are clickable with the push of a button. It is possible to get stuck once in a while if the player isn’t reading closely, as certain items will need to be combined then used in a very specific area, so there is a chance some frustration and backtracking will occur. However, if you are into visual novels, you probably won’t skip over these details.
My Aunt Is A Witch is a pleasure in the visual department. Each panel is drawn with care, detail, and with an interesting combination of color. The soundtrack is also subtle and is overwhelmed by each cartoon-like drawing. Even though this type of game isn’t for me, I can see fans of visual novels, especially those that might have had a difficult and inconsistent childhood, enjoying the large narrative here.
Also available on PS Vita, PS4, and Nintendo Switch.
Not As Good As: Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel (PSP)
Better Than: reading a text-only book
Wait For It: My Uncle Is A Custodian fake sequel
By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
Twitter: @ZackGaz