Onore, a young man is about to experience something new for the very first time. It's been kind of difficult for him to meet people, particularly girls... He's the average nerd, with coke-bottle glasses that the only good thing they did for him was the nickname of Admiral Ackbar. The name stuck, but the self esteem didn't... Until now. Today he is finally going to do it, after so many years, he finally got the courage, and he got flowers and everything. But there's still a catch... Why would Linda, the most popular girl at school be willing to share such intimacy with him? He wonders, losing his excitement every second, and then the truth hits him... It's a bet. Linda lost a bet to her friends, and now she has to do it. Well, not do-it, but at least lay naked on the bed and take some pictures. Poor admiral Ackbar, fell into a trap, what an irony, considering his nickname. Linda wonders, with so much effort put in; the flowers, the box of chocolates, even the condoms on the table... And Onore isn't that bad-looking, he is smart and interesting after all, so the bet might not be a loss after all. Hope rises again, and with it, grows Onore's feelings as well, after all he was never this close to a girl before. They both lay on the bed, and as cloths drop, the temperature rises when their hands touch each others. This is it, the captain begins engaging that special place, where darkness lies, wet and electrifying... he conquers the darkness, by entering, but he feels like he just splattered it. He last laid eyes on the TV, broadcasting the news, where a reporter who strongly resembles Natalia Poklonskaya discuss the latest issues. Eventually, everything goes dark, and so, it begins.
Crystal City is a medium-length visual novel about Onore, most known as Admiral Ackbar, who on his very first time, ends up teleported to another world called... You guessed it, Crystal City! A place in a different world, perhaps even in a distant galaxy, resembles the earth, but it couldn't more different as behavior goes. Houses are made of crystal, with pure transparency to everyone's life, there's no such thing as a crime, and religion seems to be prevailing, even though science is so advanced, robots are a reality. Onore doesn't know anyone in this strange land, but somehow he seems to have a life, a house and a wife. The story tells us how existing key persons can ascend teleport when connected to a certain person, although these are rare, there seems to be a significant amount of them living in this mysterious and futuristic place. When such teleport happens, people trade places, and only they can realize such event. Science and religion joined forces to create the idyllic society, but such dreams usually stored as perfection tend to leave to worst things, but hopefully our main protagonist arrives in time, and with the help of sexy girls and robots, he might even save Crystal City!
There are no choices available for the player, as it stands as a kinetic visual novel, with the uniqueness of a mini-game in the beginning of this adventure. The mini game consists of selecting and using several objects, as well as combining them for further use. A great implementation that could have been used a couple more times in the game, to give it a bigger purpose. The player has the chance to meet a bunch of sexy and interesting girls, as well as some other characters with a simple narrative style to deliver a very promising story line. Each girl has a distinct personality, but I can't stop wishing we had the chance to get to know them better. The game it's not entirely predictable as many would assume, and delights the player with moral questions related to robots feelings, and the sense of justice between society and religion. It's not cult-status, but it's well written and driven by passion for a decent plot, although not everyone might enjoy the over sexual direction, as it's targeting male audiences as general. Both for sexual-themes and violence. The adult patch is easy to install, and offers a few extra lines of dialogues, and some nudity, but not much. There is some minor English misspelling that could be fixed with an extra review, but overall I believe we should appreciate the Russian developers 7DOTS, for translating their game.
Crystal City is a beautiful place, designed with a good amount of backgrounds to enjoy the dialogues. Well drawing characters, with vibrant colors and distinct looks, that will make you forget how simplistic the backgrounds are. Not necessarily a negative thing, as it delivers the specific atmosphere each and every time. The artistic team shines with its own style, giving the usual Anime style in their own approach. Menus are smooth and go extremely well with everything else, making it pleasing to one's eyes, even after hours playing it.
Soundtrack for Crystal City is also being sold, as it's tremendously good. I genuinely enjoyed it, and a couple of tracks got stuck in the back of my head, and that's always a good sign. Goes well with the scenes, and works like a charm! Not every game has a soundtrack that engages the hearts of those playing, but some do, and this is one of them. The soundtrack is composed by 14 tracks that portrays this adventure, from thrilling, to classic smooth tunes, and even some electric waves to shake you! Those looking for a good hunt, achievements are available as well, and they mostly unlock progressively through the game, but challenge awaits those who enjoy some puzzling too!
Crystal City is not entirely about sex, as it delivers an intelligent and somehow sensitive main character to the greater good, and finishes offering a cliff-hanger for a second game that I wait with curiosity! A game that dwells between moral convictions, freedom concepts and justice in an (in)perfect society, inspired by the Ghost in the Shell complex, where we have to wonder, how robots are just robots, or are their feelings being rejected?