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‘Lucy: The Eternity She Wished For’ (henceforth referred to as ‘Lucy’) is a visual novel that plays with the ideas first considered by Asimov and Phillip K. Dick; primarily the concepts of robotic sentience and its impact on the human population. Being a visual novel, there is absolutely no interaction beyond progressing dialogue and at times (nearing the end of chapters) making a decision. These decisions seemingly play very little into the narrative of the story; at a stretch, they change the next dialogue line. While this is disappointing for the gamer in me, it is an absolutely necessary concession to make for the sake of a convincing narrative. And being a visual novel means that this game lives and dies on the strength of its narrative…

Say hello to Lucy, the cute and adorable female android.

…throughout the first hour, I was incredibly worried for the game. As the story in this hour is bloated and the writing is borderline awful. The dialogue is contrived and in no way reflects how native English speakers share information and express themselves – it is hugely distracting and constantly pulled me out from the story. However, there is a turning point, and it is when the android ‘Lucy Valentine’ gets repaired – it is here that the writing has a noticeable improvement. Suddenly, the exchanges between characters are much more believable and natural. The game even throws in some brilliantly self-aware references that play into the themes being explored. By the end, you will have been dragged through an emotional ringer – you will feel every step of these characters journeys.

There are plenty of dialogs and dialog options in the game.

You could argue that for this hour the game was trying (and succeeding) in replicating the awkward exchanges between a machine and her socially inept owner. I’m inclined to give it this benefit of the doubt. Visually ‘Lucy’ is beautiful to look at. And everything has a hand drawn Manga look to it and the character models, while static, have subtle cues and animations that heighten the experience. However, the writing and the artwork are often at odds with one another; for example, the repairman character is described as “neither too young nor too old” yet he resembles a teenager! And while it may sound minor, it creates a conflict between what you read and what you see, and it can throw you when it occurs.

lucy the eternity she wished for angry father

Bu…but, father! She´s my real-life waifu!

Aurally, however ‘Lucy’ is excellent! The music creates tone, emotion and mood in every scene, and it totally absorbs the player. Every track has been composed and implemented with a care to detail that rivals even AAA titles. The voice acting for ‘Lucy’ (the only voiced character) is also of an exceptionally high-quality; the sound direction is undoubtedly the strongest technical aspect of the game.

Pros:
+ fantastic story after a weak opening
+ amazing soundtrack and voice acting
+ beautiful hand-drawn graphics

Cons:
– the story is ponderous for the first hour
– decisions are largely pointless
– writing is often unnatural and distracting

Story: 4/5
Graphics: 3/5
Sound/music: 5/5
Controls: 1/5
Replay value: 2/5

tgg grade 4 out of 5

Verdict: 4/5
In the space of five hours ‘Lucy: The Eternity She Wished For’ takes the player on a roller coaster of emotions; although there are little to no surprises within the narrative this is definitely a case of the journey rather than the destination. While there are some technical issues this is a visual novel that can stand up with the best in the genre and is well worth experiencing!

Title: Lucy: The Eternity She Wished For
Developer: Modern Visual Arts Laboratory
Format: PC
Genre: Visual Novel
Resolution: Standard/Average for PC
Release date: 2016-02-28
Difficulty: Normal
Spent time: 5 hours
Average grade internationally: N/A
PEGI age rating: 12+
Price: 9,99€ via Steam