It’s surprisingly difficult to recommend one of the best narrative VR experiences, for a few reasons.
Before jumping into this review, a brief behind the scenes. This review for Kamitsubaki City Under Construction: Virtual Reality was initially slated to be published in December, to coincide with the game’s release. The title first came to my attention over two years prior at Tokyo Game Show, where I played a snippet of the game’s early story on the show floor and came away impressed at what was being presented. It had ambitious goals too: this was a fully-voiced, expansive 40+ hour musical visual novel with interactive battles peppering its dense sci-fi landscape. If it could succeed in reaching these lofty goals, it could be a truly unique experience for the medium.
Only, then, silence. Updates didn’t resume until last year, when we learned more about the game’s development and planned launch. Yet despite lengthy pre-release promotion that confirmed a multi-language simultaneous release for the game, and selling pre-orders and pricy physical collectors editions for hardcore fans of the broader franchise this title was a part of under this pretense, the game released solely in Japanese with no confirmed date for an update bringing with it the game’s English (or Chinese) translations. It’s just the first part of a multi-step blundering of miscommunication that dampens the release of what is arguably one of the best stories you can experience to date on Meta Quest.
Kamitsubaki Studio are a relatively new music and talent agency based in Japan, with the goal of promoting the ‘next generation of creators’, including virtual singers (music artists and performers that use a virtual avatar for public appearances and concerts). Beyond that, their goal is to develop not just their pool of artists, creators and others, but to develop Kamitsubaki itself as a brand that can attract fans as much as the stars themselves, which comes through direct intra-agency collaborations and broader projects that tie these people into a shared cultural IP. That’s where Kamitsubaki City comes in.
Kamitsubaki City Under Construction: Virtual Reality is in many ways a remake of the Kamitsubaki City Under Construction: Regenerate visual novel released last year for Nintendo Switch and PC that serves as but one aspect of an ambitious multimedia project from the studio that spans games, music, anime and more. With only some differences the two share the same story, the main difference being that compared to that title’s mostly-2D traditional visual novel structure, the entirety of Kamitsubaki City has been recreated in complex 3D for this experience, as you are thrust directly into the center of events that occur around you as you directly interact with the world you wish to save.
The production is a vehicle for five of the studio’s virtual singers – KAF, RIM, Harusaruhi, Isekaijoucho and KOKO – each playing simulacrums of themselves as teenage girls (named Kafu, Rime, Haru, Sekai and Koko) in an urban, high-tech and futuristic metropolitan city. Other stars from within Kamitsubaki Studio appear as cameos or minor characters.
The concept of the Kamitsubaki City project centers on this titular location, sheltered from the outside world by a barrier that keeps people safe, but also stops anyone from leaving or coming in. Beyond the barrier, most of the world has been destroyed by a mysterious incident known as the Blackout. This brought with it the Tesseractors, monsters borne of human discontent and malice that feed on people to survive. The only thing that can defeat them is a pure heart and the Song of Purification, something that can only be performed by Witchlings who possess a musical ability that since the Blackout have received enhancing powers as a result of a shift in the Earth’s physics. Thus, they fight the Tesseractors in order to learn the truth of Kamitsubaki City, the monsters, what caused the incident, and to potentially save humanity.
If that seems like a lot to understand, you need not worry. Not only are these high-concepts and litany of proper nouns slowly and carefully explained within Kamitsubaki City Under Construction: Virtual Reality’s narrative, understanding or knowing the events of the many multimedia offshoots are not required to play this game. Indeed, one could easily enjoy this game as an entirely standalone experience, though knowledge of how it came to be does provide a basis for why this game is developed the way it is, and provides context for just how ambitious and deep this game can be if you give it a chance.
Structurally, though the game has been remade in 3D, this is still a visual novel at its core. Thus, you play as a self-inserted protagonist invited to the city with no memories who befriends Kafu with your only memory being a mysterious alien creature telling you to save the girl from a terrible fate. This takes you on your journey to meet all the other girls and discover the truth to yourself and the city, but you play a mostly passive role in this story. Aside from select choices, battles with the Tesseractors and small minigames, you won’t be interacting or even wandering around this environment yourself, instead following the story along its pre-determined route as you get to know these characters and this world.
The game offers accessibility options with the chance to look back at skipped dialogue and replay voice lines and full scenes, as well as adjustments to volume of music and dialogue down to granular adjustments for individual characters. Since movement is often warp-based and on-rails, motion is also minimal outside of combat.
The moments you do get to interact, however, are surprisingly involved. Battles against Tesseractors involve the use of both a gun and a sword (switched between by using the grip button on the right hand), swinging the sword or using the trigger to fire the gun. In your left hand is a shield, used to deflect projectiles. These sequences play out somewhat like an on-rails shooter, firing at the enemy, defending projectiles, reloading by flicking the gun back towards yourself, slicing at the enemy if it comes close, and get surprisingly intense the further in the story you go. This is especially clear when you must use the various unique abilities of the girl using the X button in order to enhance your attacks or heal. While battles are minimal, they’re visually impressive and provide a welcome reprieve from the engrossing but extended sequences of listening to dialogue and tapping through long text boxes.
Indeed, the whole game is visually impressive, the lack of direct movement beyond the set path the game moves you automatically allowing every environment to teem with intricate character models for every main character and dense environments, particularly in scenes like the VALIS restaurant. Further, as should be expected by a game deriving from a project centering musicians, there’s a lot of music: songs from all the stars featured in the game are used for Songs of Purification or merely to enhance story beats. These aren’t made for the game, but are each exciting, multi-genre, electronic-infused J-pop songs that emotionally resonate in every scene, are often accompanied by flashy visuals and dances, and bring a heart to this story that charms you to the characters and the events at hand.
The fact you have so many songs performed in VR to such dexterity, with the chance to listen to them at will after hearing them in-game, is arguably enough to justify the experience and potentially introduce you to a few new music artists for your rotation in the process. After all, it was through these games and their music a few years ago that I became interested in these artists themselves, going on to see the very songs and artists featured in this game at live concerts.
Not only that, these songs enhance a story that’s far longer than competitors in VR, with compelling twists and turns and strong writing that are a genuine pleasure to experience. As someone who normally plays VR in shorter bursts due to the nature of the format, I could sit and play this game for hours without even noticing the time had gone. Having also played the original visual novel for which this game is based upon, I can safely say that the immersive nature of VR and the quality to which it’s been implemented here make this the best way to experience this story and get introduced to this world.
Even beyond the quality of its music or the people behind it, this is simply a compelling sci-fi story with a lot of value for the many hours needed to experience it all.
Yet why does it also feel like the developers almost don’t want you to buy this game? It’s not just the many months of delays it took for an English patch that allowed us to create this review that’s the issue here. Early in March, I happened to notice the game had been updated with the full English translation that was initially promised. Great news, right? Except, I’m vague on the specifics of this update as it merely appeared without any communication from the developers that it had been released. It took until March 27th for the developers to confirm this, in a Japanese-only tweet. Even now, the actual store page says the game is awaiting its English patch.
Even then, I can’t say this patch is perfect. Lyrics for the songs that pop up as in-game assets rather than inside text boxes aren’t translated, though this could be viewed as a stylistic choice since important story points linked to the lyrics are explained via additional dialogue and, as mentioned, most weren’t made for the game. What can’t be considered stylistic choices are the early-game tutorials that also pop-up as assets in Japanese only, which can be confusing for anyone not also versed in the language even if much of the guidance is also given in text boxes. It suggests a lack of polish that carries over to occasional awkward lines of dialogue and moments where the wrapping of text inside the dialogue boxes cuts to the next line mid-word.
This is a fully-voiced narrative adventure with a wealth of Japanese talent behind it! Beyond the musicians themselves, their virtual personas are designed by in-demand Japanese artists representing the most in-demand pop artists in the country today like PALOW and Mai Yoneyama, with songs similarly produced by prolific composers like Iori Kanzaki and others. There’s polish even in minor areas that make the whole city feel alive and recognize that a full 360-degree field of view should be filled with something to see in all directions. Considering the other media offshoots attached to the game and the stars attached to the project, the game is compelling in its own right but exists also as a vehicle to enter this world and listen to these artists, meaning that no expense has been spared to give the best impression to newcomers and please long-time fans.
Which is why it feels so bizarre that a poor communication strategy and mishandling of the game make it still unclear to a wealth of people who would adore this game, whether fans of the artists or similar VR titles like Dyschronia and Tokyo Chronos, that the game is even available at all.
I can only hope, all these months later since its initial launch, that people will be convinced to give Kamitsubaki City Under Construction a chance. It’s genuinely a joy, and one of the most dense and enthralling narratives available in the medium. Whether it’s a standalone experience or a jumping-off point into the broader world of Kamitsubaki, there’s a lot to have, with future DLC promising even more to come.
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