Raging Loop by KEMCO - Quinn's Curios

First, the publisher’s pitch: “Immerse yourself in a thrilling psychological horror story taking place in the secluded Japanese village of Yasumizu. A heavy mist surrounds the place, preventing everyone from ever leaving. Ancient gods have come back to hunt the villagers down one by one. The feast has begun, can you escape the village alive?“

What Worked For Me:

The game is almost fully voice acted (in Japanese). I kind of wish there was an English dub as well, but I also understand that would greatly increase the size, scope, and cost of the work. (Also, I regularly skipped through spoken dialogue after reading the available text. Having the spoken text in a language I understood might have been rather annoying, actually.)
The game’s characters are visually interesting and well-rendered; this is good, since the game relies on them heavily. They also each had identifiable personalities and priorities which naturally revealed themselves over the course of multiple play-throughs.
This could be a blessing or a curse depending on who you ask, but Raging Loop isn’t big on gore for a horror game. The goriest moments are left in silhouette, and the true horror comes from text descriptions and the specifics of what you are asked to do. (With that being said, I found that the tension was diffused somewhat by both the “loop” and “hint” mechanics.)
The game does a reasonable job explaining why the most obvious courses of action (just leaving, calling the police, etc) are not possible. The player is even allowed to experience these choices, even if it usually leads to disastrous results.
The game is long for a visual novel. “HowLongToBeat.com” clocks the game at between 25 to 45 hours, which is much longer than virtually any other VN game I’ve played. (In the end, it took me about 20 hours to reach the “true ending.”)

What Didn’t:

I didn’t especially enjoy the ending. For a more detailed, spoiler-filled discussion, please see the “spoiler” section below.
The main character was hit-or-miss for me. On one hand, I could relate to his curiosity and fear of the unknown. After all, I selected paths on more than a few occasions “just to see what would happen” with the express understanding that it would lead to the protagonist’s demise. On the other hand, his motivation seemed shallow (and rooted in his desire for a new girlfriend). Or, that’s what I would’ve said until the ending (oof). For more info, see the “spoilers” section.
With so many branching paths and story-lines, I found it relatively easy to either: A) not feel especially interested in any given “loop” since it was unlikely to be the “true” ending, or B) confuse details from one loop to the next. The latter is more my fault and the “branching path” UI definitely helped, but make no mistake: the game is dense.
I found the backgrounds to be fitting for the setting and story being told. With that being said, I also found them rather bland (especially in the last 10-20% of the game). I get that the characters and the story are supposed to be the focus, but looking at “trees + mist” or “1/8th of a house’s wall” gets a bit dull after 10+ hours.
I wish the game had more music on offer. The game has more music than many VNs I’ve played, but Raging Loop is also considerably longer than those games, too. Ultimately, while I never found the music grating, I definitely would’ve appreciated having a more diverse selection to listen to.
(Nit-pick) I wish the scrolling on the chapter / section select was faster. Even rolling my scroll wheel at full-bore barely moved the screen.
(Nit-pick) I occasionally found grammatical errors and typos in the text. Given that the game is all text this isn’t great. It happened so infrequently I can’t list it as anything more than a nit-pick, however.

Conclusion:

First, let me give you a few reasons why you can skip this one: you’re not an avid reader, you want complete character and/or plot consistency in your stories, or you’re not a fan of the horror genre (even if said horror elements are often obscured or off-screen). With that said, if you’re looking for a new visual novel to dive into, if you’re a huge fan of Danganrompa, or if you wanted to try your hand at playing a character like the protagonist of Re:Zero, Raging Loop may be just the ticket.

Check it out here:

Spoiler Discussion:

[Spoiler Warning: Ending] The game wants to have its cake and eat it two. On one hand, the story goes for a Hound of the Baskervilles style ending where everything is revealed to be psychological / “man-made” and there is no supernatural element at play. With that being said, for all the work that’s done to justify most of the proceedings, there is clearly something otherworldly going on by way of the “looping” mechanic and the powers of Rikaku Uematsu. The game does little to explain or justify this part of its world, however. In short, I don’t think the game really “sticks the landing.” Sure, the game does offer additional context in its “Revelation Mode,” but if it can’t get its story across in a satisfying way in the first 20 hours, I don’t feel especially motivated to give the game more time.
[Spoiler Warning: Characterization] I liked the main character’s characterization even less after reaching the “true ending.” The fact that he was a “successful author” who was putting on an act seemed incredulous to me. He basically turned into Batman with no martial arts skills, because with enough prep time / death loops, he could solve any problem. Ultimately, it made him a lot less relatable as he went from “heartbroken graduate student” to “superhero.”
[Spoiler Warning: Loose Ends] How did the main character not recognize his ex-girlfriend at the convenience store? What is the deal with the main character’s ex-girlfriend, too? Her “organization of justice” is so vaguely defined it could mean anything. Also, while “the old man who cried wolf’s” reveal was fine, his death / departure from the story just felt like more plot contrivance. He fell onto his own knife after tripping on a knot in the grass? Really?