GAME REVIEW | "Sound of Drop" Truly a Killer Whale of a Tale
While Sekai Project has published many a visual novel, Sound of Drop –fall into poison– is their first dive into the horror sub-genre. Originally released back on Halloween, the game is a good creepy time that explores the creepiness of aquariums at night.
Sound of Drop –fall into poison– is about two junior high school students who decide to go to the Manten Aquarium. Word goes around about an urban legend involving a girl who went to the aquarium at night and died soon after coming back, among other stories like the tanks becoming red or man faced fish. Of course they don't really believe this and just want to go for fun. Unfortunately for the protagonist Mayumi, she sees the image of a young girl that looks like her little sister, who disappeared in the aquarium five years ago.
This kicks off a series of disturbing events as -- of course -- the legends seem to be true. Now Mayumi has to find her friend and find a way to escape this hellish version of the aquarium full of creatures that want to kill her. Along the way she'll meet other people in the aquarium, all with different agendas.
Sound of Drop –fall into poison– has multiple different endings, with most of them being bad. The nice thing about this is that you can continue from the point where you made the bad decision and pick the other one. There's only four true endings, with the last two only being accessible on a new game following a completed run.
The game is told mostly in a sound novel format, with most of the macabre scenes being described in text rather it being shown on screen. Sound of Drop will occasionally get gory only when it needs to, so the text is very descriptive and grisly, leaving your imagination to fill the gaps (much like Higurashi and parts of Corpse Party). In fact the game seems to take a bit of inspiration from these title.
There are very little issues with the game. The story is good, although depending on the route taken the plot's resolution will either be lacking or it'll get a bit out there. New routes elaborate on two of the game's characters in the beginning that didn't get much backstory, with one character in particular getting none originally, and was only vaguely referenced in the original's intro. So at least be thankful the Steam version expands the plot a bit more.
One other thing that would've been nice is the addition of voice-overs to help create more immersion, but unfortunately there is no voice acting. The music fits the mood and sounds nice, with tunes being suitably ominous. Its artwork, while good, looks a bit amateurish considering its status as a remaster. This mostly applies to the character portraits more than the CG's though. If you are looking for a horror visual novel similar in style to Corpse Party, Sound of Drop is a good recommendation.
VERDICT:
The Good – The game's atmosphere is suitably creepy.
The Bad – Some of the plotline stuff in some of the routes goes really out there at the end.
The Ugly – The artwork, while not bad, looks pretty amateurish considering that it's a remastering.
SUMMARY: Sound of Drop –fall into poison– is a great story with plenty of creep factor that's revealed more through text and music instead of visuals. This game is recommended for those who enjoyed horror visual novels like Corpse Party.
FINAL GRADE:
Steam code provided by Sekai Project and David Bruno
