The Song of Saya

Saya no Uta is a visual novel often praised as a must-play in the genre. After finally playing through it, I found it to be an interesting experience with sparks of creative ambition, particularly in its music and atmosphere, but one that ultimately falls short in execution, especially when it comes to reflecting on the deeper themes it kindly gestures toward. I was genuinely surprised by how good the soundtrack was, it’s by far the most compelling part of the game. It is beautiful and horrific. It creates a haunting, claustrophobic atmosphere that reinforces the sense of isolation and distorted reality the protagonist finds himself in. The audio design does an excellent job of conveying how perception shapes experience, arguably better than the writing itself. The premise, how both the protagonist and Saya (and every other character), perceives the world so differently from everyone else, is a compelling one. It opens thought-provoking questions: How does perception shape morality, love, trauma, or madness? Can morality still apply when one’s reality is fundamentally different? Can morality even apply on the outside? What happens when love forms in total alienation? These are fascinating ideas, and ones I personally enjoy seeing explored. Unfortunately, the game never fully commits to them. It hints at depth but rarely follows through. Instead of offering real introspection or emotional nuance, it leans heavily on shock value and graphic content, much of which feels unnecessary and distracts from the stronger, more reflective aspects. Many disturbing scenes are depicted in exhaustive detail, often crossing into territory that feels exploitative rather than essential to the story. Media like Lolita or the Monogatari Series already showed often enough that it’s not necessary to show such scenes in graphic detail or at all to convey emotional or thematic impact. Saya no Uta has moments of brilliance, especially in its audio and atmosphere, but it really struggles to deliver on the questions it raises. It’s a story with potential, but one that prioritizes visceral discomfort over meaningful exploration.

i think im a vegetarian now. the game starts off very well, an interesting plot combined with amazing audio just immerses you into this hellish world. BUT as the game progresses it shifts from being an actual horror game to instead become a showcase of the author's disgusting personal fetishes. it eventually became a chore to finish the game

the rough premise of this game is something i wanted to write someday myself. but since this game already exists and executes it to aplomb, i don't need to. this game has put me into a parasocial relationship with the invasive weeds in my backyard.

oh man i really wanted to like this game but like the sexual content was way too disturbing and not in a way that I found interesting or compelling at all. WHY DOES SAYA LOOK SO YOUNG. IN WHAT WAY WAS THAT AT ALL NECESSARY. soundtrack is kinda peak tho

[spoiler] there was literally ZERO need for pedophilia lmao. if you make saya a university student like other mcs,the story literally doesn't change even a bit. this horrible (cheesy&bad, not disturbing) shock value ruins the whole vn because of it trying to be edgier. the mc healing from his condition and being put in an asylum is the better ending, the other one just drags it to the point that it becomes more of a cheesy action story from psychological horror. if you are an edgy middle or high schooler who loves pointless edginess/one of those mentally ill girls who says gore is my passion 💔💔 and keeps posting gore on pinterest, this is made for you. wastes its whole potential by trying to be unnecessarily edgy. [/spoiler]

The story is without a doubt sprinkled with content that most would describe as fetishistic, which turns off a large majority of readers. The story itself is guided very well by its characters, and the rollercoaster of emotions the interactions cause. For anyone willing to get into 'problematic media', its a good stage 2, as I couldn't really see anyone using this as a first contact for that sphere, it's extremely heavy in delivery. Creativity and sober realization seep from this work, and I really did enjoy it. TLDR; Edgy, gruesome masterpiece of uncouth discussion. 9/10

Basically an lovely explanation for the [spoiler] Fermi paradox [/spoiler]. Also, great music.

absolutely disgusting, may make someone thats not into gore feel a little sick. However, still a beautiful story about "becoming human", in an unconventional and dramatic way. 10/10

games dope, been wanting to play it for a loooooonngg time. not my favorite but its up there. good for players of all levels of experience

i've heard much about this game for it's disturbing nature and gore - never did i realize how full of sexual assault it was. i will be spoilering most of this but please be warned if you're sensitive to such content. [spoiler]my takeaway from the story is that men are the real "monsters", with the MC having relations with the monster every day because she looked like a little kid to him, and her getting assaulted by an old man who also saw her as a child - our MC notes in the beginning that he should contact her guardian to ask if it's okay to make a family with her. our monster then assaults another character to make her a mindless sex slave for the MC, cursed to a life of pain. you could argue these men are encouraged by the monster but they are all too happy to jump on what they perceive as a small girl. very disturbing, but not in the way i was lead to believe.[/spoiler] it's still a good read, but be warned, from a fellow woman. it's still interesting from the monster's POV, but the men in the story are very disturbing, apart from one guy who tries to make things right.

I've never read something so repulsive, yet so tear jerking—so disgusting, yet so beautiful. I could not recommend this visual novel to the feint of heart, yet I could not recommend it enough to those who don't mind intense themes and visuals. This truly is a masterpiece.

ohh wowie the art was gorgeous. this game wasnt meant to be a slice of life or to teach amazing life lessons or to be comforting or whatever, it was made as a psychological horror, and it did exactly that. i hate the neighbor guy, that scene felt so incredibly long and it hurt a lot. fuminori i feel sympathy for, hes gone through so much, but despite that he has many flaws, and seeming him slowly descend into absolute insanity was pretty hard to watch. either way, thats to be expected given how hes been forced to live.

really wanted to like this game because its visuals are insane and its premise was really strong but wow it went really pointlessly edgy really fast

I would never actually recommend this but the true ending is actually quite beautiful

since i first started using the internet in '06 i've seen saya everywhere but never knew who she was or where she was from. now that i've finally gotten to experience this visual novel i'm so happy to report that i love it and saya so so much. the writing for saya no uta is seriously amazing- its so descriptive, poetic and yet effective. saya herself is so sweet and twisted at the same time- she's incredibly endearing. the voice acting is great too, even if you don't understand japanese. ** opinion on ending, no outright spoilers ** [spoiler]the good ending is a tiny bit disappointing but overall absolutely worth reading.[/spoiler]

I love the art and the setting, it does a good job making you feel uncomfortable, oh and let's not for forget the soundtrack, truly a disgusting experience

A unique visual novel. The graphics are fine, the sound effects are good, but the story is properly incredible. The medium is also probably the best possible one for it. I can't imagine it would be nearly as interesting as a book, lacking the visceral imagery so crucial to its current form, nor that it would make a great movie or linear video game, as that would undermine the emotion brought across by the writing. That being said, there is a grand total of 2 choices in this game, and thus 3 endings. They are very different endings, I will give it that, but this is essentially a digital picture book, not an RPG. And yes, I did finish the whole story, see all the endings, and read all the text in this game. It doesn't take more than 4 hours if you do it in one sitting and are a relatively fast reader. Asides: 1. This game has the most sophisticated control scheme I have ever seen in a VN. There is like 20 default keybinds and like 50 save slots. Very strange given the nature of the experience. 2. The 18+ elements of the story are 90% gore, with sex being a minor motif, though important in like 2 scenes. It's not over the top with trying to be offensive or sexual, which I liked. 3. For such a fantastical story and setting, there is 0 mystery left by the end of the game. Important plot points get brought up again if they become relevant, so you don't need to figure anything out yourself, there are deus ex machina notes that serve to clarify any knowledge gaps at the very end of the story, it makes it feel a little cheap. However, even very popular writers often do so in books, i.e. Harry Potter, so that does not necessarily take away from the story.

[h1] Very well written and presented. [/h1] The order of facts shown made the story extra interesting, i liked all of it and find myself with little words to elaborate a body text that gives relevance for the description of my feelings about each character for my thoughts are kinda disconnected now... Blibliblbiblbiblbilbbliblbibliblbilbi bli.

This was certainly a game of all time alright. The eldritch vibes were neat, but I was stuck with a LOT more questions than answers, and not in the fun way. Still, we stan Gen Urobuchi in this household.

A great horror experience diving into morality and humanity. Great music, songs that create an awesome atmosphere and style. The Only negative things I can say, are the steam version's censoring and the story being too short. I fully recommend!

Very interesting shorter visual novel. Starts off with a good bit of mystery over what is going on, and has 3 endings that all give different perspective.

I could describe this game as a journey into insanity, Beauty, and the Limits of Humanity, the perspective of Fuminori is utterly a metaphor of his own mental health, this whole game is confuse, hideous and yet, calming, especially because of the soundtrack, you’ll find a story that’s tragically romantic, existentially terrifying, and philosophically rich, once you play it, i'm sure it will change your whole world view, perharps, i only recommend it if you're mentally strong, i'm still thinking about this game since the day i played it. simply, a masterpiece, 10/10...

I read most of it on my PSP with a fan-port but bought the official because I needed to finish reading after it started to crash after a certain point. This story is disturbing and can be uncomfortable to read at some times. But it is also beautifully tragic and I think it has impacted my life in a meaningful/fulfilling way. I'm currently feeling post-media depression to put it into perspective. The story is very morbid but in hind sight, I understand why the author put some of those scenes in the story. I'm not gonna elaborate on them here though to avoid spoilers. I believe the sensitive images have been removed from this version, I didn't see them when I was skipping through it fast to match my progress even on the 18+ mode. It is not my first VN but most definitely is my favorite. Edit: The sound track will also be nostalgic to me in the future, especially SUNSET and SABBATH.

i liked the horror, the blood stuff and the friends investigating fuminoris house and stuff i completed the game within 2 hours first for me imo it was boring at the start but i got really into later on but i didnt like saya and i liked how fuminori got help n stuff i picked to get back to his normal life i have to play it all over again to pick the other one but overall it was good i liked it 8/10

psychological horror, yes. glorified rape and pedophilia? absolutely anyone who swears by this game fails to see that this isn't psychological horror, and it's just a rape fantasy. the writing isn't good enough to convey anything meaningful other than shock horror. there's a vast difference between including dark topics because it's psychological horror, and making it psychological horror so you can do those topics. the characters exist to get either murdered. raped or both. this isn't deep nor is it philosophical, it's popular solely because sayas a cute girl, and the game can put as much rape as they can to pander to a certain audience or say "hey! we can do something crazy too!" i did, however, enjoy the visuals, saya is beautiful and the music was nice and uneasy at times. but there is more bad than there is good. i'd only ever recommend it for visuals and just to say you read a classic.

i didn't hate it, but it has so much more potential. the characters were so well-written and in the beginning, i was really invested. but as the story goes on, its fetish-y and weird and i'd never been so disappointed. and yes, i'm talking about what saya did to yoh. it wouldn't even be a big deal but the way its shown and described makes it clear that this is not just a part of the story- it's fetish content. like, ew! no, i'm done.

I came across a TikTok creator who’s been reviewing adult-themed games for over 10 years. He mentioned that many of the titles on Steam are either censored, incomplete, or have been taken down entirely. He shared a method for accessing the full, uncensored versions — but due to platform limitations, I can’t share it directly here. So I encoded the instructions using a harmless Chinese tool. If you're curious, just follow these steps: 1. Open Google Chrome. 2. Search for the Chinese term: “兽音译者” (copy and paste it). 3. Click on the first result. 4. Paste the message below into the input box to decode it. 5. Use Google Translate if needed — the site is in Chinese, but it’s simple to use. Encrypted message: ~呜嗷嗷嗷嗷呜呜~嗷~呜嗷呜呜~嗷嗷~啊嗷啊呜嗷嗷嗷嗷~嗷~呜呜嗷嗷嗷嗷嗷嗷呜啊呜呜啊呜嗷呜呜~嗷~嗷啊嗷啊呜~嗷啊~~嗷~呜呜呜呜呜嗷嗷嗷呜啊嗷~嗷呜嗷呜呜~呜啊啊啊嗷啊呜嗷嗷呜嗷~嗷~呜呜呜嗷~嗷嗷嗷呜呜嗷嗷~呜嗷呜呜~呜啊~啊嗷啊呜嗷嗷嗷~~嗷~呜呜嗷呜嗷嗷嗷嗷呜呜嗷嗷~呜嗷呜呜~嗷啊呜啊嗷啊呜嗷呜~呜~嗷~呜呜嗷~啊嗷嗷嗷呜啊呜啊啊呜嗷呜呜~呜啊啊啊嗷啊呜嗷嗷嗷嗷~嗷~呜呜呜嗷呜~~嗷嗷嗷啊~~呜嗷呜呜~嗷~~啊嗷啊呜嗷呜~~~嗷~呜呜呜嗷~嗷嗷嗷呜啊呜嗷~呜嗷呜呜~呜啊啊啊嗷啊呜~呜呜呜~嗷~呜嗷嗷~啊嗷嗷嗷呜呜嗷嗷啊呜嗷呜呜~嗷啊啊啊嗷啊呜嗷嗷嗷嗷~嗷~呜呜呜嗷啊嗷嗷嗷呜啊呜~嗷呜嗷呜呜~嗷呜嗷啊嗷啊呜~嗷啊呜~嗷~呜呜呜嗷~嗷嗷嗷呜啊嗷嗷啊呜嗷呜呜~呜呜~啊嗷啊呜~嗷啊啊啊

I was a alcoholic, abusive and single father of 9 but as soon as I read this beautiful and exquisite piece of art I was flabbergasted. I am now a governor, astronaut and a self made millionaire. Thank you Urobuchi Gen.

what the fuck. TLDR: Play it if you're curious. The writing itself is captivating (I expected nothing less from the creator of Madoka), and it's an iconic VN. The soundtrack is amazing. But, it was not what I was hoping for. man... when The Song of Saya is good, it's GOOD. the horror and overall concept is amazing. I wish more was done with it. Loved the overall aesthetic of the art, too. but when it's bad... christ, it's bad. like, pedo SA bad. I've been digging through reviews and have seen some folks describe the SA scenes as truly, realistically morbid and not hentai-esque, but man... I don't think we played the same game. It just feels sickeningly clear that this game has an intended audience, and it's not for the horror concept. I was SO here for grotesque eldritch romance --- but not of this sort. It's just gross, and not in a remotely intriguing way. Narrative wise... and this is VERY much based on my pre-conceived notion of the game.... but, part of me wishes this was a game less grounded in the duality between what the protag sees and reality, and rather have it so the protagonist has no connection with the real world. I wish his experience was not on Earth, but in another dimension entirely. I wished for more surrealism -- I wished for more exploration of finding beauty in the grotesque, in a completely incomprehensible world that he just suddenly woke up in. I think I was hoping for a more direct metaphor for dissociation --- and for finding a light in the dark. In other words... part of me wishes this was a different game entirely. Soundtrack kicks ass, though.

Pretty sick and twisted visual novel but pretty good read none the less if you can stomach this kind of stuff like I can...

I really liked the unsettling tone and visual contrast between the mental nightmare that the main character was stuck in, and Saya and the normal world. The music is great, and does a great job of setting the tone and building tension. I also found the romance aspect at it’s core to be really cute and heartwarming, even if it was still quite dark. *Light spoilers ahead* I wish the story showed more of Saya and Fuminori’s past. I also wish they explained more about the connection between their perspectives, specifically about why Fuminori’s surgery made him see the world similar to how Saya does. Enjoyable. Not perfect, but still enjoyable. 7/10

SAYA MY BEAUTIFUL BOMBASTIC GORGEOUS HONEY-DIP CHOCOLATE-CHIP GORGEOUS POOKIE WOOKIE BEAR

There is an unholy amount of weird fetish content that makes it downright disgusting to read at parts, however if you can look past this it is a great horror and serves its purpose well. I recommend NOT downloading any patches as everything it adds is completely unnecessary

i wish koji died in the well.... i... hate... koji... i have a insatiable hate for this man, his whole being makes me want to rip out my eyes, bleach them, and then put them back in my head. Along with individually ripping out every single piece of hair on my head and then hot gluing every piece back onto my bald head. I dont understand myself why i hate him.... hes just too... too koji. I wish that the well was full of wolf spiders and hungry rats that would just slowly eat away at him. I cant even put into perfect words how much i HATE KOJI. HES SO FAKE AND STUPID AAGHGHGHTG.. I now do understand why i hate him... after fully finishing the game my gut feeling was right.... koji is a evil man... koji is the true villian

me and the broken man i pulled by being the only woman that didn't look like the fear and hunger blood pit

great vn, had an amazing atmosphere and soundtrack. while i didn't really enjoy the saya wins ending, i really liked ryoko's last thoughts in it.

the shotgun chick is sexcy

As the cannibal finishes eating the clown, he thinks: it's not funny.

I wish it didn't have lolibait and unnecessary SA

cute and wholesome visual novel about the power of love <3

An indescribable urge to inseminate a grotesque flesh monster

well its certainly something

Kind good gooning game

a vibe thats hard to beat.. PEAK!!

I absolutely love this game

come to my evil sex meat world

sex the evil eldritch meat loli

ending i got was very cute

Hey, so this is actually insane

its ok