The Leisure of Grisaia

peak

[b]A Fanservice-Filled Void[/b][hr][/hr] [code]Let me start with a disclaimer — I haven’t played the original Grisaia visual novel; my only exposure to the series comes from its anime adaptation. So this review comes from the perspective of someone who isn’t a fan of the franchise but was hoping for a standalone visual novel experience.[/code] Starting with the positives: the visual style is genuinely pleasant. The artwork is high quality, the CG scenes are well-drawn, and the overall aesthetic aligns with the tone and spirit of the franchise. I also appreciated the background music — the soundtrack is balanced, unobtrusive, and pairs well with the visual presentation. Unfortunately, that’s about where the praise ends for me. In terms of story, what we have here is essentially a fanservice add-on with no ambition to stand on its own. The entire experience is played for laughs, with little to no narrative development or meaningful attempt to delve into the characters’ psychology. If you haven’t played the original novel or aren’t familiar with its characters and context, most of the jokes and situations will go over your head. The events feel like disconnected skits that might have taken place between the original’s main story beats — disjointed, illogical, and often just plain silly. At times, it feels like the sole purpose of the game is to parade familiar heroines through ridiculous scenarios, not to tell a story or explore any themes. What frustrated me the most, however, was a technical issue. Attempting to play the game in English resulted in a completely broken experience — no dialogue would load, leaving me with a black screen and zero text. A full reinstall and Steam file verification did nothing to resolve the issue. In the end, I had to manually switch to Japanese and attempt to follow the story via an external translator. This isn’t just inconvenient — it’s a complete failure of basic functionality. Unless you’re a die-hard Grisaia fan who has finished the original visual novel and simply wants to see familiar characters in goofy situations, this title offers very little. It’s not a standalone project, but more of a DLC-like bonus for existing fans — and not a particularly meaningful one at that.