If you like visual novels, boy do we have a creepy one to discuss today: Saya no Uta ~ The Song of Saya.
Earlier this year, I reviewed Saya no Uta for my other website, Lovecraft Video Games. It’s a horror eroge, meaning it has sex scenes, but they have since released an all-ages version on Steam as well.
It’s probably one of the most disturbing games we’ll discuss this month.
Saya no Uta begins on an unsettling note right away as you’re introduced to a nightmarish world of horrific abominations – who in their garbled voices are talking to the main character as if they know him.
His perception of the world has been twisted in a terrible way, making it nearly impossible for him to interact with the people he once considered his friends. He sees everyone around him as a monster except for one person, a mysterious girl named Saya.
While it doesn’t start out feeling necessarily Lovecraftian, that tone really starts to develop later in the story.
Some scenes are told from Fuminori’s point of view, while others are from his friends’ points of view. This creates a nice contrast and really works well to tell the increasingly disturbing story as Fuminori’s circumstances and bond with Saya take their toll on his mind.
I knew a spoiler going into the visual novel (just from the premise, you might be able to guess), but fortunately it was revealed much earlier than I expected and then the horror developed from there.
I also was a bit uncertain about it since this was the first uncensored eroge I’ve played/read, but the sexual content actually made everything even more unsettling. Most of the scenes were uncomfortable, fitting perfectly with the horror. As I mentioned at the start of the post, a censored version is now available from Steam, although due to the nature of the story, it still needs to talk about the sexual content. It just isn’t explicit.
(I have not played the censored version, so my assessment there is based on descriptions I read from people who have.)
Saya no Uta goes to some dark, disturbing places with its story, but if you like horror, it’s really a delightful read. I know I haven’t been saying much beyond the premise and “It’s disturbing!” but since it’s short, I don’t want to spoil it.
It takes a few hours to finish, and there are only two choices to make, leading to three different endings. But it’s the sort of horror that sticks with you. I kept thinking about it after I finished. Even now, thinking back to it for this post, I find myself thinking about just how messed up it was.
So if you like visual novels and horror, and you don’t mind a story that takes many disturbing turns, I absolutely recommend Saya no Uta ~ The Song of Saya, either the uncensored version from JAST or the censored version from Steam.
