The Hungry Lamb: Touring within the Late Ming Dynasty is a visible novel that was first launched in 2023 on Steam. Now, it brings its mixture of drama and intrigue to the common-or-garden Swap. Visible novels, particularly when executed nicely, really feel proper at house on Nintendo’s hybrid system. The Hungry Lamb falls into this class, making it a welcome addition to the lengthy listing of video games on this style.
The darkish story is ready in China throughout the 1600s. It follows a bandit named Leang who works with one other scoundrel named Tongue to ship ill-gotten items to whomever is prepared to pay for them. This specific story sees the 2 embark on a quest to ship a gaggle of younger women to a mysterious purchaser within the mountains. Yep, we’re speaking about human trafficking.
Whereas this T-rated title options some content material that may not be for everybody, the narrative is partaking proper from the beginning. Leang, regardless of his misdeeds, has his personal previous and vulnerabilities to cope with. All through the journey, he questions his personal morals, typically counting on the extra devious Tongue to put down the legislation in the case of their prisoners. That is all set towards the flailing empire of 1600s China, with corrupt guards, ravenous people decreased to cannibalism, and the fixed menace of struggle.
Because the story unfolds, you’re sometimes introduced with a option to make. This choose-your-own-adventure model ends in branching storylines and endings, seen by way of a helpful flowchart. What’s extra, you possibly can restart from any level on the flowchart, permitting you to revisit earlier scenes and check out an alternative choice. It provides to the sport’s replayability.
The flowchart is only one of many parts that improve this visual-novel expertise. A small menu persists within the backside proper of the display, neatly tucked away in order that it stays accessible with out disrupting the expertise. From this menu you possibly can change between auto and handbook textual content modes, save or load a recreation, view the flowchart, or fast-forward by way of the textual content.
A extra sturdy menu can also be out there, presenting additional methods to tweak your expertise. From right here, you possibly can change languages, textual content pace, and extra. You’ll be able to even select between Chinese language or Japanese voiceovers. Which leads us to the subject of translation.
The Hungry Lamb was initially created in Chinese language. The voiceover, which is just current when characters communicate and is well switched off, provides authenticity to the expertise. But it surely begs the query; how is the English translation? Whereas I had no points with this, I’ve seen others on-line have been disillusioned. Maybe the Steam model suffered from lesser-quality content material, however as an avid reader myself, I picked up only a few typos, and the textual content flowed nicely.
The story is ready in a spot and time period which are very completely different from my very own. This leads me to anticipate a considerably clunky narrative—in spite of everything, language has developed over 400 years. Having stated that, nothing within the content material stood out to me as overly fallacious or out of context. Briefly, for those who’re involved concerning the translation, don’t be. It was an pleasurable expertise from starting to finish.
One other component that makes The hungry Lamb really feel proper at house on the Nintendo Swap is touchscreen controls. You’ll be able to press the display to manually skip textual content, and the menu itself is all touch-enabled. As a lover of conventional books, even I can get behind a visible novel expertise when it’s executed this nicely.
Visually, The Hungry Lamb makes use of static imagery to depict every scene. These are typically landscapes or rooms that always characteristic characters. The graphics are resplendent, providing anime-esque visuals to deepen the expertise. Every character is uniquely introduced, and it creates an expertise that’s a pleasure to behold.
The soundtrack is equally beautiful, sitting neatly within the background that can assist you really feel extra within the second. Some scenes characteristic easy outside noises paying homage to a trek by way of the woods. At different instances, the music is amplified because the drama unfolds. The voice appearing helps deliver characters to life, with some terrific appearing on show. Regardless of being in a international language for me, the voices convey sturdy feelings that, once more, assist immerse the participant within the setting.
General, The Hungry Lamb is an interesting story of proper and fallacious set in a bygone period. The distinctive story will maintain you invested as you navigate the pathways to one in all many conclusions. With beautiful visuals and plentiful choices, this can be a visible novel that really stands out.
