Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon- review: A brilliant remake of a classic visual novel

Though a relative newcomer, I’ve come to love Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon-. I’m not really a visual novel enjoyer, despite the fact that I love to read. I just never really got into the medium. I’m also not super deep into the Type-Moon lore - most of my experience comes from the fighting games. There are a few things that make this a must-own for fans of the franchise in general.

The first is that it’s the first time Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon- has been available in the West, with an official localization. There’s nothing wrong with playing the fansubs, or in its original Japanese, not one bit. This version comes with nice quality-of-life changes, beautiful visuals, and a localization that doesn’t disappoint. Coming from the fighting games like Melty Blood to the visual novel was certainly an interesting and enjoyable experience.

It’s a wild blend of storytelling styles, but it’s an experience I’ve sincerely loved. Though this is a re-imagining of the original visual novel, I'm a huge fan of how it was put together.

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What is (and isn’t) in Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon-

Fans of the original will recognize all their favorite (and least favorite) characters from the Near arc (Image via Aniplex)

The overall plot focusing on Shiki Tohno still exists in Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon-, but unfortunately, what isn’t there could be a dealbreaker to some fans. This game only contains the "Near Route" story arcs: Arcueid and Ciel. If you’re an enjoyer of the Near-Moon/Near Route arcs, you’re going to have to wait for Tsukihime -The other side of red garden- which, by all accounts, is in development.

Even without those routes, there’s still tons of content to explore, and a memorable story. While on a personal level, I’m not really a fan of Shiki Tohno in the beginning of Tsukihime, that changes as the game progresses. He just starts off so milquetoast.

The full Arcueid and Ciel routes are in the game though, which is more than enough. For those curious, there is nothing s*xually explicit in this game, but it does feature some serious graphic violence - more than the original.

Your choices matter in this Visual Novel - will you hit a bad end early? (Image via Aniplex)

Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon- follows Shiki Tohno, who begins to see these terrifying lines around him in the real world. Thanks to a pair of glasses, given to him by Aoko Aozaki, he can suppress seeing those lines and go about his life.

His life more or less got back to normal until he had to return to his family manor. Between this and his encounter with Arcueid, the course of his life would be irrevocably altered. If you’re a fan of serial killers, vampires, and tragedy and ultimately, heroism, this is the story for you.

Quality-of-life changes make Tsukihime easier to approach

It's so much easier to plot a course this way (Image via Aniplex)

It’s the little things that make Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon- so enjoyable to play. First off, the voice acting is incredible. That’s one of the things that stood out to me the most - the quality of the sound in this game. It adds a lot to the experience and gives the written text more feeling, more emotion.

I’m personally a really big fan of the Flowchart. As you make decisions, and speak to the various people in the game, a series of routes will invariably open up. Sometimes these lead to bad endings, which are so frustrating to hit - even if some of them are fascinating.

As someone who was new to this visual novel, I had no idea what little things could spell my immediate doom. Thankfully, you can just go back to the Flowchart, and start another route, or determine which ways you are and are not going to go.

Neco-Arc is just the best (Image via Aniplex)

In these moments where you do get a game over, you can get hints on what you should do when you return to the game, thanks to Ciel and Neco-Arc. This comes in the “Teach Me, Miss Ciel” segments, and it pulled me immediately back to BlazBlue’s “Teach Me, Miss Litchi!” comical segments. From the little things like the flow chart, to being able to reset a scene, and make different choices, there’s a lot to love here.

The gameplay for Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon- is very simple, since you read, listen, and make the occasional choice. I think this would have been a major turn-off if it didn’t have a high-quality voice cast added to the game. You can auto-scroll, and you can also Auto-Skip Cleared Scenes, if you’re trying to get all the endings. It’s incredibly accessible, while keeping all of the thrills and narrative quality that Type-Moon initially created.

A beautiful game with a quality voice cast

The visuals on display in this remake are certainly high quality (Image via Aniplex)

I have to say, Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon- is just a beautiful game. Even the backgrounds that you’re often caught staring at are remarkable. All of the characters are beautifully drawn, and are paired with a voice cast that lend proper emotion and weight to the words they are reading.

It is a Japanese dub only, so apologies to those hoping it would have an English dub, too. I would have also liked that, just so I had a choice. It’s perfectly fine, though. The cast doesn’t disappoint, and when combined with the stunning music, it all comes together to create an aesthetically pleasing experience.

In Conclusion

Nothing good comes from these lines (Image via Aniplex)

Though I’m no master of the Type-Moon games, nor do I have a ton of knowledge about the series, I very quickly found myself spending hours in front of my PlayStation 5, going through scene after scene. While it looks cute and charming, there’s so much violence, horror, and tragedy in the game.

I’m a sucker for that kind of story telling, so it didn’t take me long to get hooked. As long as you don’t mind the visual novel being split into two, and are perfectly fine just getting the Arcueid and Ciel routes this time, I think you are going to be pleasantly surprised by what you get in Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon-.