LUNARiA -Virtualized Moonchild-
Switch eShop
Key / PROTOTYPE
2021 2024
VNcels are known to revere Key, the developer behind a glut of bittersweet tearjerker stories. LUNARiA -Virtualized Moonchild- (yes with the stupid ass pronunciation and capitalization) is one of their latest, arriving in Japan in 2021 and America a few years after. A shorter experience, and one of the developer's "kinetic" (linear) tales, LUNARiA does the thing Key loves to do... It's a story about love between a human man and a nonhuman woman. She's not a robot this time though: she's an AI! A cute one too! Despite the hype and the high production values, I found this one to be pretty weak.
I'll start with the positives. As indicated, this feels like an "expensive" visual novel. It's got two(!) fantastic opening sequences, full voice acting, a very movielike vibe overall. The UI is fantastic and aesthetically pleasing, and tiny chapters plus an accompanying brief total runtime make this easy to both binge or pick up and play. It's all quite simple and breezy (oddly enough there's a painstakingly detailed digital instruction manual... for a visual novel... just ignore it). I will say that a few of the backgrounds and other elements look a bit too sterile/perfect; insert meta joke about how they could have been created by AI.
Now, a linear visual novel like this lives and dies by its story, and the one here isn't exactly compelling. The protagonist is such a dullard I literally forgot his name (it's "Tabito" I just looked it up). A high school student with few responsibilities he spends his ample free time in the land of virtual reality where he races a motorbike. His main opponent is some anime catgirl. Tabito also has a male friend who becomes a female avatar once he goes online. Many such cases. One day while racing, Tabito is transported to a VR server on the moon, where he meets the AI known as LUNAR-Q. They inevitably fall in love.
Not much exciting happens. Many fans of this genre complain about "slice of life" moments that drag on, but I've always found VNs to be at their weakest when they insist on meticulously describing action sequences. Case in point, throughout LUNARiA there are several of these motorbike races, where LUNAR-Q assists Tabito. All of them are excruciatingly boring. It's a fake sport, in virtual reality, so there are no rules, no consequences, no adherence to physics or reality or anything really. The duo is losing, but suddenly they whip out some special move or summon an item or whatever. Who cares! There's little to the romance either. Just a love at first sight type of thing created for plot convenience. No progression, no development, just a show of people getting lovey dovey.
As noted with the bike races, the whole thing feels capricious as we're dealing with both AI and VR. Fantasy and reality blend, not in a particularly inspring way, but in a slurry that makes one forget what's what. The developers may have realized this as each scene begins with a reminder as to what "world" things are taking place in. The nature of the future tech is absurd too. For instance, when Tabito wants LUNAR-Q to experience life on Earth he's able to implant her programming into a lifelike doll that possesses all five senses. How convenient. The "rescue mission" that concludes the game is rather ridiculous as well, though I did appreciate the obligatory plot twist that precedes it. There's some light foreshadowing but it's engrossing nevertheless.
Character art and the OST are both fine, though nothing extraordinary. The best songs are the ones with vocals. Voice acting goes overboard into goofy silly anime waifu territory, especially in regard to the catgirl who is basically screaming the entire time. Overall, quite a vacant experience underneath the glossy veneer. Some laughs here and there, some endearing moments, but I won't remember a single thing about this a year from now.
Rating: 2/5
Reviewed: 07/29/25