Nonorelia is a unique blend of a visual novel and logic puzzles set in a captivating sci-fi storyline. In this game, you assume the role of Noah Von Sterne, a scientist who is battling to rescue the colony he established while also trying to reconnect with his extensive family. Nonorelia offers various gameplay options, including playing through the story, solving nonograms, or even trying out an “ASMR” mode.
Nonorelia Nonograms
Let’s begin by discussing the gaming aspect of Nonorelia. The game revolves around solving Nonograms, which are numbered puzzles. In between the visual novel’s conversational parts, you get to solve these puzzles. The objective is to fill in a specific number of cells on a grid. While the Nonogram part is enjoyable, it can be quite challenging to figure out where a tile should go. I can’t say I’m the best at them, but I do love a challenging puzzle, so I appreciate it when it becomes a challenge.
Additionally, it’s intriguing when the game prompts you to solve a logic puzzle. For instance, you may encounter a locked door that requires a Nonogram to open or need to escape from some collapsed debris; in such cases, it’s Nonogram time! Although the game wasn’t meant to be funny, I found it amusing whenever it brought up Nonograms. Oh, you have an emergency? Solve this Nonogram first.
There are numerous puzzles available outside of the campaign, and their complexity increases gradually. The tips acquired in the initial few parts of the game prove to be quite helpful, although the tutorial doesn’t cover all scenarios. There’s a steep learning curve at times that really adds a challenge, with the tips needing a bit of fine-tuning to make this a bit easier for Nonogram newbies.
Playing a nonogram can be a fun experience. However, making even a single mistake could result in losing all the hints collected so far, and there is no guarantee that those hints will be helpful in the end. Having to restart because of a prior tip and not taking into account a previous mistake can get frustrating.
The Visual Novel
The plot centres on a production plant managed by a married couple, Noah and Hannah. In order to assist in operating the plant, they manufacture numerous robotic clones of their daughter, Angelon, who lacks an understanding of basic human ideas. Upon creation, these replicas are unclothed and refer to Noah as “Father.” While these are certainly deliberate choices, they may raise some questions. I’m sure there’ll be some manga/anime fans that’ll love it.
Noah and the Angelons have a straightforward relationship – she struggles to comprehend things, and he becomes irritated with having to explain them repeatedly. Whilst the voice acting is pretty good, with anime veterans voicing the dialogue in-game. This is led by Gareth West, who has appeared in renowned anime series, including Black Clover, Vinland Saga, and Haikyuu!
The Angelons can get pretty annoying, though. This isn’t much of a surprise, as imagine having multiple clones of a child who really doesn’t understand much. It’d be pretty damn annoying.
It’s an interesting story, though, if you can get past character quirks that might or might not be to your liking. There are some genuinely funny moments throughout, though, which does make following the story worthwhile. And the art is fantastic – it’s certainly a stunning game to look at!
ASMR Mode?
The ASMR mode is an option. While the voice acting in the ASMR version is decent, it may not give you the ASMR hit that you’re looking for. However, the sound effects are impressive, and the developers have clearly put a lot of effort into them. The 3D spatial sound effects, such as the sound of glass ringing or a spanner winding up, are particularly noteworthy. This mode provides a unique opportunity to work more on nonograms if that’s what you enjoy.
Conclusion
Nonorelia is going to be a divisive game, I think. Some will love the anime-style story, and others will find that it’s just not for them. Or you could be like me, sitting somewhere in the middle. I don’t mind anime, but I’m also quite fussy over what I’ll watch anime-wise. Multiple clones jumping up and down repeatedly professing their love for each other is just not my kind of anime. I feel like it’s in danger of fitting into a kind that not all fans will like, which will make this a rather niche game. I do appreciate the sci-fi aspect, though.
The ASMR mode is nice, which Nonogram fans will like as it’s more focused on the game aspect than the visual novel. And I do like that they give a reason for the ASMR mode, too.
It’s still in early access, so there’ll be improvements along the way. I’d quite like the option to pause properly, as pressing what I thought would pause the visual novel aspect brought up the menu, but the voice acting continued on like I’d done nothing. It’s a minor annoyance, but, you know, when your partner comes to ask you something and you try to pause the game, you kind of need the voices to stop – pausing the game should mean everything pauses.
As it is, I’d rate Nonorelia a 6/10, mainly on my newfound liking for Nonograms. I might not be great at them yet, but I think they could be good for the brain.
In Nonograms are your thing, check out Nonorelia on Steam.
A code was kindly provided for us to review this.