Re: Zero – Starting life in another world: the prophecy of the throne is the last entry in the Re: Zero franchise, and is based largely on the tradition established in Re: Zero ‘s medium-range isekai narrative. Despite your totally original story, it’s clear from the beginning that you’re nowhere near the beginning of the main character’s arc. By the point Prophecy of Thrones begins, the protagonist, Subaru, has lived in the fantasy world of the game for about a month, which means that he does not necessarily have the ingenuity of audience mirroring commonly portrayed within the genre. Fortunately, Subaru is an almost incurable idiot, so it’s entirely possible to play the game without feeling more lost or confused than he is. This aspect of your personality is crucial to the game and its importance is reflected in the story and gameplay. The execution is admirable and results in an accessible introduction to a complex world, rather than the inhospitable entry point that I feared it would be.
Subaru’s ignorance and his tendency to make mistakes, some of which are fatal, are the main space for his character’s growth. It is a natural fit too, because information is something that both Subaru and the player lack. This need for knowledge is the main material of a comprehensive dramatic question that works to support the game’s central narrative intrigue.
This narrative really begins with the revelation that the king and his family have succumbed to an unspecified plague. Although this is tragic in itself, its sudden deaths endanger the Dragon King Lugunica Pact, which has been an important protective measure for the kingdom in recent centuries. This pact, in simpler terms, is an agreement with a dragon that has helped the inhabitants of the kingdom to survive several crises since its formation, and its preservation requires that a priestess of a royal family perform something called the Dragon’s Friend Ceremony. Traditionally, this priestess would be selected from a group of five candidates who were certified by a dragon jewel. This time, however, there are six candidates and each seems to be certified. One of these candidates is a gray-haired woman named Emilia, to whom Subaru is extremely loyal. He is also aggressively in love with her. Unfortunately, she bears a resemblance to an infamous witch, so she is the one who is initially subject to suspicion when concerns about an imposter among the six potential priestesses first arise. Clearing your name becomes Subaru’s first clear objective.
Most of the characters in the story are modeled after their typical anime archetypes, but it is important to note that they remain distinct within the limits of whatever box you choose to stack them. And although archetypal, they are far from being flat and common characters, each possessing a perspective and vision that provides a three-dimensional value. As Subaru is who he is, he opens up many opportunities for them to offer their wisdom as well, which means that lectures can take place comically and without the feeling that they have been shoved by irons. His liveliness helps to liven up the world as well. To further aid its characterization is the initial element of mystery, which can inspire a feeling of suspicion in the player and from there a critical inspection of recurring characters may arise. That was my experience for the moments immediately after the mentioned scene, anyway.
Learning about the world is not just a matter of acquiring knowledge that will inform or improve history. Long sections of text are divided with interleaved dialog options that the player can choose from. This is one of the first direct methods by which developers engage the player. It also employs methods that deviate from the norms of the visual novel. In addition to providing fun breaks from a constant text diet, these other phases of the game make it easier to focus for long periods, offering information on multiple channels.
One of these phases of the game comes in the form of movement sections. At such times, the player takes direct control of Subaru while he explores the environment. Talking to NPCs and examining locations, the player can gather information and items that can help him during the briefing and mission phases.
Briefings take place before Re: Zero – The Prophecy of the Thronemissions. During a briefing, the player can gather the knowledge he has acquired to formulate a strategy to use in the most conflict-laden mission phase. Some strategies will not be available if players do not fully explore enough and, in some cases, Subaru will not be able to offer anything of strategic value. This reflects very badly for him, because Subaru is not seen as a very useful resource in the missions themselves. The lack of options is further complicated by the fact that Subaru is the only character you can directly control during missions.
Once the mission begins, each character on the field is assigned a turn order. A meter decreases as Subaru moves or performs actions on his turn. It is very easy to waste this resource, which helps to convey the urgent need to make informed decisions. It would be nice, given the limited movement, if it were possible to move the camera and fully examine the battlefield during these missions. The lack of access to visual information is not particularly stressful due to Subaru’s Death by Return’s secret ability, which allows him to return to an earlier point in recent history after he died. This will also happen reasonably and complements the game’s theme of making mistakes and improving. Each time Subaru fails, he and the player are better positioned to overcome a challenge. The missions are dynamic, as new information substantially changes the state of the game and the player’s objectives. The knowledge gained by returning to an earlier point in time after a death makes the second attempts more interesting. Subaru’s ability to find a silver lining in death also presents some appreciable irony, as reliving situations over and over again sometimes allows him to know things that he would not otherwise be expected to know.
Each phase, combined with the dynamics of change in the missions, maintains Re: Zero – The Prophecy of the Throne miscellaneous. This makes it very compulsive, which is not always easy when it comes to experiences that rely heavily on reading. The way these segments are managed affects the pace in a mostly positive way, although there are some parts of the story that are unlikely to be interrupted by dialogue options. If someone wanted to, they could skip those sections with a lot of text, but they would risk more than just having a negative effect on the pace. Without getting involved in the other parts of the game and opting for the quest for knowledge, the segments of the mission are unlikely to have much merit. The rush comes at the expense of tactical options.
There is something to be appreciated in the longer stretches of text as well, because they demonstrate an aspect of the narrative that is specific to the games. As this is not concerned with the restrictions around the execution time or the page count, the developer can introduce some sinuous dialogues, of deepening the world and character definition, which are not in charge of promoting the plot. The comical beats scattered everywhere have room to breathe in the relaxed plot, and those moments could have been more difficult to appreciate if there was a feeling that the story was in a hurry to get somewhere. That would have been, on a personal level, even more true if I had been in a hurry to get to the game’s missions. As wonderful as they are in their ability to distinguish Re: Zero – Starting life in another world: the prophecy of the throne from similar games, they are complementary and by no means the star of the show.
This honor belongs to the characters, the world and charismatic writing in Re: Zero – Starting life in another world: the prophecy of the throne. The world is vivid and the density of detail is scaled with the kind of things you can find hidden in flavored texts or within the extended universe of a franchise, rather than its main content. Nevertheless, it is accessible, and the incentive to collect and implement information emphasizes the importance of details that can sometimes be considered tools rather than trivialities. It is difficult to say that the story would work in another medium, but, as a game, it is an example of the genre’s potential and may even justify an alternative to traditional reading for people struggling to stay focused.
Re: Zero – Starting life in another world: the prophecy of the throne will be released in North America on Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam on January 29, 2021. It will be released in Europe on February 5, 2021.