Muv-Luv Alternative is the final instalment of the popular visual novel trilogy. Taking a more Sci-fi turn, this version tells the tale of giant battling robots and the politics and relationships of various characters.

A whole new world

The Muv-Luv trilogy is often referred to as some of the best visual novels available, a style of game which mainly revolves around following characters around, reading dialogue and choosing responses. While the original does follow this formulae to an extreme, Muv-Luv Alternative offers up the high point of the series. Art, character and sound are all much improved, and the focus on a space adventure allows for a much more unique and interesting story. It does, however, still fall into many of the same characteristics of the genre which will be extremely dividing. The game features anime-style girls and large amounts of graphic sexual content, making it strictly appealing to fans of Japanese animation. Playing Muv-Luv Alternative as someone not familiar with this style of content will be baffling and infuriating in equal measure. This niche target audience does not make the series inherently bad, but should be a strong warning for anyone outside of the fandom.

For the fans

Muv-Luv Alternative is constantly praised by fans of visual novels and anime in general and is certainly one of the better examples, but should not be played by the vast majority.