Initially released in July by Laplacian, Harmonic Reflections is the company’s latest visual novel to be released worldwide. However, the game was recently retranslated, as its English text was initially created using machine translation. The company has since reevaluated its approach and will no longer use machine translation, instead focusing on having its games translated by quality human translators.
A Summer that Could Change Everything
Aruto Mozumi is a young man who has dedicated his life to his younger brother Tokio, who’s a genuine piano prodigy. With memory issues and unable to hear the sound coming from the piano, Aruto believes himself to be empty inside and has no time for anything else besides getting money for Tokio’s tuition.
From the little time he spends around people at school, he has only managed to make two friends who happen to be in the karate club. One of them is Eri Tachibana, a cheerful girl who’s the captain and the big star of the team. The other is a boy named “Anjie,” who has a laid-back attitude most of the time and is part of the student council committee.
On the day of the school festival, Aruto has a memorable encounter with Sari Amane, a mysterious girl who’s actually Eri’s childhood friend, and asks him to help guide her around. Sari tells Aruto that she has memories of the future and that he should come with her to Nagano during the following summer.
According to her, by spending the summer there, he’d have the chance to come to terms with the past he forgot and hear the piano once again. Though wary of what she said at first, Aruto eventually relents and decides to see what’s in store for him in this situation.
A Small Cast and Their Story
Avoiding spoilers, Harmonic Reflections is a profoundly human narrative that explores the relationships of a group of young people and how past events have significantly affected them. Going to Nakano gives Aruto the chance to understand himself and move forward, bit by bit, finally. The story takes its time to let him piece everything together before the grand finale, revealing everything that was going on.
While the game features two routes, one for Sari and another for Eri, the order is fixed, and the choices are only available on the second run. Even the first time around, the two girls have enough moments to showcase their traits, values, and personalities in poignant interactions with the protagonist.
Compared to other games in the genre, instead of entirely separate routes, we get a simpler option, such as a dialogue branch that gives the protagonist more time with the other girl and different illustrations. Even so, it is an interesting take on the point of the story as an alternate scenario because it doesn’t delve into some details, leaving the resolution a little more open, rather than just having the different girl be the only difference.
The cast in the game is small, and the narrative as a whole is short for the genre, but the story manages to make it all feel natural while slowly dropping hints of the big mystery. One of its significant strengths is showcasing everyone as believable young people whose struggles, no matter how simple, still left scars on them.
Retranslation and Visual Brilliance
Compared side by side to the original release, which featured machine translations, the new one by Robert Roy Dela Serna is a noticeable improvement. The text flows well and manages to provide more nuances that were previously obscured by poor phrasing that was “serviceable” but often unnatural.
Just like other Laplacian games, Harmonic Reflections visuals are another selling point to the experience. There’s strong artistic intent in how the illustrations are framed, sometimes not even focusing on the characters’ facial expressions, but on their bodies instead, like Aruto’s hands clearly conveying how he feels out of place in front of the piano. When he and Eri sit side by side, it’s easy to feel how the distance between them is both “too close” and “too far apart”, a thing that makes their relationship feel ambiguous even for themselves.
Some illustrations do a great job of exploring presence and closeness visually, and the rich amount of detail makes it often awe-inspiring. This is especially true for some of the late-game scenes, which usually play with the emotional state of the characters.
There are, however, some moments in the story that are overly detailed in the description, but they don’t quite translate to the images. This is relatively common in the genre, to be fair, but considering the high quality of other moments, it feels even more jarring here.
Piecing Together a Future for Yourself
Harmonic Reflections is a great short visual novel about trauma, moving forward, and how messy relationships can sometimes end up. If you’re looking for something along those lines, it’s definitely worth checking out and seeing if Aruto’s story will also have the meaningful spark to impact you.
Harmonic Reflections (PC)
Harmonic Reflections is a poignant, visually striking visual novel from Laplacian that explores trauma, memory, and emotional growth through the lens of music and personal connection. With a retranslation that elevates its narrative depth, the game offers a short but impactful experience focused on a small, well-developed cast. While its route structure may feel limiting for genre veterans, the emotional storytelling and artistic presentation deliver a memorable summer tale of healing and self-discovery.
The Good
- Compelling Art Direction - Visually impressive depictions of the characters and their emotional states.
- Short but Meaningful Story - Aruto's tale is an interesting depiction of trauma, friendship, romance and growth.
- Relatable Characters - Simple, lifelike humans make up the small cast for a down-to-earth tale.
The Bad
- Odd Scenes Out - A few scenes have strong descriptions that end up not reflected in the illustrations.
- Little Alternative - Locked first run and not having a full route for each girl may not please some veterans in the genre.
