Iwakura Aria brings up one of the most perplexing questions that seems to plague humanity as a whole in recent memory: why do we try so hard to define what love is or isn’t? While we are leagues ahead of the binary, Puritanical view of affection and sexuality that strangled the life out of so many mere decades ago, we still continue to try and slot things into specific categories. Love, hate and attraction all have similar wavelengths, and frantically trying to classify your feelings as one thing or another leads to confusion, anger and emotional destruction. Instead, merely accepting the feelings you have and those of others while still valuing your safety and theirs is important. Perhaps, had the main characters of this dark, twisted and heartbreaking visual novel could have imagined those ideas, everyone would have had a happier ending.

Ichiko is an orphan who, by sheer luck, was selected by Mr. Amane, a wealthy and Westernized widower, to be the live-in maid for his daughter, Aria. Mr. Amane’s mansion is vast and sprawling, full of artistic delights, architectural marvels and subtle shows of true wealth. Aria herself is a treasure as well, looking more like a porcelain doll than a living person. Ichiko is immediately fascinated and drawn into Aria’s life, feeling herself becoming like Aria’s sister, and, unconsciously, something more. But Mr. Amane’s mansion also holds long, sad secrets, some of which cannot be explained by science or reason.  Ichiko will slowly learn the truth behind this home-out-of-time as she reflects back on the summer of 1966, when her world was forever changed.

Mechanically, Iwakura Aria has many of the expected beats and details of a visual novel, with a couple of major exceptions. For one, the choices that you’re presented with are fewer and further between than many of the other Mages’ VNs, and, more importantly, those choices are often show stoppers unto themselves. While choices usually have a couple of beats before they reveal themselves to be endings, Iwakura Aria doesn’t waste the players’ time, and you’ll know that you’ve reached an ending within moments of making the “wrong” choice. For these reasons, I highly recommend keeping the auto-save option toggled on, so that, if you forget to make a manual save, you can quickly and easily cycle back to the last choice that was presented to you.

In that same vein, there’s also the matter of mansion duty and exploration. Multiple times, Ichiko will be given a choice as to where she goes in the mansion to clean up and, more than once, discover new information that helps unlock the next leg of the story. Interestingly, all of these moments have the ability to simply ignore your duties and move onto the next leg of the game. While I don’t recommend it, Iwakura Aria gives players the option to be a truly terrible maid and just neglect your job altogether in your downtime. The result can move the game forward rather quickly, but it also can result in your dismissal for being a lazy sack of crap. Oh, and, if you end up choosing the wrong rooms to investigate, that can also lead to a bad ending, so do your job and do it well.

The artwork and graphical design of Iwakura Aria has its own ups and downs, and I think it may land with some viewers better than others. Naturally, the mansion, its rooms and the surrounding grounds are cultivated to properly convey the wealth and disconnect of Mr. Amane. The way the characters are handled for a majority of the game is in a beautiful but also semi-realistic design that crafts an uncanny valley vibe when the characters are talking or looking at you. While this makes sense in terms of Aria, who, herself, feels otherworldly, it comes across as unsettling when the characters who AREN’T harboring dark secrets look and pose the same way. For me, I prefer when my visual novels lean into the anime/manga influence, which is why the bright colors of things like Anonymous;CODE feel suitable even in a heartbreaking case of humanity and duty.

But there are also multiple instances where we see a different style, one that’s inspired by Ichiko’s habit of sketching, and these are FANTASTIC. Not only do we get a peek into Ichiko’s actual sketchbook from time to time, but there are moments where, suddenly, the tone and the gravity shift and we’re treated to rough, black and white panels that deliver information in stark and gut wrenching ways. I don’t mind telling you that these sketches are the first indication that something is horribly wrong in Mr. Amane’s world, and I don’t think it would have landed as well had it been in the same colorful but dead portraits that we’re treated to throughout. It’s a bold decision to pepper these throughout, and each one was a welcome (if sometimes painful) surprise.

Naturally, the most important aspects are the storytelling and the pacing. Iwakura Aria has a very compelling story as long as you can get into some of the givens from the very beginning. One, this is a reflection from a much older Ichiko, so you already know that, theoretically, you aren’t going to be murdered over the course of your gameplay. Also, the tonal shift of the game does come and go rather dramatically depending on how you’re playing. That is, if you’re not prepared, you will get whiplash from how swiftly the game changes from “my budding lesbian awakening” to “this mansion is a nightmare and I’m trapped here.” It’ll toggle back and forth and Ichiko will try to come to grips with it, but you can only recenter yourself and keep calling someone a monster so often before it wears on you.

Having said that, I did love the slow burn of both the mystery and the character development. The aloof, inhuman heiress is hardly a new trope, but Aria is a fascinating persona due to her secrets and how they’ve developed. She is never exceptionally cross or cruel, not even when upset, and that seems to be in stark contrast to many of the characters. In that same vein, Mr. Amane is very casual and matter-of-fact on all topics he presents, regardless of how unbelievable they may seem. These two, in spite of having a truly terrifying existence together, play off each other with unbelievable ease and rapport. If you’ve ever seen Only Lovers Left Alive, it’s the kind of chemistry Adam and Eve have, but without the sexual undertones. Probably.

Also, the choice to voice Ichiko was a bold one, but rather important for the story format. By having Ichiko speak and be her own person instead of an imprint for the player, it really gives you the sensation of being told her story instead of just viewing it through your own eyes. It gives form and weight to the emotions, the conflicts, the rapid vacillation of her own beliefs and what she learns. Even as she’s beset by apocryphal tales from other members of the staff (Sui tries her best not to be a gossip but what can you do?) Ichiko keeps her wits about her, and stands tall as a strong if very, very confused main character. Her motivation to investigate further – in spite of her own fears – emboldens the reader to venture onward, and you can really see the growth and development as events transpire.

The one criticism of Iwakura Aria that I have is that the slow burn isn’t as tempered as I’d like. While there are indicators and hints from the prologue as to what might be happening, you don’t get any information until Chapter three, which is several hours into the game. During this time, you’re mildly teased with information that, at times, suggests something even more horrible than the truth, but you mostly just watch Ichiko get utterly overwhelmed with her pendulum of emotions for Aria. Occasionally, there are little breaks to visit the kitchen and chat up Sui, or to get some fatherly support from Mr. Amane, but it’s mostly these two girls, trying to figure each other out, while you know something horrid will happen. Perhaps Mages should have waited until you hit an ending before revealing this is all a flashback, but, then again, what do I know?

Still, watching these emotions unfurl and blossom, seeing someone try to piece together what their true feelings are and how their affections lay, is wonderful in a doomed, adorable way. You don’t watch Titanic hoping the boat will survive; you need to see Jack and Rose sharing a moment, however brief, in this dark, cold life. That, more than anything, is what you can take away from Iwakura Aria. Perhaps you’ll find the ending that I couldn’t and discover a happy ever after for everyone. But, even if such a thing doesn’t exist, the fact remains that the love is there, and, however fleeting, it’s real, and it burns and it chases shadows away. You may not put Iwakura Aria as your favorite visual novel of all time. Yet I promise you the writing and the structure shows you: they loved. And that love will resound forever.

Graphics: 8.0 The hand drawn cells and beautifully colored areas do wonders to express the time capsule of sadness and love that exist within the Iwakura estate. I’m not the biggest fan of the character design, but I recognize the motif and can respect it.	Gameplay: 8.5 Pacing of the story can be slow, but the additional elements of exploring the mansion for both curiosity and to add story beats is refreshing. Would have loved for the main tale to move a bit faster, but I understand the overall velocity of it.
Sound: 9.0 Excelllent voice work from top to bottom. Sui’s voice actress takes you on a journey depending on how the story goes. Mild point reduction for some odd music cues that seem to occasionally miss, but that may have been a glitch and not an actual choice.	Fun Factor: 8.0 Fun isn’t exactly the word I’d use for this tragedy and mystery that’s coated with love and longing, but it resonanted and satisfied my mind and heart. To read and to understand the life and times of Iwakura Aria is to know the depths one would go for the ones you cherish most.
Final Verdict: 8.0

Iwakura Aria is available now on Steam and Nintendo Switch.

Reviewed on Nintendo Switch.

A copy of Iwakura Aria was provided by the publisher.