Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception - PlayStation 4

Let me just say that prior to this game the only exposure I had to this was the first episode of anime, which didn't interest me too much. Fast forward to now I regret that decision because this game is incredible, extremely underrated unless you are into the series. The story was very tantalizing to the point where just reading through "just one more" event before bed turned into an hour of reading and a battle which I was inclined to finish because why not? I'll admit the gameplay threw me off at first and it took a few hours to become fully invested because you spend roughly 75% of your playthrough reading due to it being similar to a visual novel. Actual battles are rather meaningful and can be challenging unless you know your characters and have a somewhat decent strategy that doesn't involve going 1v1 against everything. There is a normal and hard mode for each stage(post game only has one). Normal is what I played on and it wasn't too bad, but I could see where it could get tricky if I played on hard. Even if you struggle the game allows you to rewind turns to try out different strategies and so forth. The characters are very interesting as well, everyone has their own personality and while some were annoying at first I grew to understand and like them. Getting to know your characters battle-wise was fun becauseeveryone is unique, especially in regards to the critical strikes since some are fast while others are slow. The game allows you to replay levels you've beaten. The only thing I have to complain about is the lack of tutorial. Not that there wasn't any, but they didn't really force it on you so you had to go look it up yourself in the menu. Normally that's not a big deal for me if I understand the game, but there were many new concepts I wasn't used to or aware of like the rewinding, critical strikes, what some of the status ailments did, and how to use some of the characters to their full potential. I got by in the end, but all that would have helped in the beginning. I repeat, there are tutorials, they just don't force you into a tutorial mode like most games. Overall, it was an incredible experience that has caused me to look more into the series as a whole. Also, I loved it so much I bought the sequel right after beating it because I just had to know what happened next. A great game for anime lovers and those that enjoy tactical/strategy rpgs.

I bought this on a whim and had no idea what to expect. I only knew that it was from Aquaplus, and I enjoyed Tears to Tiara II, one of their earlier games. I was pleasantly surprised with my choice. The game is a visual novel, so it's like a book with pictures, music, and sound effects. Being new to this style of game, the amount of reading was a bit off-putting at first, but I quickly became enchanted by this fantastic world and it's characters. One minor flaw is that the story starts off a bit slow while they show you the world and introduce most of the characters, but this makes the second half of the game and it's sequel so much better when the story picks up. You feel like you really know the characters and the game's world. It's not all reading. There are also about 16 battles in this game that play like a tactical role playing game. Think Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy Tactics, Shining Force, or Disgaea. The system is fairly simple, but it is well designed and has some interesting scenarios. The characters all have a fairly unique playstyle. The battles are easy for the genre, and allow you to rewind up to 50 actions if you made a mistake or want to try something different. The 3D graphics in the battles are below modern standards, but the gameplay is solid. There is voice acting, but it is only in Japanese. This was probably a budgetary consideration because this style of game isn't too popular in North America. I don't speak Japanese, but I found the voices to be quite enjoyable. Just hearing the tone and emotion in their voices really helped elevate the story I was reading. It made the touching scenes more emotional, the humorous scenes funnier, and further defined each character's personality. Despite a slow start, I absolutely loved this game by the time I reached the end.

Still no English dub but it doesn't matter anyway that it doesn't affect my gameplay, I love the Characters but gets repetitive once a while, I like the Tactics Gameplay (Similar to Fire Emblem and Final Fantasy Tactics) The ending was sad too it (No Spoilers) so play it if you watch The False Faces Anime.

This is your standard visual novel game with SRPG elements that give you a break from the tons of lines you must read. I liked the anime so I gave this a try and have actually enjoyed it, that said- I cannot speak Japanese, so I had to read a ton of script to know what's going on. If this was in English, I could hit auto play and watch it like a tv show. I really enjoyed the cast of characters, and the goofy parts of the story put a smile on my face. The art is amazing and so are the character designs. The combat is fun and very simple, just wished there was some more of it. Overall- this is a fun game for those who like visual novels and reading allot.

If I wanted to read so much I would have just bought some books. This game is like never ending reading but when is the game play? Is this a game at all? Terrible.

I like Visual Novels. I like strategy RPGS. I even liked the original. First off its probably one of those most polished visual novels Ive read. Lots of backgrounds. Character transitions. Etc. I will give it that. Now the bad. I gave up after 8 hours. Its just got nothing as far as story. In 8 hours they spent 30 minutes of this time just talking about food. No interesting epic story. Its got a lot of meaningless dialog.... some fan service... thats it. If this were an anime I would of dropped after first episode but since I spent $40 on it I felt I needed to give it a chance... and 8 hours of my time feels wasted.

Nothing short of epic. I just finished mask of truth and mask of deception did an amazing job investing you into the story and characters just to rip your heart out, and in a good way. I became so attached that I couldnt wait for mask of truth, which both are needed for this amazing trilogy. Since its not easy for anyone who doesnt read japanese to get the first game then watch the anime utawarerumono before playing either game, which is needed to fully appreciate the trilogy. Do not watch the second season anime that was recently made which follows mask of deception, only watch that after beating the games since it will only ruin the game for you leaving out many crucial parts. The anime adaption of utawarerumono made in 2006 was excellently executed and can be watched for free on crunchyroll or you tube or purchased new for under 20 and used for 10 bucks. The games have gone down in price enough to get them both for about 60 bucks total with the launch edition extras. I played the ps4 version even though I own a vita for my own personal preference but the vita version is amazing too, which has cross play and you can even transfer your save data from deception to truth for extras from beating the game, and can even switch from say deception on vita to mask of truth on ps4 and still get the clear bonuses, and vice versa. I highly recommend both games to anyone who wants one of the best written storys ive seen in many years, and that includes hollywood movies and everything, it puts hollywood to shame and makes all their movies look like utter mindless crap (which most are without the comparison) ). The game also has srpg elements and the fighting is really fun and is not repetitive at all. It can be a little east so always play on hard. The only downside to mask of deception is that its hard to grind exp since most exp is gotten through first time clearing a level. They completely fix the exp problem in mask of truth giving you many morw options to get exp and gives you a way to grind exp. Overall i give this game a 10 out of 10, and i mean both games and the trilogy all together. You are in for an amazing ride and I do not regret any of the hundreds of hours i put into the anime and both games and you will know why by the time you reach mask of truth, which really picks up at that point into full blown war and epic battles and betrayals. You will not be disappointed.

The visual novel portion of the game is pretty good. It's slow-developing and relaxed as it introduces setting and characters. Without spoiling too much, the world is an interesting blend of science and magic. The character interactions are funny and I liked them a great deal by the end. The SRPG portion of the game isn't as complex and varied as a game like Disgaea, but is still quite enjoyable as a great deal of your success is dependent on hitting precise button press or button release sections as your combo or "action chain" rolls out. If the timing is correct, you'll deal more damage, heal more, raise or lower a stat by a higher number, etc. After you complete the main story there are many more bonus missions that ramp the difficulty up by quite a bit. Between leveling all your characters and spending bonus points on stat increases, completing all the missions and reading through the story, one could easily spend 80 hours on this game. It was well worth the money and I'm looking forward to the sequel more than any other game right now.

Utawarerumono Mask of Deception es altamente recomendable para los amantes de las novelas visuales o para quien solo quiera disfrutar una buena historia con comedia, drama, un poco de fanservice y unos personajes altamente carismáticos. Pero no lo recomendaría para alguien que busque combates RPG tipo Fire Emblem porque son muy escasos estos enfrentamientos, pueden pasar horas de diálogos antes de tener un combate y estos a veces son cortos o no muy difíciles. Diria que es 70% historia y un 30% combate. También es de considerar que este es técnicamente Utawarerumono 2, y aunque al principio pareciera ser independiente del juego anterior (nuevo protagonista, nuevos personajes, nuevas locaciones), conforme avanza el juego van apareciendo personajes del juego anterior y la trama se va enlazando con Utawarerumono 1. Yo recomendaría jugar el primer juego (sale una remasterización en Marzo del 2020) o ver el anime y luego comprar este juego.

Watched the anime as a teenager, but the game is, of course, more detailed, especially in the second half where I think the game is at its best. It's scary to think two very similar characters end in the ways where their legacy to the main character couldn't be more different. All around simple but fast-paced plot, great characters and even greater storytelling.

it is a fun game, the art book is what to be expected from an included item (ie small). however this game is not for everyone as it is very story heavy, and there are long stretches (in the hours) were there is almost no gameplay, just story. however the story is very good and definitely a good time.

Mask of Deception is an amazing visual novel. Filled with characters that you grow to love and an intriguing story, this game is well worth the purchase if you love reading stories that draw you in. As for the game play side of things, it's certainly serviceable. A good breather in-between all the (enjoyable) world-building.

Presentacion de lujo! Vale cada centavo.