Saya no Uta | The Iconic Masterpiece of Horror Visual Novels

Its overrated simply by the soundtrack, visuals, and a great hook. Its has major problems as a story imo, barely any character development in any other character besides the mains, its hard to care for anyone when they are just cardboard cutouts to further the plot, and the ending was rushed beyond belief and could have literally happen the same way at any point in the story, it wasn't led to it, it "just happened." It had great potential tbh, this could have easily been a 40+ hour VN where they thoroughly build up the world and characters. Like show the childhood of the mc and his best friend so their friendship is actually believable to make their conflict that much more impactful. Expand upon the back story of Ryouko and Ogai, we never learn why Ryouko wanted to kill him, or even their relationship to begin with. Give Ogai more character and expand upon his relationship with Saya and how she views him, showing Saya's perspective wouldn't hurt things either, like what are her first thoughts in the world, how did she meet Ogai, so on and so forth, these are simply things that makes longer visual novels. It would have been more impactful if they showed Saya's true form in shocking reveal instead of just someone's reaction to her, "but not knowing what she looks likes adds too..." sure but a reveal at the end wouldn't hurt. There is nothing short or concise about the story, it just ended out of nowhere, I'm tired of seeing people say that's good writing. It's like they didn't have the budget or the time to continue so they had to wrap things up. Its sucks that it wasn't given proper treatment cause it had a good premise and could have been great. You can like it for what it is but I think its important to not just ignore its glaring flaws. 7.5/10 for me, good not great. People might get mad by this buts its honestly just my opinion and don't just want to be in an echo chamber.

Only 6 hours!? You sold me this game

Saya No Uta is about how we're hopelesly and utterly under the influence of our 5 senses. Sight, smell, touch, taste, sound; it all dictates how we live. It doesn't matter what is actual reality, what matters is what your brain is telling you

Im gonna play it thx for the recommendation :D

Perception is key and you are likely to fear and hate things that don't feel right even if you should know better....

Is this actually about the mechanics behind racism?

So it''s basically Shallow Hal with the distortion turned up to 11?

There are no monsters in Saya no Uta. There are only people. And that's what's beautiful about it.

I played a month ago. I watched Madoka Magica a couple of years ago so when I heard he was the creator of Saya no Uta, I was so excited to read it. I may dislike Fuminori for what happened but I understand and sympathize with him. I don't think anyone could say they wouldn't do this if they didn't feel his overwhelming sense of loneliness. Especially after going through losing his family and everything looks like hell. I also really enjoyed Saya's character. She is a stranger in a strange land who is human in consciousness but her biology rejects her yearning for intimacy. The worst thing to happen to her was learning how to be human. She learned about love and what that may look like. It is hard not to love her and want the best for her. I also loved Ryoko and Kouji and how they represented humanity as being strong and preservering.

They make both sides seem like tragic monsters. I am really happy that it was my first visual novel. The soundtrack is amazing too.

it sucks

I thought someone was messaging me on discord :D

This is one of the earlier read VNs that I've enjoyed, despite how disturbing it was. (Actually dived into this, the moment I learned that the Urobutcher was involved.)

the aesthetic of this game is absolutely unbeatable. I loved this journey. I wish they can make this an animated series.

My favorite vn ever ;-;

Song of Saya managed to do something that few games' stories have done: It legitimately shocked me. All while making me feel sorry for characters who would've otherwise been the villains.

Are there any VNs that can contest this games story?

I almost wish I'd forget this game... just so I could re-experience my original impressions of it.

That was something uniquely intriguing and mystical. Very special.

我在PSP上玩的😅

It's kind of funny that Gen Urobuchi shortened is G. Urobuchi lol
Fate's irony

Schizophrenia gotta be one of my favourite songs in anime games ngl

Saya no Uta needs more fanfiction

I really like this VN. Great video bro

I still haven't finished it due to how horrifying it is, but you actually convinced me to pick this back up. The chilling story, strangely poetic proses, and serene yet ominous ost makes it such an incredible experience to play.

I was blown away when I read this. I truly love this story.

The OST was emitional and pleasently disturbing

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My first VN. Very gripping story and nice audio. Good way to be pulled into VN's world :)

All I'm going to say is I definitely did NOT empathize with Fuminori. Also he's the perfect example of a humongous simp. So I honestly really did not like saya no Uta.

Both Fuminori and Saya actions were NOT justified for me. And like you said, the worst H scene in is the worst scene in the visual model, and it just never got better. I know Nitro+ is supposed to be purposefully edgy, but I just think that given how short this visual novels, I can't really care for the two especially with how immoral their actions were.

It says something when I thought the female doctor was easily the best character cuz I just wanted the main 2 characters to die.

Saya sadly is probably my least favorite visual novel, or my least favorite that people actually know.

Great editing. Been really loving your reviews lately

I recently played this game for the first time. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The opening scene of the loud noise and garbled text made my dumb ass think for a moment that the game file I downloaded was corrupted or something before quickly realizing “oh this is just all part of this VN’s aesthetics.”

I only recently played played this, years after I played Katawa Shoujo and DDLC as my first VNs, and while i wasn’t as disgusted as I thought I’d be, I loved how concise and atmospheric it was. It lead me to collect even more VN titles and now I have about 20 on my to-read list while I go through Kara no Shoujo. Kinda wish I fell down the rabbit hole much earlier tho lol

Great editing and synopsis btw! I wish more people read and talked about VNs here. Ur doing god’s work

I never read say no uta and as such my opinion is irrelevant by default but oh Lord have I heard about some.... Interesting things the couple in question get up to... Something about a s.. s....

Saya no Uta was the very first VN I complete read, and it was basically my introduction to the world of VNs. There was no going back.

i love saya no uta

Wait a minute, Fuminori was both wrong and crazy? Clearly I need to read Saya no Uta again, cause I thought he was just imposing his desire upon the world and getting sane, clear minded by the hour.

Ufff this was a ride and a half

It is an utter garbage and should not be taken seriously lol

nitro+ never disappoints now that I've noticed it

Lmao, perfect timing. I finished Saya no Uta last night

Tragic love story...

The whole world dies.

Yep, sounds like preem Uro-Butcher

10/10

Saya no Uta was my very first visual novel i read when i started this rabbit hole of visual novels 11years ago.
Since i was still fresh into the horror genre, ty to fatal frame great series <3, i rly enjoyed Saya but damn gave it me the creeps.
The story until the "true" ending was really good and the soundtrack did fit so well overall im just getting goosebumps remembering everything <3

Back during the peak of visual novels, 10/14 years ago, this was quite an impressive story but I'm sure for many these days it would probably not surprise and horrify as much.

I remember playing this two years ago out of curiosity I’m glad I did

to be honest, i was pretty scared about playing this, and now im horrified, and this feeling of curiosity is too alluring to be ignored. But i am sure that while playing it i will feel like crying, maybe i will? and that it is gonna get a lot of time to finish it.

Saya no Uta was one of the first visual novels i played. maybe it's because I was not in a very good mental state at the time of reading, but this visual novel really touched me. I felt deeply connected to Saya and Fuminori's relationship and the loneliness that they both felt. and by the end of the "saya" ending, I was sorta thinking to myself "never have I experienced a piece of media that made me feel so loved."

Also the OST is so so good I like to go back and listen to it every once in a while, with Sabbath being one of my favourites. I wish I had read the VN earlier, in time for the re-release of Saya's scale figure

I see that "The game is better without the 18+ patch" opinion on the first review and reject it utterly. The porn scenes make a big deal about far the main character is sinking.

You know, except for THAT scene, which makes no sense, makes NAME REDACTED look like a fucking monster who was just waiting to snap to do something horrible and I don't know why they wrote it.