Reflections on the River

Witches are always portrayed in a pretty negative light whenever they appear in stories, mainly because they tend to use magic in nefarious ways. However, there are cases when they turn out to be fighting on good’s side, as it was the case in Dragon Age: Origins. In the real world, on the other hand, people went to a lot of trouble to punish those who were believed to practice magic.

Kidnap the king’s son and demand a ransom

Reflections on the River is a visual novel in which you play the role of a witch trying to extort the royal family for a precious jewel. Obviously, the plot is thicker and more complex than that, since everyone has a reason for the things they do, but that’s how it all begins. Thankfully, you have the option to alter the course of the plot as you go along, depending on what you want to do.
Speaking of which, the story starts much earlier than the event with the kidnapping. As such, the same witch actually helped the royal family to conceive a healthy child a few years before that, which is why she is now demanding a reward. However, her demands are too great even in exchange for a prince or a princess, which is why she decides to kidnap one of the children instead.

Change the story on the go

Since this is an interactive visual novel, you get to make a few choices along the way that influence the overall plot and alter the ending. There are seven different endings you can reach based on these decisions, which means that you can easily replay the game a few times and see what happens when you pick another route in different junctions throughout the story.
As for the technical side of things, the artwork is special to say the least, although it’s not the most polished out there. It’s quite obvious that the artists have put a lot of work into the environments and the characters, but there’s always something off about how the characters look. Thankfully, the backgrounds are gorgeous and extremely detailed, which should keep you distracted.

A different kind of story for visual novel aficionados

In the end, the oriental vibe that characterizes Reflections on the River is the game’s greatest advantage, because it’s very different from the rest of the visual novels out there. Thus, if you are in the mood for something unique, this may very well keep you busy for an hour or two.