The House in Fata Morgana

The House in Fata Morgana

Cover art
Developer(s) Novectacle
Publisher(s)
  • JP: Novectacle
  • JP: FuRyu (3DS)
Artist(s) Moyataro
Writer(s) Keika Hanada
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows, iOS, Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation Vita
Release

Microsoft Windows

  • JP: December 31, 2012
  • WW: May 13, 2016

iOS

  • JP: May 16, 2014

Nintendo 3DS

  • JP: July 27, 2016

PlayStation Vita

  • JP: March 16, 2017
Genre(s) Visual novel
Mode(s) Single-player

The House in Fata Morgana (Japanese: ファタモルガーナの館, Hepburn: Fata Morugāna no Yakata) is a visual novel video game developed by Novectacle. It was released for Microsoft Windows and iOS by Novectacle in 2012 and 2014 in Japan, and for Microsoft Windows by MangaGamer in 2016 internationally. Additionally, a Nintendo 3DS version was released by FuRyu in 2016 in Japan, and a PlayStation Vita version was released by Dramatic Create in 2017.

Synopsis

The House in Fata Morgana is a visual novel set in a mansion, where the player character wakes up with amnesia. They meet a maid in the mansion, and the two visit the mansion in different time periods – 1099, 1603, 1707, and 1869 – to learn what has happened to its residents in the past, and to try to get the player character to regain their lost memories.[1]

Development

The game was developed by Novectacle and written by Keika Hanada,[2] with art by Moyataro.[3] The developers did not specifically target men or women with the game, and instead just intended to make a game for players who enjoy stories.[2] Hanada spent more than a year spent on planning the story,[4] which was influenced by Tanith Lee's books, and the films Millennium Actress (2001) and The Best of Youth (2003).[5] To keep the text from distracting the player, it was mostly written in modern Japanese, with only little use of archaic speech.[6] To make the game feel unique, the Moyataro made use of heavy coloring and shading, to portray a "more realistic kind of beauty" compared to the "cutesy" anime-like artstyle common in Japanese visual novels. Another important aspect in making the game feel unique was its music: more than half of the songs are vocal tracks, intended to make the game feel like visiting a theatre with someone singing in the background. Five composers worked on the music, and wrote 65 different tracks.[7]

In June 2013, the game distribution platform Playism announced that they were interested in localizing the game for English-speaking audiences, as they wanted to bring visual novels to their platform and felt The House in Fata Morgana might be a good place for them to start. They encouraged people to tell them if they were interested in the game, to gauge demand for it.[8] Two days later, they clarified that monetary issues were what caused them to not start localization work right away: Novectacle, being an indie developer, were unable to pay upfront for the localization work. Instead, Novectacle proposed that all revenue from Japanese The House in Fata Morgana sales would go to paying for the localization. As the Japanese sales on the Playism platform were much too low to finance the localization, Playism considered either waiting and seeing if Japanese sales would pick up pace, or launching a crowdfunding campaign.[9] Playism was still working towards a localization in late March 2014, when they released a localized demo.[10] During the Otakon convention in August 2014, the visual novel publisher MangaGamer announced that they had acquired the license to publish the game.[11]

Due to the large range of cultures and time periods appearing in the game, it was important to MangaGamer to decide on a localization strategy early on to avoid an inconsistent script; translator BlackDragonHunt said that making language in historical settings appear authentic was a difficult balancing act, with too modern dialogue breaking immersion, and older English being difficult for modern readers to understand. They decided to follow the same style as the Japanese original, mainly using modern language, with some use of words based on the various time periods and regions in the game to give it a "historical flavor": for instance, the word "bedroom" was replaced with "bedchamber", and "maid" with "abigail".[6]

Release

The game was originally released for Microsoft Windows on December 31, 2012 in Japan;[12] this version was also released through Playism on May 31, 2013 in Japan.[13] A Japanese iOS version followed on May 16, 2014.[14] MangaGamer released the Microsoft Windows version in English on May 13, 2016, both separately and in a bundle with the game's soundtrack.[1][15] A Nintendo 3DS version was released digitally in Japan on July 27, 2016 by FuRyu, as one of the first three games of their Catalyst line,[16] and a PlayStation Vita version was released both physically and digitally in Japan on March 16, 2017 by Dramatic Create.[17] This version includes new content; due to sickness, Moyataro was unable to create the new artwork needed for it, so another illustrator was given the task.[3]

A manga adaptation of the game, The House in Fata Morgana: Anata no Hitomi o Tozasu Monogatari, was written by Hanada and drawn by Kanemune. It was published by Akita Shoten in four volumes from 2015 to 2017, of which the last three were released digitally. The manga has been licensed for release by Sekai Project, who plan to release the first volume in October or November 2017, and the second in February 2018.[18]

Reception

The game was a runner-up for Hardcore Gamer's Best Story of 2016 award.[19]

References

  1. 1 2 Jenni (2016-03-31). "The House in Fata Morgana Opens Its Doors On May 13". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 2016-05-14. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
  2. 1 2 Hanada, Keika (2016-05-13). "The House in Fata Morgana Now On Sale!". MangaGamer. Archived from the original on 2016-05-13. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
  3. 1 2 "Is there a particular reason Moyataro isn't doing the artwork for the new content in the Vita version? And thank you for Fata Morgana! It was my favorite visual novel this year.". Novectacle. 2016-12-25. Archived from the original on 2017-01-02. Retrieved 2017-01-02 – via ASKfm.
  4. ↑ "How log did you take to plan the plot?". Novectacle. 2016-12-30. Archived from the original on 2017-01-02. Retrieved 2017-01-02 – via ASKfm.
  5. ↑ "The plot and story behind House in Fata Morgana is noticeably rich and really deep in many aspects. What were your inspirations for the plot and character building behind House in Fata Morgana? Any book, series, songs perhaps?". Novectacle. 2016-12-24. Archived from the original on 2016-12-24. Retrieved 2016-12-24 – via ASKfm.
  6. 1 2 BlackDragonHunt (2016-05-10). "The House in Fata Morgana: The Language of Fata Morgana". MangaGamer. Archived from the original on 2016-05-11. Retrieved 2016-05-10.
  7. ↑ "The House in Fata Morgana". MangaGamer. Archived from the original on 2016-05-14. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
  8. ↑ Ishaan (2013-06-02). "Here’s The House in Fata Morgana, A Gothic Visual Novel You Might Get To Play". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 2014-10-11. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
  9. ↑ Ishaan (2013-06-04). "Financial Woes Strike Again; The House in Fata Morgana Localization Affected". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 2014-10-11. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
  10. ↑ Eugene (2014-03-30). "Gothic Visual Novel The House in Fata Morgana Has An English Demo". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 2015-01-11. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
  11. ↑ Estrada, Marcus (2014-08-08). "MangaGamer Announces Visual Novel Acquisitions at Otakon 2014". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on 2015-09-10. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
  12. ↑ "概要" (in Japanese). Novectacle. Archived from the original on 2016-05-14. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
  13. ↑ "ファタモルガーナの館 まとめ [PCゲーム]". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. Archived from the original on 2016-05-14. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
  14. ↑ "ファタモルガーナの館［iPhone］". 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). Aetas Inc. Archived from the original on 2015-04-06. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
  15. ↑ Estrada, Marcus (2016-05-13). "The House in Fata Morgana Finally Available in English". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on 2016-05-14. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
  16. ↑ Jenni (2016-07-20). "World End Economica And Other Visual Novels Are Coming To The 3DS In Japan". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 2016-07-21. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
  17. ↑ "ファタモルガーナの館 -COLLECTED EDITION-". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. Archived from the original on 2016-12-24. Retrieved 2016-12-24.
  18. ↑ "Sekai Project Licenses The House in Fata Morgana Manga". Anime News Network. 2017-08-12. Archived from the original on 2017-08-12. Retrieved 2017-08-12.
  19. ↑ "Best of 2016 – Day One: Story, Soundtrack, Voice Acting". Hardcore Gamer. 2017-01-01. Archived from the original on 2017-01-02. Retrieved 2017-01-02.
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