The WhatsNext verdict
If you want a colorful queer fantasy visual novel centered on memorable relationships, identity, and a magical mystery, Brilliant Shadows has a lot to offer. Its short length, uneven editing, and occasionally thin choices make it a better fit for patient visual-novel fans than for players seeking tightly structured interactive storytelling.
What it does best
A distinctive, colorful fantasy look
A cast with real emotional pull
A queer fantasy world with room to explore
What might put you off
Awkward or under-edited writing
Choices feel narrower than expected
The setup
What you are walking into
Brilliant Shadows is a visual novel that follows the story of Veronica Ashmar, a new graduate of the Mountain and a necromancer. Tradition dictates that upon graduation, necromancers and paladins are to perform the pairing ritual. Binding together one of each type of mage, entwining their lives and powers with another and sealing their fates together with a matching mark upon their primary hands. Those that succeed and become paired go on as full mages, those that do not are considered nothing more than hedge mages. There are no exceptions and the ritual has never failed… Until the day Ash receives a mark and no fellow graduate to match it. Now she must discover the origin of her mark and attempt to solve the greatest magical mystery that the Mountain has ever known.
Where it lives
Genre
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