2023-03-28
Muv-Luv Unlimited: THE DAY AFTER 03 review
Finally, the explosive finale to THE DAY AFTER series. Except it’s not really the finale – they’re just calling the continuation “Muv-Luv Resonative” instead of “THE DAY AFTER”, but I digress.
When I gathered my thoughts about THE DAY AFTER 02, I described it as "the best that THE DAY AFTER had to offer so far”. This was definitely correct – the best so far, as the best that THE DAY AFTER series has to offer is most definitely THE DAY AFTER 03.
The story feels packed for a relatively short read – I clocked 7.7 hours to complete it, or 30 minutes less than it took me to finish THE DAY AFTER 01. But unlike the other parts of THE DAY AFTER series, it feels like a significant increase in quality, and I never felt like I had to wait for the good part to begin like I did with the previous entries. It feels to the rest of THE DAY AFTER series what the Muv-Luv Alternative feels like its predecessors, although in condensed form.
Everything is still fully voiced with good voice acting. I don’t think I saw that many new sprites for returning characters. However, THE DAY AFTER 03 uses the old sprites in a much more animated way that makes everything feel that much more alive. In that aspect too, THE DAY AFTER 03 feels like a significant step up from the previous episodes. So while the old sprites may have not been anything amazing, it still gets a passing grade from me on that department.
On technical aspects, most stuff is fine. You’ll need a custom controller layout if you plan on using a controller on PC or reading it on a Steam Deck. And it reads just fine on the Steam Deck barring some post-sleep audio crackling that you can resolve by restarting the game. You should also stick to reading THE DAY AFTER 03 on one device – the way this game handles Steam Cloud saves makes switching between devices not impossible but very annoying.
THE DAY AFTER 03 is a definitive high note to end the series – at least until the fabled Muv-Luv Resonative comes out some fateful day.