Rating
Varlet
To be a "leader" that guides others forward, or to be an uncompromising "ruler"...VARLET is a school life RPG where, through encounters with troubled boys and girls who are also searching for themselves, you begin to uncover a version of yourself you never knew existed.
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Varlet Reviews
Professional reviews from gaming critics
Monark is a game by FuRyu that I really enjoyed, though I knew there were some heavy grinding sections. Seeing that FuRyu was going to join Aquria for a turn-based RPG that held elements of social bonding and a world of glitches was an interesting idea to see. Thus Varlet…
Is it perfect? No. The choice system needs a rethink, the pacing could use tightening, and the life-sim tasks sometimes cross the line from immersive to plain tedious. But for those willing to put in the hours, Varlet rewards you with a world worth exploring and characters worth caring about.
Atlus is taking so long to come up with a sequel to the highly successful Persona 5 that it gives a reason for smaller (and thus, less prepared) teams to come up with what I can only describe as “we have Persona 6 at home”, stopgaps meant to satiate everyone’s impatience towards the release of a new Persona entry, and not just another remake of a previous title. Granted, that’s not exactly a bad thing, but very rarely, if ever, will you see someone come up with something as good (or b...
Varlet is billed as a "school life RPG," and I'm obviously too far removed from that life to find it terribly interesting—even with the turn-based battles against everyone's negative emotions.Read More
FuRyu is one of my favorite sources of RPGs off the beaten path. The Alliance Alive takes inspiration from SaGa of all places, and tells a fascinating story while still striving to be weird. Crystar is one of the bluntest portrayals of depression I’ve ever seen in a game that looks kind of like anime. There are misses as well, but the highs have been so high I’ll always show up. Sadly, Varlet is one of those misses, albeit one that has some interesting ideas with how to approach the Persona-style formula.
Ultimately, perhaps we do need to remember that this is FuRyu’s first self-published game, and the existence of Varlet at all is, itself, an experiment. We didn’t get the usual creative subversion that we’ve come to expect from the company behind the likes of Lost Dimension, The Caligula Effect, Crystar, and Reynatis, but in taking this step as a company, perhaps FuRyu will be able to protect its ability to continue to do those games in the future. Valent itself, unfortunately, is a game I wish I could love more than I did.
At best, Varlet is a boring command-based RPG with social sim elements. At worst, Varlet is a fundamentally broken game.
Varlet often feels like seeing a cover band trying its best to play all the hits, but never managing to surpass the original. Much of the turn-based RPG feels heavily inspired by other school life RPGs, but fails to capture the same magic, due to a lacking combat system and a condensed run time. Varlet does manage to create a cast of likeable characters, but its 16 hour run time doesn’t feel like enough to let those relationships breathe and develop.
FuRyu returns to a fairly familiar style of setting with Varlet. Unfortunately, a fairly interesting story and cast are overshadowed by a terrible gameplay loop and completely broken combat balancing.
VARLET stumbles hard with a messy story, dull combat, and gameplay systems that feel more like busywork than anything meaningful. While the cast has its charms and the art is expressive, it’s just not worth the $60 price tag unless you catch it on a heavy sale.
Nothing in Varlet’s gameplay or narrative is outright terrible, with even the worst aspects being non-intrusive. Despite this, repetition is what makes the whole package less than the sum of its mediocre parts. My heart sank realizing how its promising foundation within the first few hours is all the game has to offer. Worst of all, as someone often moved by FuRyu’s flawed, but heartfelt games, Varlet commits the biggest sin of all. It made me feel next to nothing.