Three Fourths Home: Extended Edition is a visual novel title. You pick the dialogue choices to mainly progress the storyline. It isn’t a traditional visual novel such as Zero Time Dilemma, Steins; Gate or even Danganronpa. Three Fourths Home: Extended Edition has its own identity within the visual novel genre with its creativity. Those who are used to titles such as these will find a reason or two to own this title in the collection after this review.
Graphics
The graphics in Three Fourths Home: Extended Edition are minimal but fit the mood of the game. From the rain across the screen to the graying effect that gives the feeling of imminent danger looming around the corner. I especially enjoyed how the tornadoes and storms are intensified across your screen as you get deeper into the game.
Although the art style is okay for Three Fourths Home: Extended Edition. It can get very dull to see as you progress throughout the story. The massive amounts of gray get boring to look at and the constant rain effect on the screen can make it hard to read the text which is a cardinal sin for a visual novel.
Audio
The audio within Three Fourths Home: Extended Edition is crisp. From crackling lightning in the sky, the tornado sirens in the background, the music emanating from your car stereo and a myriad of small sound effects in each scene have a hand in shaping the game’s atmosphere.
The only true downside about the audio though is that it rarely comes through on the occasions it should be there. So the moments when the audio needs to shine often miss the mark in scenes where emotions run high.
Gameplay
The gameplay within Three Fourths Home: Extended Edition is pretty simple. Back touchpad to keep the car moving or character walking in the epilogue, the R1 button to go through dialogue with your family and the X button to pick your choices and respond accordingly. The one effect I found that was cool about Three Fourths Home is that if you let go of the back touchpad everything would stop moving within the game. The rain would cease, the car stopped, the audio stopped and everything would be completely still. When you pick the game back up picked back up the effects would start again. A very nice touch.
Story
The story in Three Fourths Home: Extended Edition is really the best portion of the game and it gets deeper than just the tornado tearing through your town. You learn about Kelly (the main character) and her family and all of the current issues plaguing their lives as you drive home in this heavy rain and potential tornado. The epilogue is more of a character study about Kelly and the issues she runs from and that she could never discuss with her family. It is done very well and absolutely shines in many moments of the story.
However, the downside of Three Fourths Home: Extended Edition is that while the game is fantastic, it is also a bit slow to get to those meaningful moments. The game is also extremely short. This is one title you could literally pick up and finish within an hour or two.
Verdict
Three Fourths Home: Extended Edition is a different take within the visual novel world. It does a few things different but it makes it work within its own lane. It does have some issues that need to be addressed such as a short campaign time, occasionally dull stretches of gameplay and the text can be difficult to read at times. That said, it also does a lot of things well – the unique art style, great audio effects and a fantastic story. Who is to say you shouldn’t brace your own storm within Three Fourths Home: Extended Edition. I did it and it was quite a ride.