True Remembrance

True Remembrance is a free visual novel by Shiba Satomi (available for download in English from the first link), and is a relatively long story (for a non-commercial game) about, well, life. It's not exactly a 'slice-of-life' game, but I suppose the major themes I got out of it would include things like 'the things sacrificed to achieve a goal' and 'overcoming loss'.

The world of True Remembrance is one where 'The Dolor' has infected humans - a state of severe depression that can only be remedied by having the offending memories suppressed by a Mnemonicide. The main male character, Blackiris, is an alpha class Mnemonicide (the highest class bar the omega class), and the story begins with his meeting his next assigned patient, La.

This may seem like a rather slow story, but in a world where action packed movies abound and we are fed with endless dramatic stories, one must remember that the old classics like Lord of the Rings began with a lot of background building. Even with that said, the seemingly pointless introduction contains little bits of information that become more significant as more is revealed.

Unlike Narcissu, this has a happy ending. Sort of. It's a bit of a sad story at times, but it doesn't over do it to the point of being overly emotional. The background music of this game is also lovely, something which most of us take for granted in the visual novel scene.