The House in Fata Morgana: A Requiem for Innocence

The House in Fata Morgana: A Requiem for Innocence is a prequel to The House in Fata Morgana, the bulk of which expands upon the story of the Jacopo of Morgana's time. Much like the visual novel its based on, it starts off at a somewhat glacial pace. Unlike its progenitor, however, patience failed to reward me—despite generally positive fan reception. In the few moments that it manages to capture what made the first visual novel special, the depicted events still tend to feel like unnecessary extensions. At worst, they feel like desecration. Its best moments depict the moments following Jacopo's execution of the vile Lord Barnier, after which he descends into madness as he transforms into what he once despised. His slip mirrors that of the later Jacopo's, and much like then, it feels like a natural path for someone such as him to take—with a fitting conclusion, to boot.

Where the prequel stumbles hardest, however, is its waffling regarding whether or not it wants to frame Jacopo and Morgana's relationship as something that "could have been." In The House in Fata Morgana, both Jacopos' relationships with younger women were framed as something that unfortunately historically tended to happen—and as malicious. The tragedy in the tale of the second Jacopo is not just his mistreatment of Michelle and the failure of their relationship, but also includes the rest of the time they spent together. From the moment they first met, Jacopo utilizes the power imbalance between Michelle and himself for his benefit, leading her down a path she can't escape from. Jacopo's presence is the source of tragedy—whether it be the one in Morgana's time or the one that came after. A Requiem for Innocence loses sight of this in a pretty bad way, and there are moments where it seems that the author wants to impress upon the reader that they should want Jacopo and Morgana's relationship to "work"—as if it weren't a doomed idea from the start. For example, when tasked with presenting one of the characters with a flower, picking Jacopo's long-time friend Maria will result in her offhandedly scolding Jacopo (and the player, in a bit of fourth wall leaning) for not picking Morgana (or even Ceren, another underage character and a somewhat unwelcome presence). It's a very odd moment for a character who was less than thrilled with Jacopo's fawning over Morgana earlier in the story. In the end, Jacopo does get his comeuppance for the horrible deeds he commits in the latter half of the visual novel, but the scene in which his and Morgana's souls meet once more feels like a narrative misfire. Despite her still harboring a hatred of what he's done to her, the visual novel frames this scene looking back on their relationship as something bittersweet, something that could have been "done right" if Jacopo simply hadn't forgotten what was most important to him. As if a relationship in which a man just had to wait until the child he liked was 16 in order to tell her his real feelings could have been anything but a tragedy from the very beginning. In The House in Fata Morgana, the horror of this is clear. In A Requiem for Innocence, the author is not so certain, and it very much soured for me what already felt like an unneeded addition to the finely crafted, if somewhat flawed, story of the original.

A Requiem for Innocence also includes two other short stories. One is a short epilogue to the original visual novel that follows the modern day Michel and Giselle on a date. It's nice to see the two happy, it's cool to see them bump into the modern day equivalents of other members of the cast, and it's cute enough to justify its existence. It's fluff that lacks the gothic flair that made The House in Fata Morgana stick with me so strongly, but as with most fluff, it's harmless and optional. The second short story follows Imeon, a sick man who ends up on ye olde times Michel's doorstep that wants to speak with the witch rumored to live in the mansion. Michel putting up with Imeon as he overstays his welcome is entertaining enough, and the twist near the end feels fitting for the tragic world of Fata Morgana. These short stories were the definite highlight of A Requiem for Innocence to me, and felt worth reading even if not terribly substantial.

Body

tips

Formatting
[b]text[/b] - bold
[i]text[/i] - italic
[s]strikethrough[/s] - ~~strikethrough~~
[tt]text[/tt] - fixed-width type
[color red]text[/color] - colored text (full list)
[spoiler]text[/spoiler] - Text hidden with spoiler cover
[https://www.example.com/page/,Link to another site] - Link to another site

Linking
When you mention an album, artist, film, game, label, etc - it's recommended to link to the item the first time you mention it. Doing so will make it easier to search for your post and give it more visibility. To link an item, use the search box above, or find the shortcut that appears on the page that you want to link. You can customize the link name of shortcuts by using the format [Artist12345,Custom Name].

Upload image Embed existing image

URL/address of page

Name your link

Insert Link

Paste the address (or embed code) below and click "embed".
Supported: YouTube, Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Vimeo, Dailymotion

Embed

[spoiler] [i][GameRelease86323][/i] is a prequel to [i][GameRelease24248][/i], the bulk of which expands upon the story of the Jacopo of Morgana's time. Much like the visual novel its based on, it starts off at a somewhat glacial pace. Unlike its progenitor, however, patience failed to reward me—despite generally positive fan reception. In the few moments that it manages to capture what made the first visual novel special, the depicted events still tend to feel like unnecessary extensions. At worst, they feel like desecration. Its best moments depict the moments following Jacopo's execution of the vile Lord Barnier, after which he descends into madness as he transforms into what he once despised. His slip mirrors that of the later Jacopo's, and much like then, it feels like a natural path for someone such as him to take—with a fitting conclusion, to boot.

Where the prequel stumbles hardest, however, is its waffling regarding whether or not it wants to frame Jacopo and Morgana's relationship as something that "could have been." In [i]The House in Fata Morgana[/i], both Jacopos' relationships with younger women were framed as something that unfortunately historically tended to happen—and as malicious. The tragedy in the tale of the second Jacopo is not just his mistreatment of Michelle and the failure of their relationship, but also includes the rest of the time they spent together. From the moment they first met, Jacopo utilizes the power imbalance between Michelle and himself for his benefit, leading her down a path she can't escape from. Jacopo's presence is the source of tragedy—whether it be the one in Morgana's time or the one that came after. [i]A Requiem for Innocence[/i] loses sight of this in a pretty bad way, and there are moments where it seems that the author wants to impress upon the reader that they should want Jacopo and Morgana's relationship to "work"—as if it weren't a doomed idea from the start. For example, when tasked with presenting one of the characters with a flower, picking Jacopo's long-time friend Maria will result in her offhandedly scolding Jacopo (and the player, in a bit of fourth wall leaning) for not picking Morgana (or even Ceren, another underage character and a somewhat unwelcome presence). It's a very odd moment for a character who was less than thrilled with Jacopo's fawning over Morgana earlier in the story. In the end, Jacopo does get his comeuppance for the horrible deeds he commits in the latter half of the visual novel, but the scene in which his and Morgana's souls meet once more feels like a narrative misfire. Despite her still harboring a hatred of what he's done to her, the visual novel frames this scene looking back on their relationship as something bittersweet, something that could have been "done right" if Jacopo simply hadn't forgotten what was most important to him. As if a relationship in which a man just had to wait until the child he liked was 16 in order to tell her his real feelings could have been anything but a tragedy from the very beginning. In [i]The House in Fata Morgana[/i], the horror of this is clear. In [i]A Requiem for Innocence,[/i] the author is not so certain, and it very much soured for me what already felt like an unneeded addition to the finely crafted, if somewhat flawed, story of the original.

[i]A Requiem for Innocence[/i] also includes two other short stories. One is a short epilogue to the original visual novel that follows the modern day Michel and Giselle on a date. It's nice to see the two happy, it's cool to see them bump into the modern day equivalents of other members of the cast, and it's cute enough to justify its existence. It's fluff that lacks the gothic flair that made [i]The House in Fata Morgana[/i] stick with me so strongly, but as with most fluff, it's harmless and optional. The second short story follows Imeon, a sick man who ends up on ye olde times Michel's doorstep that wants to speak with the witch rumored to live in the mansion. Michel putting up with Imeon as he overstays his welcome is entertaining enough, and the twist near the end feels fitting for the tragic world of [i]Fata Morgana[/i]. These short stories were the definite highlight of A Requiem for Innocence to me, and felt worth reading even if not terribly substantial.[/spoiler]

NickShutter 2021-10-16T06:43:56Z

2021-10-16T06:43:56Z

NOPE

In collection Want to buy Used to own

Supplement

tips

Upload image Embed existing image

URL/address of page

Name your link

Insert Link

Paste the address (or embed code) below and click "embed".
Supported: YouTube, Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Vimeo, Dailymotion

Embed

Attribution

Requested publishing level

Draft

Commentary

Review

review

Expand review Hide

Catalog

Sort by: Date Rating Plays

Filter by: All 53 Owned 30 Rated 36 Wanted 11

CaptainPlasma The House in Fata Morgana: A Requiem for Innocence 2024-02-24T19:47:47Z

Windows

2024-02-24T19:47:47Z

In collection Want to buy Used to own

lankaraniamir ファタモルガーナの館 -AnotherEpisodes- 2024-02-18T06:35:29Z

2024-02-18T06:35:29Z

1.0

In collection Want to buy Used to own

igligl ファタモルガーナの館 -AnotherEpisodes- 2024-02-01T22:42:41Z

2024-02-01T22:42:41Z

In collection Want to buy Used to own

vatlehaz ファタモルガーナの館 -AnotherEpisodes- 2024-01-29T16:52:49Z

2024-01-29T16:52:49Z

2.0

In collection Want to buy Used to own

ibn5100 ファタモルガーナの館 -AnotherEpisodes- 2023-12-02T10:35:30Z

2023-12-02T10:35:30Z

3.5

In collection Want to buy Used to own

netbol ファタモルガーナの館 -AnotherEpisodes- 2023-12-01T17:31:01Z

2023-12-01T17:31:01Z

In collection Want to buy Used to own

Redainacage ファタモルガーナの館 -AnotherEpisodes- 2023-11-11T03:03:18Z

2023-11-11T03:03:18Z

5.0

In collection Want to buy Used to own

Fet The House in Fata Morgana: A Requiem for Innocence 2023-10-30T16:03:38Z

Windows

2023-10-30T16:03:38Z

3.5

In collection Want to buy Used to own

Fictionous ファタモルガーナの館 -AnotherEpisodes- 2023-10-24T15:50:58Z

2023-10-24T15:50:58Z

In collection Want to buy Used to own

RevolutionInBimbo ファタモルガーナの館 -AnotherEpisodes- 2023-09-19T20:07:10Z

2023-09-19T20:07:10Z

9 /10

In collection Want to buy Used to own

steam pc switch digital

kukelennedy ファタモルガーナの館 -AnotherEpisodes- 2023-09-19T13:24:56Z

2023-09-19T13:24:56Z

In collection Want to buy Used to own

Kaijuu The House in Fata Morgana: A Requiem for Innocence 2023-09-18T23:01:39Z

Windows

2023-09-18T23:01:39Z

5.0

In collection Want to buy Used to own

Images [1]

Media

1x CD-ROM

Franchises

The House in Fata Morgana

In collections

The House in Fata Morgana

Also known as

The House in Fata Morgana: A Requiem for Innocence
Fata morgana no Yakata -Another Episodes-
The House in Fata Morgana -Another Episodes-
View all [3] Hide

Comments

Rules for comments

Be respectful! All the community rules apply here.
Keep your comments focused on the game. Don't post randomness/off-topic comments. Jokes are fine, but don't post tactless/inappropriate ones.
Don't get in arguments with people here, or start long discussions. Use the boards for extended discussion.
Don't use this space to complain about the average rating, chart position, genre voting, others' reviews or ratings, or errors on the page.
Don't comment just to troll/provoke. Likewise, don't respond to trollish comments; just report them and ignore them.
Any spoilers should be placed in spoiler tags as such: [spoiler](spoiler goes here)[/spoiler]

Note: Unlike reviews, comments are considered temporary and may be deleted/purged without notice.