Originally published at: http://vnvortex.co/2016/05/19/the-leisure-of-grisaia-review/

The Leisure of Grisaia is a kinetic visual novel developed and published by Frontwing, and it’s a short side-story to The Fruit of Grisaia, taking place along the common route of the original game. It’s available on Windows via Steam for $2.99, without Steam achievements or trading cards.

I was a bit hesitant on taking up The Leisure of Grisaia, having not played the original game and full well knowing how I might not be able to get everything out of it due to that. However with the low-ish price and short length, I decided to dive right in. After all, I needed something to go with my morning coffee.

Few moments of goofiness

Like said before, the kinetic novel takes place along the common route of the original game, and it just throws the reader right in without any introduction of the characters. This clearly implies that it’s all about something that is aimed for the fans of the series, and while it’s possible to get some enjoyment out of the used game jokes and references, it goes without saying that actually knowing the characters and their backgrounds beforehand would be required. But writing from the point of someone who is not familiar with the series, I did not consider my time with The Leisure of Grisaia wasted.

Listening though the content takes about an hour, and reading it yourself would cut the time down to 30 minutes or so. Considering the price of $2.99 it’s a little on the higher side, but then again I could easily list a bunch of things that would be worse way to spend an hour or $2.99 for. For a fan of the series the title could easily be recommended as a way to pass little time, but for someone who doesn’t know the cast, it might really be a hit or miss situation. Then again, you can easily complete the whole content and get a refund if you didn’t like it, so it’s not like there is anything to lose – barring one hour of your life.

The translation is not completely riddled with errors and typos, but there are enough of those to actually take a notice on them. Occasionally the writing also sounds a bit too literal, too the point of being even a tad awkward, but I don’t think that it’s as bad as some people were fearing it to be. It’s also quite possible that these issues will be fixed with a patch in the future, making it a bit better.

Visually the game is exactly the same as The Fruit of Grisaia to a tee, so with prior experience you’ll be right at home, and even without you’ll be greeted with high quality backgrounds and character sprites. Music is not spectacular by any means, but that and the sound effect do their job just fine.

In conclusion

The Leisure of Grisaia is a very short and as such leaning a little to the expensive side, but if you liked the original game, and have no better way to spend three bucks, it might be worth it for few giggles. Without previous knowledge of the game one might want to wait for an upcoming sale somewhere in the future and grab it for half the price, seeing how there are no trading cards to make some of the cost back in the first place. Few noticeable issues with the translation do stick out, but otherwise the game works well as a means to pass an hour of time.

I need more yuri Sachi x Michiru scene...

VN. Check
Anime. Check
Cute. Check
Funny (LOL for using some "Fruit of Grisaia" characters for a quick buck). Check

69/10 Kiwis

A short but nice little side story that takes place during the common route.

If you enjoyed the humor of The Fruit of Grisaia, then you'll probably enjoy this game. However, you should know that it took me less than 1 hour to get through.