I haven't finished this yet but it's already a very refreshing game. In the last few years theres been a huge amount of VNs getting approved on greenlight and translated, however most of them are horrible. Fault has everything a VN fan can want, beautiful art and CG, an incredible soundtrack and most importantly an awesome and well written plot. Most of the cast is likeable and they all have great character designs. If you're a fan of VNs and are looking for something original and engaging then definitely get this while it's on sale.

Best visual novel I've read.

Definetly stands out among many other visual novels. Although not as animation rich like some high budget VNs like fate/stay night. It compensates for it with very good artwork & soundtrack. And the probably the best english translation of any VN ever. You really gotta give credit where credit is due.. the developers were small hobbyists in japan & mostly raised/still raise money by kickstarter or patreon donations.They used the freely available RenPy VN game engine to make it and then they delivered such quality content.

As for the story, I wont spoil anything, the desciption is good enough.. and I recommending getting fault 2 and more that might come in the future(because fault 2 has no closure either) as the story seems episodic.

A great read

Let me start by saying that I was so excited to play this game. The visuals looked great, there was a cool female protagonist and seemingly many other interesting and strong female characters...

But it really fell flat in several ways.

Without spoiling the plot, I can say that some important elements contained within it are very polarizing. Some people probably find them great, surprising, additions. I did not. In particular, the mature bits are not, to me, handled responsibly or even interestingly. Regarding Rune, I felt that much of the "true story" was mostly shock value with little substance or consideration. I kept waiting and waiting for the great writing to come into play, but sadly it never came.

The characters are not very well fleshed out or interesting, and the music is fairly average. I understand this is a series, so there may be more development later, but I don't really care about it after playing this game. The characters and plot just aren't compelling, despite being drawn and colored beautifully.

I tried to like this game until the very end. Some may not be bothered by the things I was.

Fault Milestone One is about a communist pacifist equal-sex magical monarchy where our main chracters, anime Alice in wonderlands and anime Corvo Attano live in. A malliciou Chinese warlord blitzkriegs it with an Ethopian army of child soldiers and african- I mean Shadow Warriors. Using Aurora Borealis. our heroes teleport themselves themselves away and end up landing in a different continent in the city of Kardia, where capitalism. misogyny. and science exist. (I swear it's not America)

Trapped in these new lands, without their magical universal healthcare, they must find a way back home before they die of mana-deprivation. Along the way, you get to experience the sociological analyzation of societal and culture developement as a result of resouce scarcity, AI and human morality defining what is 'human', environmental psychology, philanthropy vs patronage and a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ of other things I wouldn't have expected from a what I thought was going to be a $15 lucky star. Now they must journey back, gain experience and retake their capitol before the enemy scores a domination victory on the other civilizations.

I bought this game because I thought "This art looks pretty, if this was an anime I was watch it."
Secretly this VN contained Mozart level music and was so indepth with it's discussion of politics and culture that I had to look and see if this was a Paradox Interactive game. The writing is fluid, detailed and never dull, and the characters alongside their stories are livid. It contains alot, ALOT of feels pertaining to loss, repentance, forgiveness.
It has Clannad level emotional scenes. It's an extraordinary story and I will be buying the second milestone.

What I played: fault milestone one

What I expected: a story in a JRPG-style fantasy setting with reportedly good writing

What I got: a thought-provoking and at times intensely emotional story, very rich in characterization, set in a very detailedly-developed world, and exploring philosophical issues of culture and technology and much more.

Yes, I do indeed recommend this.

(Disclosure: I acquired this visual novel by preordering it during (though not directly through) its Kickstarter, at near full price.)

fault -milestone one- is the first episode of the fault series that tells the story of Princess Selphine Rughzenhaide and her Guardian Ritona Reighnvhasta as they run away from an assault that is lead by Melano. As the duo managed to escape from the Melano's party, they got teleported (shift) to the other side of the world. Their journey began as they want to return to Ruzenheid and confront the opposing mysterious party that is supposingly lead by Melano.

Trying not to spoiling much on this review, -milestone one- is mostly focused on the mysterious character named Rune/Sara and "her" dark pastime. The story started light-hearted but more and more mystery comes up later on and the duo is determined to solve this problem regarding Rune/Sara despite the limitation that is imposed to their body because they are running out of natural mana to supplement their body. Do note that the ending of this VN is quite sad (like CLANNAD-ish sad) and twisted (how twisted? Just play the game :^)

There is only one choice in the VN which serves as turning point of the story. The characters are likeable and the story gets darker and more interesting starting from Chapter 5 as more foreshadowing are created that will pique your interest to finish the story until the end. Lots of action in the beginning of the chapter but it might get a little bit information crunch towards the end and a big plot twist at the ending.

The UI for this game is very fluid and vivid. I was amazed that this was actually done on Ren'py (props to Sekai Project for porting it I guess) but it's kinda feel too bad that this amazing VN is not voiced. The art is well done ESPECIALLY the main menu artwork, I kinda wish that they have some 1920x1080 artwork but all of them are 1280x720, it's not a bad thing but it leaves me wants more of this epic art. The soundtrack that plays along with the scene are reaaaaallly well done, it helps build up the atmosphere for the situation pretty well especially that one time on Rune's madness scene!

8.8/10 a must buy Visual Novel, some of my interpretation of the story might be wrong because my Japanese is not perfect (since I play the beta build) but it's enough to make me immerse myself in the story (it actually have some hard kanji too so yeah :^))
It would be a 9.3/10 if it was voiced but it's already great in its current state. Definitely recommended if you like the classic Sci-Fi theme that mixes kingdom with magic and stuff.

Note: I was asked to put spoiler tag for the screenshot I upload because I finished the game on the beta while everyone still waiting for the english translation. Yes, that's how interesting and eager I was on reading this VN ~

Also, Melano & Mharo are qt3.14 ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

At first I was expecting this to be a "coming of age" tale about 2 girls on a journey back home- but oh man I'm so glad I was wrong. What I got out of this VN was a great tale about family and what it really means to BE part of said family, cultural differences between regions, and a bit of science and a dash of religion/fantasy. I'd definitely recommend this game to people who enjoy a story about family but also about how we as humans can be oh so different in where we grew up but at the same time be oh so similar to one another. I rate this a 9/10!

Here's a pros and cons list for those interested.

Pros:
+Great art
+Awesome soundtrack
+Transitions are neat
+LOVE the characters
+The tone and pacing of the story is great
+Great storytelling by the writer
+Great story
+Great theme about family and friends

Cons:
-No Voice Acting (this may be personal preference but Voice Acting adds a whole 'nother dynamic to the tone, storytelling and how it can add auditory stimuli to help immerse us as readers into the story even further.)
-Few grammatical issues (not too problematic but they are there at times)
-A little bit too technical on the terminology at times (there are a few instances where they go a little TOO much into the science/mana bits and how things work but I believe this is a subjective issue.)
-Only Part 1 ):

What essentially gave the premise of a run-of-the-mill fantasy VN with cute young girls eventually formed into a depressing story dealing with a foreign culture and corporate business, family matters inside and outside of those corporate businesses and redemption coupled with some of the best presentation a visual novel has ever had the privilege of possessing, a cast of very memorable and human characters, atmospheric yet subtle music and well-detailed lore.

Totally defied all of my expectations.