Muv-Luv Alternative Total Eclipse’s anime series that debuted in 2012 has been, for many western fans, the first contact with the Muv-Luv series, but at long last, the visual novel has been released in English.
It’s worth mentioning that this isn’t the usual scenario with the visual novel originating the anime series, which usually is summarized and oversimplified. Things are quite a bit more complex and you can read all about it in our recent interview with the creators.
That being said, the visual novel does offer a much deeper and wider take on the story compared to the anime, which pretty much ends halfway through the story. With this game, you finally get the whole picture.
I should actually say “almost” the whole thing because this Steam release in English doesn’t include the bonus prologue “Burning of the Imperial Capital” which was added to the Japanese PC version following the launch on consoles.
As such, a piece of common advice you will hear from many Muv-Luv veterans is to watch the first two episodes of the anime before playing this visual novel, and it’s very good advice.
Of course, the more relevant question is: “Should you play the original trilogy before playing Total Eclipse?”
While you could say that TE is designed at least in principle to be enjoyed independently, I’d argue that starting with the original three games (Available on Steam as Muv-Luv, which includes the first two chapters, and Muv-Luv Alternative) is still the advisable route. It provides a narrower and more focused and personal approach to this awesome sci-fi world, and starting narrow to widen your lens afterward makes much better sense to me.
The story is set in a similar timeframe as Muv-Luv Alternative in an alternate version of Earth in which humanity has been pushed to the brink of annihilation by the invasion of ruthless aliens named BETA. The vast majority of Europe and Asia have been lost to the invaders, alongside most of their population.
Yet, mankind is still holding on thanks to the creation of “Tactical Surface Fighters” (or “TSF” for short) mecha born from the requirement to fight the BETA on the surface, as the aliens’ extreme anti-air capabilities have made aviation entirely obsolete as an offensive tool.
In this context, the United Nations organize Project Prominence in Yukon Base, Alaska, aiming to test and further develop a variety of TSF and technology built by different nations and determine the best fits for the war against the BETA.
The hero, Yuuya Bridges, is a veteran Japanese-American test pilot assigned to the XFJ Program, a joint initiative by the two countries to develop the XFJ-01 Shiranui Second TSF.
This is pretty much the perfect setting to widen the player’s lens on the Muv-Luv Alternative world, considering that the original trilogy was set exclusively in Japan, starring a mostly Japanese cast.
This new story showcases the fact that the beta invasion is a global tragedy and the international cast brings to the table the point of view of many nations displaying starkly different situations and interests.
For instance, the hero has grown up in the United States, which has remained relatively peaceful. While he has often faced prejudice due to his ethnicity, this fades in comparison to the situation of many of his comrades, who come from nations that don’t exist anymore, their population almost completely exterminated. Other characters, like those coming from the Soviet Union (yes, this is an alternate universe, after all), have seen their country pushed back all the way to the Pacific Ocean and forced to lease part of Alaska to house its remaining population.
This is one of the strongest points of Muv-Luv Alternative Total Eclipse, and one of the reasons why it’s better played after the trilogy. The progression from the narrow lens on Japan to the wider lens shedding light on the situation of the whole world feels very natural and helps the player appreciate the depth and breadth of the Muv-Luv setting, which I personally consider one of the best sci-fi settings of all time.
This is not to say that the story taken on its own isn’t awesome, because it definitely is. It comes with plenty of drama, intrigue, politics, comedy, romance, and much more. Like all the best Muv-Luv visual novels, Total Eclipse is very rich with a wide variety of extremely serious themes alternating with brighter moments, and has the power to involve the player emotionally at a very deep level.
While it didn’t leave me an emotional wreck as Muv-Luv Alternative did, it certainly made me tear up on more than one occasion.
The diverse cast of characters is really awesome, and you’ll likely find yourself developing a strong emotional connection with quite a few of them, perhaps even unexpected ones.