A YEAR OF SPRINGS from Ratalaika Games and npckc is a visual novel about three women, three stories, and three springs. Learn more in our A YEAR OF SPRINGS review!

 

A YEAR OF SPRINGS from Ratalaika Games and npckc is a visual novel about three women, three stories, and three springs. You’ll be experiencing the stories of Haru, Erika, and Manami, three friends who must navigate their feelings as they discover love, a deeper sense of friendship, and find a way to just belong. The game is split into three stories: ONE NIGHT, HOT SPRINGS, LAST DAY OF SPRING, and SPRING LEAVES NO FLOWERS. You need to play the three stories in order to be able to unlock the next one on the list since they’re all tied together and feature

 

Since this is a collection of visual novels, you’ll have to do a lot of reading as you try to reach the multiple endings that each of the stories has to offer. They all share the same visual art style, a very colorful and charming look that does a great job of complementing the stories. The stories you’ll experience deal with issues that people of different genders and sexualities may face, which means that what you’ll see in A YEAR OF SPRINGS could end up feeling a bit too sensitive and personal for some.

 

Once you complete all three stories, you will get an extra story called The Coming Spring, which shouldn’t take long to complete since there are no dialogue choices for you to select. And as you find all of the different branching paths and unlock all possible endings, you will unlock images that will be added to the Gallery section. There are 30 images in total to unlock, so if you want to 100% the game, you’re going to have to pay attention to the choices you make along the way for each story.

 

A YEAR OF SPRINGS has a Platinum trophy, with a trophy list that is split into 8 Bronze trophies, 4 Silver trophies, and 9 Gold trophies. All trophies are related to reaching all of the endings that this collection has to offer and then playing the Epilogue that unlocks once all three stories have been completed several times to see how each story path plays out. If you want to speed things up, you’re definitely going to need a guide, as well as make good use of your saves so that you can skip having to replay through some sections of each story. The game is also cross-buy, so you’ll get the PS4 and PS5 versions of the game with your purchase, and each one will have a separate trophy list.

A YEAR OF SPRINGS features a trio of interwoven stories that feature three characters that will end up finding a lot about themselves during this journey, as they form new bonds and learn more about what each of them has to go through in their day to day. Haru faces constantly having to answer questions about her transition, her deadname, explaining what it’s like to have to go through all of it in Japan. Eliza will start to develop feelings for one of the other protagonists. And then we have Manami, who is helped by her friends to understand something she was not aware of. A YEAR OF SPRINGS is out on PS4 and PS5 with a budget price of only $4.99.

Disclaimer
This A YEAR OF SPRINGS review is based on a PlayStation 5 copy provided by Ratalaika Games.