It’s time. It’s finally time… for a trip to Wellington, New Zealand. Except, not the one in our world, and yet this one just might be better. I mean, look at the screenshot atop this article; specifically Miho (left). Yeah, she’s the protagonist in this one. A young fox(girl) with quite the emotional story of love and friendship ahead of her in Studio Élan’s latest visual novel, Please Be Happy.
But what is Miho doing in New Zealand? What’s her story? Who else is in the game? Well, how about a vampire? No, really. Oh, and there’s also a bookworm-slash-aspiring-author, to really round out this colorful cast. As for Miho, well, she’s trying to find someone from her past – someone who showed her kindness, who spoke of home. This was back when she was more fox than human, a feat that has now been flipped, now more human than fox. Her travels haven’t exactly shown her the best sides of mankind, and yet, she refuses to give up, so there’s hope yet. Who knows, with a little luck, Juliet (the vampire) and/or Aspen (bookworm-slash-aspiring-author) might be able to help her realize that we aren’t all bad apples. Maybe.
A story of love and friendship, and about understanding not just how to be happy, but how to be human.
Now, some of you may recall my writings on the demo, a little over a year ago. While it was obviously a pre-release build, not only did it provide quite a decent chunk compared to a lot of other visual novel demos, but it also succeeded in making me excited for more – for the full version. Which finally became available less than twenty-four hours ago, and I can’t wait to experience its 220,000+ words, every route/ending, and of course, the awesome English voice acting and Sarah Mancuso’s groovy soundtrack. Such a delightful experience (again, based entirely on the demo).
Last, but by no means least, the official artbook is available on Steam and itch.io, while Sarah Mancuso’s soundtrack can be acquired from Bandcamp and itch.io.
Please Be Happy is available on Steam and itch.io, where its demo also resides. Console versions? A ‘maybe’ for 2023.
