| The House in Fata Morgana | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Novectacle |
| Publisher(s) | Novectacle, MangaGamer, FuRyu |
| Year released | 2012 |
| System(s) | Windows, Nintendo 3DS, iOS |
| Genre(s) | Visual novel |
|---|---|
| Modes | Single player |
| Rating(s) |   |
| The House in Fata Morgana: Dreams of the Revenants Edition | |
|---|---|
| Japanese title | ファタモルガーナの館 -DREAMS OF THE REVENANTS EDITION- |
| Developer(s) | Novectacle |
| Publisher(s) | Dramatic Create, Mighty Rabbit Studios, Limited Run Games |
| Year released | 2019 |
| System(s) | PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch |
| Rating(s) | |
The House in Fata Morgana (ファタモルガーナの館 Fata Morugāna no Yakata?) is a visual novel video game developed by Novectacle. It was released for Microsoft Windows and iOS by Novectacle in 2012 and 2014 in Japan, and for Microsoft Windows by MangaGamer in 2016 internationally. Additionally, a Nintendo 3DS version was released by FuRyu in 2016, and a PlayStation Vita version was released by Dramatic Create in 2017, both exclusive to Japan. Another PlayStation Vita version, as well as a PlayStation 4 version, titled The House in Fata Morgana: Dreams of the Revenants Edition (ファタモルガーナの館 -DREAMS OF THE REVENANTS EDITION-?), were released in North America by Limited Run Games in 2019. This version of the game was also released for the Nintendo Switch in 2021, and contains bonus content, most notable of which is The House in Fata Morgana: A Requiem for Innocence (ファタモルガーナの館 －Another Episode－?), a "companion" to the main game released separately on Windows.
The game was written by Keika Hanada, with art by Moyataro. The developers did not specifically target men or women with the game, and instead just intended to make a game for players who enjoy stories. Hanada spent more than a year planning the story, which was influenced by Tanith Lee's books, and the films Millennium Actress (2001) and The Best of Youth (2003). To keep the text from distracting the player, it was mostly written in modern Japanese, with only little use of archaic speech. To make the game feel unique, Moyataro made use of heavy coloring and shading, to portray a "more realistic kind of beauty" compared to the "cutesy" anime-like artstyle common in Japanese visual novels. Another important aspect in making the game feel unique was its music: more than half of the songs are vocal tracks, intended to make the game feel like visiting a theatre with someone singing in the background. Five composers worked on the music, and wrote 65 different tracks.
Story[edit]
The House in Fata Morgana is a visual novel set in a mansion, where a spirit appears with amnesia. It meets a Maid in the mansion, and the two view the mansion's past in different time periods – 1603, 1707, 1869 and 1099 – to learn what has happened to its residents and to try to get the spirit to regain its lost memories.