Muv-Luv

Muv-Luv is a story-driven casual game where players enjoy a wonderful school life as students. However, an unexpected event transports players to a future world, placing them in the midst of a war against the Origin Species BETA. Players will fight and train alongside many beautiful girls with diverse personalities, battling various enemies and forging deep emotional bonds. As the story progresses, players will experience various major events with their companions, making different choices to win the war. During this time, players will enjoy intimate interactions and conversations with the girls. Ultimately, will you return to your original world alone, or embrace a new life with the girls? The choice is yours.

Characters of Muv-Luv:

Most of the major characters from the Extra timeline are present in Unlimited, except for the Unlimited world's Shirogane Takeru, who is said to be dead, and Kagami Sumika, who does not seem to exist in the Unlimited timeline. The characters are very similar to their Extra counterparts, with the possible exception of Mikoto, who is now female.Unlimited also introduces a new important character not present in Extra, Yashiro Kasumi.

Main Characters

Shirogane Takeru: Takeru from the Extra timeline. Awoke in a Unlimited world and joined Unit 207. Despite being a complete beginner and not particularly good when it comes to military discipline and weapons, he demonstrates incredible capability at piloting TSFs.

Mitsurugi Meiya: Meiya is one of the cadets in unit 207. Like all the cadets in the academy she tries her best to graduate as fast as possible to join the fight, but there is also a deeper motivation that is pushing her forward, something that she doesn't want to talk about.

Tamase Miki: A cadet in unit 207, and later a pilot in squad A-01. Specializes in sniping.

Ayamine Kei: A cadet in unit 207, and later a pilot in squad A-01. Still strange, and still constantly at loggerheads with Chizuru.

Sakaki Chizuru: A cadet, squad leader in unit 207, later a pilot in squad A-01. Still at loggerheads with Kei.

Yoroi Mikoto: A cadet in unit 207, and later a pilot in squad A-01. Expert in survival and trap detection.

Kouzuki Yuuko: Vice-commander of the Yokohama base.

Yashiro Kasumi: A mysterious girl who can be found in a certain room on floor B-19 of the Yokohama base which has a brain in a cylinder.

Side Characters

Jinguuji Marimo: Unit 207's instructor. Yuuko's close friend.

Tsukuyomi Mana: First Lieutenant in the Imperial Royal Guard. Cares deeply for Meiya and tries her best to help her in any way she can.

Tomoe Yukino: Second Lieutenant in the Imperial Royal Guard. One of the three soldiers under First Lieutenant Mana together with Ebisu and Tatsumi. They are very protective of Meiya and suspicious of Takeru's involvement with her.

Ebisu Minagi: Second Lieutenant in the Imperial Royal Guard. One of the three soldiers under First Lieutenant Mana together with Yukino and Tatsumi. They are very protective of Meiya and suspicious of Takeru's involvement with her.

Kamiyo Tatsumi: Second Lieutenant in the Imperial Royal Guard. One of the three soldiers under First Lieutenant Mana together with Yukino and Ebisu. They are very protective of Meiya and suspicious of Takeru's involvement with her.

Tamase Genjousai: Under-secretary-general of the United Nations and Miki's father.

Paul Radhabinod: Commander of Yokohama base.

Irina Pyatkh: A Yokohama base communications officer, and Kouzuki's secretary. Rank is first lieutenant.

Features of Muv-Luv:

Multiple Perspectives: The game offers you different perspectives. You will quickly observe your battles from diverse viewpoints. The game brings you the freshest and most exciting gameplay.

Emotional connections: You’ll also meet new friends. Your relationships, from friendship to love. They will bring you incredibly vivid and realistic interactions. It keeps you engrossed all day long.

Genre blending: In this game, you’ll experience incredibly exciting gameplay. You don’t need to play too many games with different genres. You’ll enjoy everything from fierce battles to thrilling puzzles, all in one game.

Science fiction setting: You’ll embark on journeys through space. Trips between reality and fairy tales will bring you incredibly fresh and unique gameplay. You’ll be immersed all day long as if you’re truly living in this exciting world.

Complex characters: In this game, you can also upgrade your character. Not only can you upgrade their strength. But you can also add new combat skills. You’ll possess an extremely powerful and invincible warrior.

Engaging plot: Not only are there exciting battles, but you’ll also be immersed in meaningful stories. Each level will bring you stories with different meanings. Them making you feel like you’re watching a Disney cartoon.

Useful Tips of Muv-Luv:

Start on Very Easy difficulty rather than anything else. This will allow you to get the basics down, while still finding the game challenging. Don't let the Very Easy setting fool you, though, it's still very possible to lose.

SAVE OFTEN. At the beginning, middle, and the end of each of your phases at the very least, as well as before any risky moves are made.

PRESSING Z WILL ALLOW YOU TO UNDO ANY MOVES ASIDE FROM ATTACKING, OR ANY MOVES THAT RESULTED IN YOU BEING ATTACKED, SUCH AS JUMPING/FLYING WHEN LASER-CLASS ARE PRESENT.

As the number of units in a group declines, its effectiveness in battle is greatly decreased. If a high ranking/level group loses more than than a third of its initial units, you should probably reload the level.

Turning is absolutely essential to positioning and moving efficiently.

Be careful as smaller strains such as Laser-class and those Little Red Fuckers can merge into groups with large BETA strains. The larger strains must be killed before you can damage the group of the smaller strain. With the Laser-class such an action it is actually beneficial to the player, as they can't zap anything when merged.

On maps with Fuel and Ammo Containers, make sure you reload your units at least once, and if you can, make sure to leave one relatively harmless enemy left, and have all of your units reload and all of your TSFs refuel, before clearing the stage. Also, using a container will completely fill up the ammo in a gun. However, resupplying and refueling tend to take most if not all of your AP, potentially leaving you with a negative number. The BETA can and will destroy the supply containers, so be careful of that. Again, this only applies to Campaign Mode.

The game uses RNG, not flat %, so it's possible to save/load repeatedly for much more beneficial results with nearly any action.

Boost Hop usually(but not always) results in less damage from Laser-class then the usual Boost Jump, and costs only 4 AP. With some maneuvering, you can sap AP from numerous Laser-class, with very little damage to the unit performing this maneuver, resulting in you freeing the map from laser interception fire. This video http://nicoviewer.net/sm13938184 shows perfect execution of said tactic.

Given the choice, BETA will always attack TSF units over MBT/SPAAG units. For example, if there is a Grappler-class next to your Type-94 Shiranui and MBT, the Grappler-class will always attack the Shiranui and will completely ignore the MBT.

Also, BETA will always try to move to and attack the nearest player unit unless their objective is something else(4th FA1 mission, for example). Sending one unit as bait is a valid choice.

Try not to rely on the TSF's 120mm cannon on anything above Hard Mode. As the number of BETA increases, its effectiveness is reduced due to very limited ammo. Use swords when you fight in close quarters, and save 120mm for the Heavy Laser-class.

Don't disregard Main Battle Tanks and SPAAGs, as they are very effective if their rank is high enough(A+). One S-ranked SPAAG unit can easily mow down at least 150 Grappler-class, and one S-ranked MBT can kill up to 50 Destroyer-class(targeting their front armor) per one player phase.

While Very Hard and onward can scare you with the sheer amount of BETA there is, don't be afraid. While the first few missions would be challenging at best, you can rank up your units much faster then on Very Easy, and from A-rank and onwards, the effectiveness of any unit grows exponentially.

TSF units of sufficient rank(generally A+) can hold the line surprisingly well. You can hold it for as much as you want with little to no losses even, unless your mission objective is to win in under a fixed number of turns. While TSF units hold the tide at bay, the Laser-class will move closer to your units and merge with the BETA horde your units have stalemated, making it extremely easy to dispatch them with well timed Boost Jump&Turn 180 maneuver or flanking SPAAGs and MBTs.

Little Red Fuckers will be you main problem when executing the above strategy, as you can't dodge with Tank-class on your unit, making it extremely easy for said unit to be wrecked by the Destroyer- and Grappler-class. (Heavy) Laser-class BETA will not fire upon the unit with the Red Fuckers on them though, so sometimes they can "save" your unit in a pinch. When destroying Tank-class BETA that have already latched onto one of your units, the aforementioned method of combining perfect aim with volleys of fifty 36mm rounds is, by far, the safest way of dispatching these pests, but use SaveReload if you find yourself in a tight spot; sometimes, high-ranked units can get away with using 200 rounds in a single attack without damaging your allies by benefiting from the inherent rank bonuses and, therefore, killing more enemies, which can make a huge difference when engaging in CQC.

Don't forget about terrain bonuses. Terrain that applies penalties to movement also applies penalties to turn, making the turning cost for Gekishin a whooping 6 AP. This works both ways; BETA suffer from the same penalties too, as the Destroyer-class in the same terrain will have a turning cost of 10 AP. Using terrain to your advantage will make the game much more easier.

Player Comments of Muv-Luv:

My first visual novel I've ever played and I loved everything about it! the first half is your Y2K slice of life romcom which is funny and cute (glasses girl chizuru and blue haired meiya are my waifus), the main routes are meiya and sumika but the subroutes are great too . If you grew up in the early 2000s watching anime you would know how nostalgic this VN makes you feel.The second half is a coming of age military academy isekai story of Takeru learning to cope with a messed up world with Aliens destroying the earth. And growing from being a complete degenerate to a dignified soldier who loves and cares about his girl squad just without a certain someone on the roster of girls...

Pretty solid dating sim but those aren't really my thing. Second half's tonal shift is great and I have to recommend it for that alone. Not worth going through the other character routes for Unlimited however. Only did it for the CG's and am sour that the achievement didn't trigger due to how the game flags the achievements.

Arguably one of the most, if not the most, famous Visual Novel franchises of all time, Muv-Luv is one heck of a ride. Many of you probably know that Muv-Luv Alternative is the highest rated VN on vndb. However if you want to find where Muv-Luv itself is on that scale you'll have to scroll down quite a bit do find it. This is because the first entry in the series is a very divisive title. Some claim it is a crucial read in order to get the full enjoyment in Alternative, while others down right hate it and will tell you to skip it entirely. Me personally I'm not going to sit here and tell you that Muv-Luv is an unbridled masterpiece that you should definitely read, but at the same time I think that overlooking it entirely would be a mistake.

I would first want to talk about the best aspect of this visual novel, namely the VISUALS. The visuals here are some of the best I have ever seen in the medium. The art style is typical early 00's anime which is certainly an acquired taste, however where it truly shines is in how dynamic the graphics are. The characters move their mouths when the talk, their eyes blink even when it's not their turn to speak, and best of all the move around on screen. The entire thing manages to pull you in and make you forget that you're looking at static images while reading text.Speaking of which, the text isn't presented inside a box, but rather it works as subtitles giving an even better sense of connection to the novel while reading it. The music also sports some very memorable tunes, and I even made the main menu theme my phone ring tone! Sadly, one track called La Vida Muv-Luv by the community, was removed from this release to the similarities it has with Ricky Martin's song. The VA is also stellar. I have read plenty of VN's from this era and none come even close to the level of professionalism that Muv-Luv has to offer. Nowadays you come to expect top tier VA work even from low level releases, but back then it wasn't so common.The last major pro that I want to point out is the main character. We all know how this goes in these types of visual novels, the MC usually sucks balls. Usually he is either a complete boring beta male loser with no redeeming qualities whatsoever, or a total douchebag in the case of some more hardcore nukiges. Takeru Shirogane actually feels like a real character. Sure, in some ways he also displays certain tropey traits, but for the most part he acts the way you would expect a laid back high-school student to react. He's carefree and sometimes even to the point of laziness, but there are also times where he picks up the slack when push comes to shove. He also suffers a major character development further down the story and will undergo a hero's journey, but more on that later. But the most important thing for me is that he's not a fucking doormat when it comes to the ladies. He will get trolled and will troll back with equal measure, and his interactions with the girls are genuine and later on when the romance starts kicking in it all feels earned.

Final words:

Muv-Luv brings the beloved mega-hit series to Google Play, featuring a captivating blend of romance and hard sci-fi. With over 40 hours of gameplay, it unfolds through two interconnected narratives. In Muv-Luv Extra, high school senior Takeru navigates unexpected feelings for two girls: the destined heiress Meiya and his childhood friend Sumika. Muv-Luv Unlimited shifts the tone as Takeru finds himself in a dystopian alternate reality, facing an alien invasion and a world where everything familiar is now perilous. Players must explore themes of love, choice, and survival in this unique adventure.