French developer Don't Nod isn't afraid to mix up its genres. The studio may have received critical acclaim for adventure games like the Life is Strange series and Tell Me Why, but it has also dabbled in action games like Remember Me and bigger action adventure titles like Vampyr. Harmony: The Fall of Reverie finds the studio once again going away from its signature narrative adventure style but this is still in its wheelhouse.

You play the role of Polly, a woman who left her home of Atina after disagreements started to escalate with her mother. She heads home when she hears of her mother's sudden disappearance, but the large corporation, Mono Konzern, has taken over bits of everyday life. She finds a mysterious amulet that transports her to the world of Reverie, home to beings called Aspirations that embody ideals like Chaos, Power, and Truth. The Aspirations refer to Polly as Holly and task her with helping to prevent a great cataclysm that will not only affect the world of Reverie but the real world as well.

The strong idea is bolstered by the parallels between both worlds. Aesthetics aside, both places feel very well lived in and have the appeal of being locales you'd want to visit and explore. The characters also drive the tale along. Some may complain that they don't grow much during the game, but both the Aspirations and regular humans feel like solid enough characters for the tale, especially since so few of them devolve into stereotypes.

There are parts of the narrative experience that could have been done better. The opening chapter whips back and forth between Reverie and the real world so often that it's possible to get lost for a moment. There are also moments when characters change moods quickly and without warning. A good example of this is when you visit Bliss at her home; she feels at ease and then appears confused in the next scene. The writing also doesn't feel strong in the final chapter, as there are times when it feels like control is briefly taken away. It doesn't tank the story, but it doesn't make it as strong as Don't Nod's previous works.

The core gameplay loop is simple if you're familiar with the visual novel genre. Your time is mostly spent listening to dialogue that is spoken in-game and in cut scenes. You'll also read any other pieces of text that don't have accompanying audio. For the most part, your interaction is limited to moving the scene along by hitting a button. One difference is that you can go backward in a scene, which is helpful if you missed out on something that had been said earlier.

Usually, you would be given a choice of lines when it is your turn to say something, but the game goes for a different approach. You have a tool called the Augural, whose basic function is to let you choose what kind of response you'll give. You can't see the exact words you'll say, but you'll know what emotion or purpose is behind the lines, whether it's straight to the point or sympathizing with someone. The Augural also acts as a map for where you can steer a conversation or scene, since you can see where a response's pathways will lead and which paths get closed off because you chose one response over another. There's an air of mystery since you can't see every branch right away, but you can see just enough to plan things out.

In a way, it feels cold to boil down a conversation to bullet points, but it gives players something concrete, as opposed to most visual novels that present text that might feel like it'll yield one type of outcome but produces something completely different. That coldness plays into the game toying with you, since you're weighing the long-term outcome against the short-term response. For example, your choice might succeed in getting some information out of a character, but that person's response might not sit right with you. Suddenly, you begin to question whether you want to do the right thing, and responses can break down relationships or keep those bonds tight at the expense of something else to avoid conflict. It becomes a fascinating thought experiment and keeps you invested in the game despite the lack of traditional gameplay.

There are a few things in Harmony that feel a touch clunky. The first is the fact that you're constantly switching between the conversation screen to a full-screen view of the Augural to make any choices. Combining this into one screen or placing the Augural as an overlay might have made the transitions less jarring. There's also the inability to do much course correction. You can't pass through a major area without acquiring enough of one Aspiration-related crystal type, so you'll be more focused on trying to stick to one path to open that gate instead of trying out various options. It ensures that your character is steadfast rather than waffling between moods, and it incentives players to go through another playthrough, especially since you can see some of the possible paths, but that restriction of choice may feel stifling for genre aficionados.

The genre relies on a good presentation to complement the story, and Harmony does that masterfully. The backgrounds are fully rendered in 3D but sport a ton of detail that matches what you might see in a standard 2D setting. The characters are large and much more expressive than expected from the genre, since they do full-body movements. The lack of some animation frames can be jarring, but few will mind this, as the game features plenty of fully animated cut scenes. As for sound, the soundtrack works very well in conveying the right mood for each scene, while the voice acting is top-notch all around. You'll waver between thinking that this is either a British or Australian cast based on everyone's accents, but everyone sounds absolutely pleasant.

The visual novel genre fits just fine on the Steam Deck, and this game is no exception. Harmony can easily hit 60fps, but this is a genre where you can safely lower the frame rate cap, since you don't need a high frame rate for text and a few animation frames. Going between the main screen and the Augural shows some wild power fluctuations through MangoHUD, so the game's battery life can last an average of three hours when averaging things out and taking into consideration how often you go between the two screen states. Everything looks great on the small screen, but you're going to have to enter some system and settings tweaks to squeeze more battery life from a full charge.

Harmony: The Fall of Reverie feels like a game that works best for players who are curious about the visual novel genre but want more recognizable game mechanics and a few restrictions to help them along. The Augural makes choices simple enough if you're trying to go for a specific outcome, but the story and character reactions make you second-guess your approaches. The game looks and sounds wonderful compared to many of its contemporaries, and while it might not make you a convert to the genre, it is an interesting adventure that you'll want to go through, provided you can get over the constant world-flipping and a few story quibbles.

Score: 7.5/10