The moon crashed into the Earth, ending everything. However, 21 nanoseconds remain until everyone dies. It’s up to Mary, the world’s last confidant, to rescue burdened souls that refuse to pass on. As one may suspect, Schrödinger’s Call does not promise to deliver a bright and cheery tale with this bleak premise.
Instead, this recent visual novel tosses the reader an emotional flashbang from the beginning and rarely ever lets up the sadness. Those unaware of what they’re getting into may find themselves overwhelmed. However, those who stick through are rewarded with one of the most unforgettable experiences of the year.
Apocalypse Counseling Sessions
Schrödinger’s Call features a largely episodic structure with an overarching narrative. Each episode focuses on the struggles of a character who has not completed a phone call at the time of the apocalypse. This usually ties into some deeper, unresolved trauma that Mary must address to “save” them.
These characters will struggle to remember their lives before their final moments. Their memories are still there, but are buried well beneath the surface, often leaving a mystery to solve. As such, Mary takes on the role of both an apocalypse therapist and detective.
To accomplish this, Mary asks questions, takes notes, and calls third parties for further information. Every episode is laid out as a puzzle, with the pieces slowly coming together as these short stories progress. It’s ultimately linear, but this structure can make the reader feel as though they are an active participant in the story’s events.
This is an effective, albeit sometimes repetitive method of sticking the reader in Mary’s shoes. It’s a story that ensures the player understands the established facts of a mystery before revealing any more. It’s nice that Schrödinger’s Call never wants the reader to be lost, but a lighter emphasis on this repetition would make for smoother pacing.
A Novel That Looks and Sounds Spectacular
Schrödinger’s Call more than impresses with its audio and visual components. Not since Witch on the Holy Night has a visual novel wowed me so much with its presentation. While the visuals can’t be displayed at a resolution any higher than 1080p, this limitation soon faded as a point of concern.
Schrödinger’s Call is stunning with its crisp contrast on an OLED display, and the soft, sketchy art style helps mask the lower resolution. It often borders on cinematic with its composition and animated elements. Subtle audio and visual cues communicate the tone effectively to the reader.
Despite the themes of connection and empathy, the visual novel illustrates a profound sense of isolation. Outside of her small space, Mary appears to be surrounded by complete darkness. Outside of the phone on the table, a talking cat named Hamlet is her only form of company. Even then, Hamlet will leave at random times, leaving Mary to wonder where he went.
The soundtrack isn’t the type to be content sitting in the background. It demands the reader’s attention with its lonely melodies. Voices can be heard, although the connection sounds weak. All of this captures the fact that these events occur outside any normal understanding of space and time.
Schrödinger’s Call is Thematically Rich
Each short story represents some form of grief, regret, or trauma Mary can relate to. The problem is, she doesn’t remember her life before taking on the role of the world’s last confidant. As such, Mary acts as a lens through which to view these stories for a large chunk of Schrödinger’s Call.
However, Mary’s character becomes far more than just a vehicle to drive the stories forward. Without spoiling, her story is a perfect encapsulation of all the themes of loneliness, guilt, and regret the visual novel explores. Each character’s story is easy to understand and has a timeless quality.
Most of these characters can’t be helped in the traditional sense. It’s made abundantly clear from the get-go that this story will not have a happy ending. Everyone will die once those 21 nanoseconds pass. There is no way to prevent this outcome from occurring.
Instead, Schrödinger’s Call is all about moving on and accepting that the worst has happened. It acknowledges that sometimes, life truly sucks and there’s not much to do about it other than find comfort in others. While many visual novels aren’t strangers to telling emotional tales, Schrödinger’s Call is a bit more intense in this regard than most. It’s undeniably tragic, yet it makes for one of the most cathartic stories in recent memory.
Schrödinger’s Call May Be a New Classic
It’s difficult to talk about what makes Schrödinger’s Call so great without spoiling the narrative. For those whose curiosity has been piqued, the visual novel goes for a rather affordable price. It’s best to experience the story of Mary largely blind.
By visual novel standards, Schrödinger’s Call won’t occupy much time out of a busy schedule. However, it makes the most of its runtime with standout characters and presentation. It can be so impactful that it might be a bit overwhelming if not approached while in the right state of mind.
Schrödinger’s Call is an amazing visual novel with the small flaw of being a little repetitive at points. The payoff more than makes up for that issue, however. If the conclusion doesn’t make you a bit weepy-eyed, there may be a chance you aren’t a human being. With this and OPUS: Prism Peak, Shueisha Games has been publishing some of the most emotional experiences this year.
Schrödinger’s Call is currently available on Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam. If you’d like to try out the game before committing to a purchase, you can download a free demo of the first episode.
Disclaimer: Acrobatic Chirimenjako provided Final Weapon with a Steam copy of Schrödinger’s Call for review purposes.
