Summer reads are the novels that are easy to get lost in while one is enjoying a vacation, meant to be consumed quickly. They’re often pleasant stories that one thinks about fondly without true lasting impact. As far as video games are concerned, Corona Borealis is the perfect visual novel equivalent to a summer read.
Corona Borealis stars June, a teenager sent to live with her estranged father in the country for the summer. June isn’t exactly looking forward to the experience considering her dad paid little attention to her previously, and June’s trepidation grows when she’s informed she’ll be working at his café and restaurant during her stay. The plot then dives directly into pretty predictable questions. Will June survive the summer unscathed? Will she repair her relationship with her dad and make new friends (or something more)?
Players are given control of June’s schedule for twelve in-game weeks, and their decisions as to what June does over the course of each week impact which characters she interacts with and what events get unlocked. Picking to work in the kitchen with her dad Basil, for instance, provides opportunities for the two to get reacquainted. If players opt to have June study to be a better barista, she forms a bond with the cantankerous Logan. Working the cash register with Lacey has the player delving into the girl’s personal life and discovering that she has a twin brother named Noah.
This VN with dating sim elements provides brief play experiences with multiple routes that take roughly two hours to complete. There are only four character routes to play through in Corona Borealis: one where June and Basil develop a stronger father-daughter bond, and three where June can become friends or significant others with Lacey, Logan, and Noah. All of the routes offer something different storyline-wise, and are quite enjoyable.
Time management in Corona Borealis plays a crucial role in determining which endings and events players unlock. Not only do gamers have to choose where in the restaurant June will be working and with whom, which helps increase the relationship value with that specific character, but there are “after work activities” that increase a personality trait associated with a specific character’s route too. Streaming TV, for instance, increases June’s Geekiness trait, which deepens the relationship with her sci-fi loving dad since they can watch the latest Star Journey together. Doing Summer Reading increases Responsibility, which causes Logan to warm up to June. Lacey is a friendly gal, and appreciates people who make time for friends, so texting at night wins points with her. Bonding with Lacey also opens up the chance to tutor Noah, who responds positively to kind acts. If players are especially going for the best ending for each character, balancing activities so that they increase not only the relationship parameters with them but also their preferred trait is key.
Of course, because June is working over the summer, certain activities raise her stress levels. If the stress meter reaches one hundred percent, players have to sacrifice a day to rest, which also damages all of June’s relationship and social traits. Gamers have to strategize a bit to ensure that a given week is balanced enough to raise the meters they want without potentially damaging them. This gameplay element is simple and rather straightforward to get the hang of, though some weeks and routes such as Noah’s, which opens up later in the game than the others, are trickier to balance. While it adds a bit of interactivity, I found myself growing bored when days in game would just fly by without anything unlocking in the story. Fortunately, story events are paced to ensure this doesn’t happen too often.
With Basil, Lacey, and Logan’s routes, players are given the opportunity to talk to them during lunch breaks about a variety of topics including the mundane, the personal, and the weird. This helps breathe more life into the characters, and were nice reprieves from simply not having activity on a given day. The relationship meter also plays a vital role in seeing “Call” scenes with a specific character. Each character gets one “hang out” scene with June over the weekend, but even attempting to initiate one of these events is only recommended if you’ve had June become closer with the character in question first.
The artwork for Corona Borealis is bright and colorful, and I really enjoyed how detailed both the characters and backgrounds are. Even the talk icons for the conversation topics for lunchroom chats stood out. Voice acting adds to the game’s atmosphere (particularly the endings) which have certain parts where the dialogue script is fully performed.
Corona Borealis does have a few typos and grammatical errors, though I found myself able to auto-correct easily enough that my gaming experience wasn’t particularly hindered by them. This is a VN that provides no story map, so I did find myself making multiple saves in order to get to decision points faster when replaying. Given Corona Borealis’ shorter length, not having a story map is more of a nuisance than a huge detriment.
I did happen to notice a rather big glitch when playing the game on my Kindle, though. When playing through Basil’s story route, a lot of his event scene artwork was only green and purple outlines instead of full-colored pictures. The Achievement Pictures for said events show them in color, and I didn’t experience similar glitches in any of the other character routes, so it appears as if the issue was relegated to just Basil’s scenes. However, I have no way of knowing if it is the same for non-Kindle versions of the game. It isn’t that the glitch impacted gameplay, but it’s still a shame since each character’s event artwork is so pretty.
All in all, I quite enjoyed my time with Corona Borealis. June was an opinionated main character who grew on me the more I played as her, and I really loved the father-daughter storyline between her and Basil. Logan, Lacey, and Noah were also really well-defined characters who I enjoyed seeing bond with June either as friends or love interests. My only real complaint with the title is its short length, as I simply wanted to spend more time playing it. However, the eight or so hours I did spend within this VN were pleasant. If you’re looking for a quick, lighthearted diversion over the summer that doesn’t cost too much, Corona Borealis is a pretty good option.
