I came across video of the game Planetarian ~Chiisana Hoshi No Yume~ in a forum I went to, and it certainly had me curious. The design for the female character was superb, and it was made by Key, known for their popular galges (Kanon, Air, Clannad, etc). As soon as I started the game, it utterly shocked me. I sat through it in one night, and it still haunts me up to this very moment.
The story of Planetarian is set in an unidentified city, focused mainly on a planetarium situated on top of a local mall. There is no one else around except for a girl inviting guests to come see the stars...
When the main character starts to interact with her, many disturbing things soon become apparent: The city has been ravaged by war and environmental destruction, it's inhabitants totally wiped out. The Earth has since been plagued by a never-ending acid rain from the nuclear fallout, and the autonomous military robots continue to hunt down anything that moves long after the war has ended. The main character happens to be a "junker", one of the few human survivors that scavenges ruins for usable items.
Moreover, the girl (whose name is Yumemi Hoshino) is actually a robot programmed as an usher and narrator for the planetarium show, and didn't seem to know that there has been no one in the city for 30 years now because her database has not been updated. Despite showing an advanced degree of emotion, her capabilities are limited to the services she was programmed to do, but added with a determination to protect people. She also talks a lot, much to the main character's chagrin. Their relationship develops when the main character decides to try and repair the planetarium projector (named "Jena-san"), much to Yumemi's delight.
Planetarian cannot actually be called a game. It's more like a straightforward visual novel (or as Key calls it "Kinetic Novel"). Most galges have branching paths with choices affecting the outcome, but Planetarian has none of those. You just read through the story, and enjoy the light-hearted bantering of Yumemi and the main character amid the grim setting.
The end of the story is tragic to say the least. Despite being slow and irritating at times, Yumemi has grown on me, because even with the limits of her programming, she was painfully aware of a lot of things than anyone gave her credit for. But in the end, she was destroyed. How did it happen? Try to find out for yourself it you can read it. Or if you can't, read this.
Personally, I loved it. I'd go through the whole thing again just so I can get desensitized to the setting. But I won't forget that very last moment when Yumemi recalls her pre-war memories and repeats her programed invitation to the planetarium before shutting down for the very last time...
Beautiful twinkling heavenly bodies that will never, ever fade.
All the stars in the sky are waiting for you...
“Would you like to visit the Planetarium?”
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