A YEAR OF SPRINGS

Developer: npckc | Publisher: npckc | Release Date: 28 September 2021 | Genre: Visual Novel | Website: Official Website | Purchase: Steam

A YEAR OF SPRINGS is a short collection of three connected visual novels about friendship, love, identity, and simply trying to feel comfortable in your own skin.

Rather than following one protagonist throughout, each chapter shifts perspective between the three major characters: Haru, Erika, and Manami. There are a handful of minor characters around them, but this is very much a story about these three women and the way their relationships gradually change over the course of the trilogy.

The first chapter, one night, hot springs, follows Haru, a young trans woman invited to a hot-spring trip by her friend Manami. What should be a relaxing birthday outing instead becomes a source of anxiety as Haru worries about how other guests and staff may treat her. The second, last day of spring, shifts to Erika, a former delinquent trying to arrange a spa day for Haru while gradually discovering how many everyday obstacles Haru has to deal with. Finally, spring leaves no flowers puts Manami in the lead as she begins questioning what friendship and romance actually mean to her. It is a clever structure because each chapter gives us a different view of the same small group.

Haru is quiet and anxious, Erika is much more outspoken and impulsive, while Manami initially comes across as cheerful and somewhat sheltered. Seeing events through all three perspectives adds considerably more depth than their small cast might suggest. This is not a visual novel built around dramatic murders, supernatural mysteries, or huge plot twists. Most of what happens is extremely ordinary, such as going on a trip, talking to friends, and trying to understand feelings.

That simplicity is precisely why the story works. The problems these characters face are grounded in everyday situations rather than exaggerated drama, and the writing generally avoids turning anyone into a walking lesson or stereotype. Even when discussing heavier topics surrounding gender, sexuality, and belonging, the characters still joke, misunderstand one another, and occasionally say the wrong thing. The result is a charming story that feels surprisingly warm despite dealing with subjects that can become uncomfortable.

Gameplay is traditional visual novel territory. We read dialogue and narration, occasionally make choices, and those decisions lead toward different endings. Each of the three main stories contains multiple endings, while completing the collection also unlocks an additional epilogue created specifically for this combined release.

There are quite a few endings considering how short the game is. one night, hot springs has seven, last day of spring has five and spring leaves no flowers has eight. Some routes are only minor variations while others reveal more meaningful character development, so seeing everything gives a much fuller picture than simply reaching one ending and moving on. Fortunately, replaying scenes is painless. The game includes the usual visual-novel conveniences for moving through previously read material, and the trilogy version was rebuilt with improved menus, separate save slots for each story, and shared preferences. The developer also remastered some of the art and music when combining the original standalone releases into one package. That makes pursuing every ending much less tedious than it could have been.

The choices themselves are not especially complicated, and there is rarely any need to agonise over them. They tend to revolve around what the protagonist says, whether they are honest, and how they respond to another character. There is also a hint system in one night, hot springs that can help steer players toward particular outcomes, although it can be disabled. The short length is both a strength and a weakness. Each chapter can be completed quickly, and even seeing all of the endings does not turn this into a particularly long visual novel. That makes it easy to finish in a few sittings, but it also means there are moments where we wished the characters had been given more time. The problem is that just as one perspective starts becoming especially interesting, the chapter is often already approaching its conclusion. On the other hand, there is almost no filler. The game says what it wants to say and moves on.

Visually, A YEAR OF SPRINGS has a very distinctive art style. The character portraits use soft colours, simple shapes and sketch-like lines that look almost as though they have been drawn with coloured pencils. It is not technically elaborate, but it has an enormous amount of charm. The slightly imperfect hand-drawn appearance suits the story far better than highly polished anime artwork would have. Characters are expressive despite the limited animation, and small changes in posture and facial expression do a good job of conveying mood. The presentation is also very clean. Backgrounds are simple and often lightly detailed, keeping the focus on the characters and dialogue rather than trying to overwhelm the screen with visual information. There is a CG gallery for unlocked artwork as well as a music player and other extras, giving completionists somewhere to revisit material after finishing the stories.

Sound is similarly understated. There is no full voice acting, so the soundtrack carries much of the emotional atmosphere. The music is gentle and relaxing, fitting the game’s generally soft presentation while knowing when to become more reflective during heavier conversations. It never overwhelms the dialogue, which is exactly what we want from a visual novel this focused on reading. The trilogy edition also includes sound captions, which is a welcome accessibility feature, alongside support for keyboard, mouse, and gamepad. There are only five Steam achievements, so anyone specifically hunting achievements will not need to perform a huge checklist of obscure tasks. They are tied to key endings and completing the epilogue rather than demanding grinding or arbitrary challenges.

Replay value mostly comes from seeing the alternate endings. Once all three stories, their endings and the epilogue have been completed, there is not much reason to return beyond revisiting favourite scenes, artwork or music. A YEAR OF SPRINGS is ultimately less interested in being mechanically ambitious than it is in telling a small, sincere story about three people trying to understand themselves and one another. And it does that very well.

The three-perspective structure gives the limited cast considerably more depth, while the multiple endings encourage us to explore different sides of each character without turning the experience into a massive time commitment. Its unique hand-drawn art style and gentle soundtrack give the whole trilogy a wonderfully warm personality, and although the short length means some relationships could have benefited from more room to develop, there is very little wasted time. A YEAR OF SPRINGS is a charming, thoughtful visual novel collection that manages to cover some difficult subjects without losing the softness and humanity at the centre of its story.