Almost any game with a feline appearance appeals to animal lovers. Although there are talking cats in How To Take Off Your Mask Remastered, the shorter than an average human species have cat ears and a tail. Some can talk intelligibly too but that doesn’t prevent prejudice against the rare race known as luccretia.
Lilia works as a baker alongside her family and friends in the city Leezera. She has no idea she is one of the beings some are highly prejudiced against, and accidentally becoming a one means she has a whole new world to navigate, literally and figuratively on top of her changing feels for her best friend Ronan. This remastered visual novel brings the tale to PlayStation 4, heralding updated artwork and other visual effects as well as intrigue.
In her luccretia form, both her personality and name gain different traits. The luccretian name can be kept or an entirely new one used, but for the purpose of this review Lilia will remain as Lilia. Having the primary nouns begin with the same letter initially was confusing, but they soon became easy to differentiate. Lilia’s alternate form is a younger, more emotionally reactive young girl who uses the the Japanese version of meow, “nya”, in her sentences.
For a long while she keeps her new status secret from everyone except a familiar young guard who looks out for her. He never sees her transformation (which features updated, remastered animation) and treats others like a protective brother, but she now relies on his guard skills to stay safe. How can she tell him what she is when she does not even know herself?
Discovering she can turn into a luccretia whenever Lilia’s body activates a specific trigger changes her entire world. The bakery she works in and her loving grandmother are still the same, but her perspective is different. She might be childhood friends with mysterious Ronan whose job she doesn’t know, but will he shun her if she reveals her secret? Will her grandmother still love her? All these questions and more are asked over the course of the adventure. Most get answered eventually, but cause more chaos to Lillia’s altered life. That’s not even considering now she is different some citizens wish her harm. There is a fair amount of humour that balances the tension created by the mysterious plot, though, making Lilia endearing to know.
Thankfully, Lilia is never alone in either form. Her cheerful friend Ronan keeps her spirits high, as does the guard who looks like a noble. As the story progresses, Ronan proves to be far more complex than he first appears. He genuinely cares for Lilia, demonstrating his loyalty repeatedly, provided you avoid an early game over. While making the wrong choices can trigger an abrupt ending, successfully navigating these decisions is just as satisfying as reaching the game’s actual conclusion, which delivers a strong finish regardless of whether it is the absolute “best” ending.
There may not be multiple eligible bachelors to win over, but there is a meter that periodically increases. It seems to indicate love with Ronan, as well as how much Lillia likes or is becoming accustomed to her luccretia side that does lead to implications later on in the story. It is hard to pinpoint exactly what affects the two meters, but they are important. The romance is predominantly mild with the odd steamy section. The narrative is more about the dangers Lilia faces both alone and with Ronan as someone considered different in society. These elements are unfortunately relatable in reality for some, but are slightly easier to explore in a fictional universe.
Perseverance is synonymous with visual novels, although at first few saves got created because the plot is so captivating, meaning that on game over it took a bit of time to reach the important choices. But with a cat changing heroine, it is no trouble to keep trying for a happy ever after. Skipping previously read text made replaying sections speedy. Nonetheless, some moments are worth replaying solely because of the atmosphere created with the environment sounds and music.
