"There are times where, after a long day at work, the only thought flooding your mind is to sit down in a nice chair, grab the controller (or keyboard and mouse) and just enjoy some video gaming R&R. Sometimes, a visual novel is all it takes to wind you down. In order to experience such a feeling, there must be a compelling story, with interesting characters and excellent dialogue and writing. Beautiful visuals and an inspiring soundtrack are also a must. For Gakhthun of the Golden Lightning, written by Sakurai Hikaru, developed by Lair Soft and published in English by MangaGamer, it seems it’s a big mash up of great moments mixed in with dull and boring moments. The writing was absolutely repetitive and uninteresting at times, but the characters can bring life to the story. The narrative is cliché and boring, but also had moments of greatness. It’s hard to absolutely love or hate this visual novel." - Attack On gaming
Gahkthun of the Golden Lightning made its official English-language debut earlier this year directly from MangaGamer, but has now seen a rebirth via release on Steam. This is great news for all involved because it means this stand out game may finally get the attention it deserves. Once you get past the odd name, you’ll find that this is one of the higher quality releases available on Steam – and certainly one of the more eccentric.
Damien writes "Welcome to the Academia, a European, isolated island society comprised largely of students and faculty, artificially created for the sole purpose of teaching students and ensuring they become the best scholarly graduates available. This is where the story of Gahkthun of the Golden Lightning begins, as written by Sakurai Hikaru. Sakurai has written several well-received visual and graphic novels before, and while she has worked with Liar-Soft previously, she has since parted off as a freelance writer. So will the latest steampunk visual novel published by MangaGamer be a decent send off to what the future may bring?".
Hardcore Gamer: MangaGamer hosted a panel at Anime Expo 2014 where they discussed a variety of titles, including previously unannounced upcoming ones.
