It’s hard to say whether Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth is better than Mask of Deception since they’re essentially one story split into two halves, but I found the entire tale thought-provoking and its characters lovable and (mostly) funny. It’s a visual novel worth playing, and now that I’ve reached its end, I’m a little sad saying goodbye.

Aquaplus returns to demonstrate its talent with the last entry of the series of Utawarerumono, closing finally unsolved questions in more than 10 years in a visual novel that drastically changes the axis of Mask of Deception.

The game’s lengthy scenes and repeated statements can feel more like padding on the game’s runtime which makes Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth feel redundant at times, but the conclusion of the story will not disappoint the ones who have stuck with it this far. If you are a fan of visual novels that have elements of the SRPG genre, then very few games do it better than the Utawarerumono series, you won’t be disappointing.

Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth closes out the visual novel's story for those who played Mask of Deception. I wouldn't recommend you start with this title but for those who are already invested know that this is a great continuation with some minor improvements.

It is difficult to pull off, but Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth has managed to both make a solid SRPG and visual novel in the same game. The world is interesting, and the characters are enjoyable to play as and to see the world with, even though sometimes it is too reliant on common tropes. The combat system also has depth to it with a lot of systems in place to reward those who think several turns in advance. The problem is that both aspects of the game are somewhat bloated. For fans of both genres this will not be obvious or even an issue at all, but for those who only likes the former or the latter, this might quickly make either feel like it's overstaying its welcome, in a good 80+ hours long game.

Although Mask of Truth is certainly a better game than Mask of Deception, it unfortunately retains many of its flaws. That being said, fans of the previous game will have a wonderful time finally seeing the conclusion to this two-part adventure.

Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth is an interesting hybrid of visual novel and strategy RPG that tilts, unfortunately for me, toward the former. As someone who didn’t much understand the story thanks to its awkward retelling of the events of the previous two games (and who didn’t enjoy the parts I did understand), I found the 1 to 2 hours of reading in between battles to be nearly unbearable.