While I’ve admittedly tended to struggle with many visual novels on the Switch, when one shows up that feels like it’s gone the extra mile to be something special, I do tend to take notice. Iwakura Aria is one such case, blending together an intriguing (though pretty slow to truly develop) story with well-defined characters, gorgeous artwork, and a pretty impressive volume of quality voice acting to help it carry an even greater impact.

You’ll play the part of Ichiko, a young woman and artist of modest means who has the good fortune of meeting and impressing the wealthy Amane, head of the wealthy but somewhat mysterious Iwakura family. Reporting for duty as a housemaid for the family, Ichiko is a bit overwhelmed by the opulence of their life, but is immediately struck by the gorgeous Aria, Amane’s very sheltered daughter. What follows certainly takes its dear time, but the mix of a budding romance, and a concerning mystery with precisely what is going on at the mansion, are the clear drivers to keep you engaged. As usual, I’d say that knowing anything else would risk ruining the fun in discovering some of those secrets for yourself, but as stories go I’d say this is more interesting than the average ones I’ve encountered on the system.

In terms of how the game earns its keep better than the average visual novel, the main difference is in terms of the quality of the presentation. Too many of them tend to feel like they have a catalogue of a few backdrops and pieces of character art that they lay down repeatedly, but that’s it. In this case, not only do you have the well crafted character art and environments, but also quite a lot of gorgeous art drawn by Ichiko, or sometimes depicting specific scenes. Throw in the amount of voice acting that is used, and its general quality, and the game really goes the extra mile. While I wouldn’t say you have an abundant number of choices to make, the ones you do carry consequences and will lead to different endings.

As usual, I’d be skeptical about whether any given game in this genre would convert someone to it that wasn’t already a fan, but that isn’t the fault of the degree of effort put in here. Offering much more than merely pulling words from a page and putting them on a screen, this is an experience that leans into being a true fully digital experience that helps you get immersed in its events. While it may skew on the pricey side for the genre, you can’t question the value that’s been pumped into it to help earn that asking price.