Visual novels never really took off in the United States.  There could be many reasons for this but I like to think it boils down to how they are presented.  While in Japan, gamers are more open to playing various types of games, that is not always the case in North America.  Also, in Japan, the demographic of people playing video games runs from young to really old and both sexes.  Again, not so much in North America.  Couple this with the fact that most visual novels are dating sims of some sort and you can see how North American gamers may not be the first choice for visual novel games.  The Falconers – Moonlight is just different enough that I think it could make it to a wider audience.  First, Falconers is not a dating sim.  Far from it.

Visual novels are games that are heavy on text and graphics and light on action and twitch reflexes.  Some of the more popular releases in this category are Snatcher and Policenauts, both by Konami.

Set in the 19^th Century West Coast of New Zealand, The Falconers – Moonlight tells the tale of terror, missing people and an overall mystery bigger than the inhabitants of the town.  This is certainly not a dating sim.  Taking on the challenge of this mystery is Cassandra Winter, a new Falconer, who is on her first solo case.

The Falconers are an international monster hunting organization.  They have taken on the responsibility of protecting European colonists abroad.  There are entities in this world that would rather not see civilization expand.  The job of The Falconers is to thwart those entities and make them think twice about messing with the growing presence of people.

While not Snatcher, The Falconers is still interesting and sets the mood really well.

The Falconers by Bionic Penguin
Genre: Visual Novel
Platform: Windows
Available now on Itch.io