Although I’m firmly convinced that Sex, not Story, guarantees final victory in the erogame market, I can nevertheless appreciate a GOOD story, even with no sex whatsoever, and, sometimes, me too I search for erogames successfully mixing these two characteristics into an harmonious whole. Marionette (DVD Edition), however, is special in this sense, not only for its quality (after all, the producer is Carriere, which, right from the beginning, has released good “story-dominated” b-games only), but because this particular title has (some) literary ambitions and is directly based on a real (online) novel. Repeatedly cited and praised since 2003 even by the erogame magazines of my home country, Marionette is not perfect, but still represents a great example of the variety and the profundity boasted by not a few filthy 
products of the Japanese “porno” industry.
Short introduction:
The male protagonist is Hiroki Mikage, apparently nothing more than a gifted but unremarkable high school student. But this facade hides much more. Hiroki was an infant prodigy and even now he towers above the “crowd”, both physically and mentally. Not wishing undesired attention, he generally hides his capabilities, with the approval of his parents (now living in America because of their job). But not even his parents know of the almost(?) physical Darkness(?) gnawing at the soul of their son, giving him a profound sense of restlessness and dissatisfaction and menacing his own sanity. It’s during an ordinary winter morning that Hiroki, maybe coincidentally, maybe not, has a pivotal encounter with Fate. Going to school, he notices a strange violet light coming from the riverbank beside the road. After investigating, he discovers a mysterious violet gem(?) almost scintillating with an eerie inner light. Unaware of the real nature of this object (and of its bloody history… ), Hiroki starts inspecting it, causing an incredible reaction. The stone(?) dissolves(?) and becomes a swirling mass of luminescent, thread-like violet filaments floating in mid-air. Almost immediately, this thread flings itself at Hiroki and, after an ordeal of pain and fear, becomes one with him. Initially, Hiroki doesn’t understand what’s happened, but later at school he discovers the incredible truth: he can freely release and control the unearthly thread now fused with his body and, more importantly, the violet thread gives him the power of manipulating the minds of others, bending them to his will!!
After experimenting/abusing his newfound power to terrifying (or fantastic, if you prefer) effect, Hiroki seems now destined to a dark path of greatness. But he ignores that his own future is now inextricably linked (and severely menaced, too) with the fate of a few people apparently invulnerable to his control, and, even more importantly, that the biggest danger to both his life and his soul is actually hidden within himself…
Storyline:
Unlike most erogames, Marionette’s story is the backbone of the game, or, more exactly, the real reason of its existence. I don’t know the exact details (I’m too lazy for investigations, sorry ), but apparently the president of Carriere literally imposed on his staff the development of this b-game immediately after reading the original “Marionette” online novel written by T-kun (see below). The end result is an erogame where ALL the components revolve around this story, for good and evil.
On the positive side, I can assure you that the story IS really good/exciting (although somewhat introspective and not particularly long), nicely written (unlike certain abysmal failures with literary ambitions) and wisely balancing its various thematics, sex in particular (please note however that most sex scenes are of the Dark sort, and represent the physical manifestation of the dark urges of the protagonist). Unfortunately, maybe because of its heritage, Marionette is EXTREMELY linear too. The Path Choice options available to the player are few (merely 15) and, more importantly, influence only the various fake Endings (fake, yes. See Bonus, below). In addition -to partial disappointment of sex lovers-, because Marionette is fundamentally the chronicle of a voyage of spiritual growth through Evil and Hardship towards the promise of a new life (no Spoilers in my reviews, sorry), this means that the sex scenarios are located mostly in the first half of the narration and, although important and very good, don’t monopolize the game (in particular, the final 30% of the story -One True Ending included- doesn’t contain sex at all).
In conclusion, Marionette offers you a Dark-tinged, sex-veined story/novel in the truest sense of the term, fairly original and thoroughly charming/engrossing to boot … If you happen to know Japanese, of course .
Graphics:
As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve a weakness for simple, stylized comics-like graphics, therefore I’ve truly appreciated the good Quality Level that Marionette offers in this sense, and a nice addition is the fact that, sometimes, you can even choose if your female partner will be “half naked” or “fully naked” during sexual interactions with her, a simple but effective trick for increasing (slighty) the game longevity.
In my opinion, the only real problem with the graphics here is their scarcity: 77 CG’s only (and barely 50% of this number has erotic contents), just another proof that “ALL the components revolve around this story”, unfortunately.
Sounds:
Very, very good. The professionalism of Japanese voice actors is (almost always) commendable, and in Marionette you will find lots of it, especially if you consider that even the male characters (protagonist included) are dubbed. The game musics too are nice and appropriate, although the only remarkable piece is the opening song, Blue Bird, which my Inglisc ear finds simply beautiful (see my Inglisc&Engrish Question, below).
But be warned: for promoting the sales of its Audio CD’s line, most Carriere music files (even those included in Kyariban! -see below-) require a proprietary codec to play, a policy that I find intolerable (I buy the Game, therefore I buy the Game Music… No? It’s because of things like these if often we need drastic measures -the Link? Let’s see if the Moderator too reads my reviews -).
Bonus:
Linearity Rules! The first time I played Marionette, all of a sudden I got an Ending totally disconnected from the game synopsis and fairly tasteless. Somewhat irritated, I started a “New Play” and, after reaching again the same episode (the story is very good, yes, but so linear that the “Skip Forward” button becomes a necessity very quickly)… Ba-BOOM! Another Ending, even more illogic and disgusting than before!! Almost shocked, I searched Internet for a Game Walkthrough, discovering the disconcerting truth. Marionette, like most other erogames, boasts multiple Endings (3 Single and 2 Harem Endings -besides the usual Music, CG and Scenario Galleries, of course-). But these Endings are all FAKES, Bogus Endings which you must clear for unlocking an hidden 35% of the story and the One True Ending itself. Sounds good? No, in my opinion, and I still consider my money well spent only because a)the relative inexpensiveness of this DVD edition and b)the presence of 2 omake disks in “digital” form (an Art Disk and a Special Disk which contain the original online novel and LOTS of trivia and exclusive graphics).
Final considerations:
Truly an High Class game, Marionette is living proof of the existence of sophisticated products for refined tastes even in the (Dark) porno market. However “game” is a misnomer. In more senses than one, Marionette is a visual novel, almost a digital book, not a videogame. And go elsewhere if you are searching for gratuitous sex and hot babes, because Marionette’ strong sexual side is used to underscore the weak points of the Human soul and is totally subordinate to the story.
This also means that a fair knowledge of the Japanese tongue is a necessity here. Marionette worth almost nothing if bereft of its story, in my opinion, especially if you consider the circumstances of its creation (try also reading the various notes in T-kun’s defunct site, below). Marionette is first of all a fellow-fan-created work of love, and truly deserves our respect.
EDIT:
Tragically (Quality does NOT assure success, as I’ve said above) , Carriere is no more since March 31, 2007, therefore most Links are now dead. You can use http://www.archive.org/web/web.php to recover at least part of the material, however.
Carriere Home Page:
http://www.carriere.jp/index2.html
Marionette Home Page:
http://www.carriere.jp/marionette/
Getchu - Marionette Page (DVD Edition):
http://www.getchu.com/soft.phtml?id=72881
Getchu - Marionette Page (CD Edition - Consult this page for additional informations and CG’s, but do not buy the original CD version, if possible, because it’s bugged and lacks Extras):
http://www.getchu.com/soft.phtml?id=21929
Marionette Dowloadable Stuff (Carriere has released much free stuff for this game (and MORE videos and other exclusive material come with the omake disks!!). Hoping for the best, I’ve posted four http://mirror.fuzzy2.com/ pages for your use -just pick one of the Links in the various pages to start your download-):
1)Marionette (DVD Edition) Opening Movie (53 MB’s - Graphically more advanced, and Blue Bird enhanced):
http://mirror.fuzzy2.com/egg/modules/my … 0&lid=1257
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xqlVD4x7mg
2)Marionette Game Demo (209 MB’s - It’s the -long and complete!- initial part of the game):
http://mirror.fuzzy2.com/egg/modules/my … 19&lid=108
3)Marionette (CD Edition) Opening Movie (36.6 MB’s - Marionette’s original movie. Good quality, and Blue Bird enhanced):
http://mirror.fuzzy2.com/egg/modules/my … 19&lid=105
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVT_91VtxdM
4)Marionette (CD Edition) Video Trailer (53 MB’s - Game CG’s, Game Musics and English transliteration of names for another fine Carriere video):
http://mirror.fuzzy2.com/egg/modules/my … 19&lid=106
T-kun’s Home Page (the Internet site of “Marionette” online novel author and eroge player T-kun is long defunct, but http://www.archive.org still preserves its pages -and the online novel itself-):
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www … /game.html
T-kun - Marionette Page (a game introduction in interview form with -still preserved, for now- CG’s):
http://web.archive.org/web/200304180917 … -game.html
Kyariban
The only Carriere Fan Disk released so far, Kyariban is a very good product which needs a micro-review here for its relative importance to Marionette fans. In fact, besides a GREAT quantity of nice omake contents, Kyariban is dominated by 5 Bonus Scenarios based on the first three Carriere erogames. Of these Scenarios, only one is Marionette-related, but it’s important because further develops the story after the One True Ending, revealing the fate of a minor character. Carriere recruited t-kun himself for this Scenario, which shares the Light Sex theme prevalent in Kyariban but not the Comedy of the remaining Scenarios (it isn’t Dark either; however, its Quality Level can’t compare with that of Marionette).
The other Bonus Scenarios (two for each game) are less critical but more wacky, and complement nicely their respective games: Angel Maid, the third Carriere erogame, well done but unexceptional, and Shinkirou, Carriere’s first game, short, bugged and unvoiced but a success nevertheless, and the scientific demonstration that a poignant love story overcomes any obstacle (recognizing this, Carriere has also released an improved/renewed version, Ouka, which has replaced Marionette as “Carriere Masterpiece” -Ouka even includes the original Shinkirou game as free extra!-).
In conclusion, Kyariban is a beautiful Fan Disk, and a Must for Marionette players in particular, especially now that Carriere has discontinued the production of this title.
Kyariban Home Page:
http://www.carriere.jp/c_ban/
Getchu - Kyariban Page:
http://www.getchu.com/soft.phtml?id=85021
Kyariban Opening Movie (or “Lament Of A Programmer” , this video describes the lot in life of your typical Software House stooge -Lamuness included ?-, and is absolutely exhilarating, if you understand Japanese -31 MB’s-):
http://mirror1.lapistan.jp:8000/mirror/ … opmv_s.zip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9T1jwQxBuU
Kyariban Game Patch (124 KB’s - It replaces a corrupted Audio file in the Main Screen. Useful but not critical):
http://www.carriere.jp/data/cariban040813up.exe
An Inglisc&Engrish Question from Baldo:
Blue Bird is part of my audio/video collection since 2003, but I’ve still a nagging doubt regarding the quality of the English used in this song. Because I’m a self-taught student and my mnemonic knowledge of English comes almost exclusively from written D&D/AD&D game material, I’ve not only a poor grasp of English grammar (which I invariably tend to mix with Italian grammar and words, for a true Inglisc feel), but, worse, I TOTALLY ignore how to pronounce your tongue-twisting language ^_- (whereas Japanese is sooo simple in this regard -both Japanese and Italian have a very good concordance/agreement of spoken and written word, unlike English). However I know very well how much the Japanese people too sucks at English, and my doubt is based on this indubitable fact.
My question is very simple: can a native English-speaking person download Blue Bird, listen to the music/song, and (finally!!) say me if the Japanese singer really know her English, or if Blue Bird is merely another Engrish mess?
Thank you very much 
!