Behind the avatar — A murder mystery about identity, performance, and truth.
Even though Lilien Games has been making games for a while, The Real Face of a VTuber is one of their biggest projects to date. The team wanted to make a courtroom mystery about VTubing, one of the newest forms of entertainment on the internet, but they didn’t have the support of a big publisher or the tools that usually come with big visual novel releases. Strong stories, not flashy graphics, have always been important in visual novels, and Lilien Games clearly knows this balance.
The studio doesn’t have a history of big-budget games, but The Real Face of a VTuber shows they are ready to try new things with modern themes while drawing on classic games like Ace Attorney. The game doesn’t try to copy that exact recipe; instead, it tries to combine courtroom drama with the culture of online anonymity and digital performance.
The result is a puzzle based on a story that feels both personal and big in terms of its ideas.
As soon as the premise is given—a murder in a VTuber agency where people’s names are purposely kept secret—the game builds a strong theme based on performance, truth, and secrecy. Players take on the part of Justin Truth in The Real Face of a VTuber.
Truth is a prosecutor who is looking into the death of Mr. C, the president of the VTuber agency Lilien Entertainment. Kuripa, the biggest star in the company, was streaming at the time of the murder, which seemed to give her a perfect excuse. But no one knows who Kuripa really is, and three different people say they are the one behind the image.
This secret becomes the main plot point. The story isn’t just about solving a crime; it also looks at identity, online identities, and the gap between what you do in public and what you really are in private. When privacy is expected as a business strategy, it’s harder to find the truth than when you just look for actual proof.
The story is told through interviews, probes, and fights in court. Justin’s secretary, Emily Close, and officer Zelda Hoss help him put together hints from people who work for the agency. As the case goes on, more and more of the suspects’ motives, alibis, and secrets come to light. One of the best things about the game is how it sets up its multiple storylines.
When different suspects are blamed, different stories develop that show new details about the case. These branching paths keep things interesting and make players want to go back to earlier parts to find out the whole story. The pace is strong most of the time. Even when the interrogation is slow, the game keeps adding new clues or proof that make players think about the mystery.
Some events can feel a little unclear, but the conclusion in the end feels earned and makes sense.
What’s more, the story stays true to its idea. The story doesn’t use VTubing as a joke; instead, it uses it as a way to look at performance, fans, and digital identity. The world of the game seems real, even if the legal logic sometimes makes you question whether or not it’s true.
As you might expect from a visual novel, reading dialogue, making decisions, and gathering proof are the main things you do in The Real Face of a VTuber. The game goes back and forth between investigation parts and courtroom cases.
Players question suspects over and over during investigations to find new hints. Conversations often lead to more dialogue choices, which makes players want to talk to the same characters more than once. During breaks from questioning, Justin can give Emily and Zelda jobs to do that will help him find new evidence or information.
The in-game internet browser is a cool tool that lets players check out Kuripa’s online life by watching videos and reading social media posts on a made-up site called “Y.” You don’t have to do many of these things, but they give the world more depth and make the investigation feel more like it’s based in modern online society.
Players can explore at their own pace because there are no time limits or strict rules on how they can do it. Players can accuse a suspect and move on to the trial part once they have enough proof.
The game’s loop is simple but works, with an emphasis on story rather than technical complexity.
It’s clear that the courtroom parts were based on Ace Attorney. Players question witnesses, show evidence, and cross-examine witnesses to find contradictions. One interesting twist is that people can pick from different questions when they are being questioned.
Some questions move the case along, while others start conversations that are funny but not important. The other lawyer may object to leading questions, which drives home the point that precise language is important in legal cases.
The idea behind the method is good, but sometimes picking evidence can feel like guesswork. Even though they take time, some talks don’t give much information, which can slow things down.
One debatable design choice is that there are no consequences for making mistakes. Emily often steps in to help if players give bad proof or miss contradictions. This keeps the story going along smoothly, but it lowers the tension and satisfaction at key points.
This makes the courtroom routines feel easy to understand but a little low-stakes.
Unlike most graphic novels, this one doesn’t have an XP system or a way to grind. The story is the only thing that drives progression, not leveling systems or discoveries. This puts the focus on the story, but it also limits how deeply the game can be played.
The Real Face of a VTuber looks like it came from an independent developer. There aren’t many animations or backgrounds that change, and the choices are easy to understand. One figure that stands out, though, is the VTuber Kuripa. Her model is expressive and well-made, and it captures the charm and attraction of real VTubers. This care for detail helps sell the idea behind the game.
Some technical problems, like character aliasing and not enough outdoor rendering, make players remember that the game didn’t have a big budget. It can be hard to picture how certain events happen in space because locations aren’t shown in great detail.
Overall, the art direction isn’t very good, but it does a good job of backing the story.
Another nice surprise is the music. Even though it’s not very memorable, the music works well with the courtroom action and investigation scenes. The pieces have a mood similar to old-fashioned courtroom games, but they don’t sound like exact copies.
One big problem is that there is no voice acting. Scenes with a lot of dialogue can lose some of their dramatic power. Even though it makes sense from a financial point of view, the voice actors could have made important parts of the story much better.
Additionally, there are some small translation problems, such as Chinese lines that show up without being translated. These parts break focus, but they don’t happen very often, so they don’t ruin the experience.
The Real Face of a VTuber isn’t a new visual novel, but it is a good one that keeps you interested.
There’s no doubt that Lilien Games put story over spectacle, and the choice paid off with a mystery that stays interesting from start to finish. The presentation is simple, the gameplay is easy, and the rules are sometimes rough around the edges. But the game stands out in a crowded genre thanks to its strong story and unique idea.
The game looks at identity and performance in a way that feels both modern and deep by mixing courtroom drama with the culture of VTubing. Even when the limitations of the production show, the experience is still memorable because of how it was planned and carried out.
The Real Face of a VTuber is a good game for people who like mystery visual novels or legal adventures. It may not be as polished or big as other games in the same genre, but it shows creativity, heart, and a clear respect for the player’s interest.
Lilien Games finally makes a story-driven game that shows that a good idea and a well-told story can make a game better than just good production values.
