Review: Yukar from the Abyss Otome Game Blends Ainu Culture and Romance

It isn’t uncommon to find an otome game that involves gods or supernatural elements. However, Yukar from the Abyss does something special by pulling from Ainu mythology for its story, and the result is an indie game that can feel a little educational while you’re playing.

The protagonist of Yukar of the Abyss is an identifiable one. A woman is taking a health-related break from an overbearing work simulation and staying at a family home in Hokkaido to recover. However, after a night out with a friend where she encountered and befriended a businessman, she finds herself on a train and getting off at the Kamuy Mosir station. She winds up in the land of the gods, apparently because she died, but is saved by their leader Pewrep and returned to the world of the living. However, further supernatural encounters put her life in peril again and lead to her meeting other beings like Li Huaisu and Moshirechik. 

Because Yukar of the Abyss is a Switch otome game grounded in Ainu mythology, it means its love interests tie into that too. For example, Mosirecik is a reference to one such. The nickname for one love interest is Pewrep, which actually is the term for a bear cub. References to the language, deities, and culture, right down to even how the protagonist would pay proper respects to these gods, constantly come up. While there’s the in-context clues and game to help with learning about it, it all also made me want to learn more in a way other sorts of visual novels hadn’t. I honestly wish the Dictionary went more in-depth about details. (Also, that it didn’t sometimes make the game crash due to an error.)

However, due to the gravity of the heroine’s situation, it also means that some relationships and the story itself can feel a bit rushed. Kyril Sasayama is the only one you meet at a more casual moment. Pewrep and Li Huaisu both come up at times when our avatar is in danger, meaning many of the interactions are tied to that. Moments with Mosirecik involve another sort of troubled situation and aren’t exactly casual romance fare. However, in the context of this being an adventure game with a mystery lurking in the wings, it works! I honestly liked both the Mosirecik and Pewrep routes a lot, and the seriousness of the moments added a level of maturity without being needlessly gory or feeling like a trauma-fueled affair. I feel like maybe if each route had been an hour or two longer, to offer meat to the story, it would have been a stronger game and the relationships would have felt stronger.

But the main drawback to Yukar from the Abyss is that you can very much tell this is an indie game. While there’s a quick save and load, it and other features aren’t explained. I would constantly get an error when going through the Dictionary section that would crash the game, and it would happen when navigating through different entries so I couldn’t just go, “Okay, avoid looking up that one word.” Some backgrounds rely on more generic or stock images. There are some moments when I felt the script, though interesting, wasn’t offering enough support for certain relationships or depth. However, even so, the actual storylines are quite engaging and the character art for major characters and NPCs is quite good.

I really appreciate what Yukar of the Abyss does. It introduced me to elements of a culture I wasn’t familiar with, and I’m excited to do more independent research on the Ainu. The character designs are great, and it’s a fun “short” read. You can finish a route in a whole evening, if you dedicate some time to sit enjoying it. Just don’t go looking through the Dictionary, as I found it will crash your game in version 1.0.0.

Yukar from the Abyss is available for the Nintendo Switch and PC.