LOOP THE LOOP: The House of Gluttony ~ The Grave of Daydreams | Introduction and Impressions of a 10-Story Free Suspense Horror Novel Collection

「sweet ampouleThis package contains all 10 episodes of the visual novel series "LOOP THE LOOP" by [author's name].
This is a suspense horror visual novel depicting incidents that occur in a mysterious space under certain circumstances.

The total time to complete all 10 games was approximately 30 hours.
The breakdown of completion times for each episode is described later.

Game Overview

"LOOP THE LOOP: The Mansion of Gluttony ~ The Grave of Daydreams" is a package containing 10 episodes from the long-form visual novel series known as the "LTL Series".
You can play all the games from "The House of Gluttony," released in 2009, to the latest installment, "The Graveyard of Daydreams," released in 2024.

Novel game production circle "sweet ampouleThis game is the culmination of works created by [Name of creator] over approximately 15 years, and it is completely free to play.
It's a popular series that has a manga adaptation serialized in Monthly Action magazine, and a novel version is also available for purchase.
（With Piccoma, you can read the beginning chapters for free.）

The playable episodes in this game are as follows:

As of February 2025, it is known that a new series, the 11th installment, is planned for production.
I believe this series will continue, so those who play this game and become interested will likely find new things to enjoy.

The protagonist of the first act, "The House of Gluttony," is a male high school student named Arakawa Remi.
(He is the main character in all of the original series.)
Bored with her monotonous daily life, Remi is suddenly transported to a mysterious space.

I ended up in a mysterious Western-style mansion, where I found eleven other people who had also wandered in just like me.
According to them, in this mansion, magical things are possible, such as decorating your room however you like and making any food you want appear.
Remi was skeptical at first, but after witnessing the phenomenon unfold exactly as described, she had no choice but to believe it.

It's strange, but if you accept it as the truth, you can enjoy a reasonably pleasant life here.
Just as they were starting to get used to life in the mansion, the story takes a sudden turn when one of their companions is murdered.

The remaining characters are consumed by suspicion and distrust as the story unfolds, trying to figure out who the culprit is, what their motive is, and what exactly this space is.

Review (no spoilers)

This game is a linear visual novel with no choices to make.
It's a very lavish production, featuring original character illustrations, still images, background music, and an opening movie with a theme song.
Since basically everything is free to play, I feel it's an exceptional value for a free game.

The materials in this area are also elaborate and well-crafted.

Each game in the series can be completed in approximately 3-4 hours, which is roughly the length of a single novel.
This is a closed-circle mystery with unique circumstances, and I think it's something I can widely recommend to players who enjoy mystery and suspense elements.

The first half of the episode carefully depicts everyday scenes, and I think the pacing is somewhat slow.
However, once the incident occurs, the story unfolds at a very rapid pace, and you won't be able to stop reading.
If I were to use an analogy without fear of misunderstanding, it would be something like the image of "Higurashi When They Cry."
The first half of the game depicts everyday life in detail, and after the incident, it becomes a gripping suspense story, so those who have played the game before might find it easy to imagine.
From the second installment onwards, the story doesn't simply follow the plot of the first, but instead features new situations and developments, so you can enjoy it without getting bored.

Another characteristic of the mystery suspense elements is the dedication to exploring the inner lives of the characters.
At first glance, they might seem like typical, symbolic characters, but I felt that they were actually portrayed as real people, not just generic characters.
If you enjoyed the first installment, I think you'll enjoy the subsequent ones just as much.

It seems to be a long-running series, but since it's mainly released as a smartphone app, I wasn't aware of it until now.
I had a lot of fun playing it, so I'd like to continue following it in the future.

Thoughts and screenshots included (spoiler alert)

From here on, this section contains fragmented impressions and spoilers.
Since I'm writing this article after completing the tenth game, I might have forgotten some parts of the earlier games.
I will write my impressions of each work as I recall them.
I've probably only managed to write down about 10% of my thoughts, so please forgive me.

First series

Act One: The House of Gluttony

This is the first work in the series.
I think it was the longest period before the incident actually occurred.
The unsettling information is revealed little by little during the everyday life segments, but the timing of those reveals is absolutely perfect.
However, once the incident occurs, the story unfolds at a furious pace, becoming more like a horror story than a mystery.
Like in "Umineko When They Cry," people die left and right in situations that are normally unthinkable, so I continued reading with doubts about whether it was even possible to solve the mystery.

Although it is a supernatural space, it is not a free-for-all; rules still exist.
It was somewhere between a mystery and a horror story, and the second half had a survival-like tension.
Because I found this first book enjoyable, I was able to believe that the other works would also be interesting, and I was able to read them all the way to the end.

"The House of Gluttony" episode 0

This episode depicted past events from the first installment.
The in-depth look at Saeki's character was very interesting.
Since it connects to the first film, I was excited to see how it would all connect, even though I already knew the ending.
I now understand why Saeki created all those rules; it was because of something that happened in the past.

Act Two: "The Vortex of Intrigue"

Many new characters appeared, including members of IDEA Inc., and the setting changed, which made it quite exciting.
It was interesting because it utilized various tricks that took advantage of the LTL rules, and the story involved multiple motives.
I was impressed that the game wasn't just a simple mystery-solving game about settling grudges, but also had a structure that easily incorporated the case, and that the LTL setting worked so well.

In LTL, you can revive even if you die after clearing the game, but I think the clear concept of permanent loss helped maintain a sense of tension.
Personally, I found the whodunit aspect less compelling than in the first film, and this one had more of an action-movie feel with a dramatic flair.

Sounds like they're saying it really fast.

Mountain Tim, perhaps?

He looks like Professor Kaihara, but I like his surprisingly manly character.
One of those scenes that makes you feel great.

"The Vortex of Intrigue" episode 0

The content focused more on Saeki, which made me feel even more attached to her.
Just like the second installment, no new events occur; the focus is on exploring the past.
I've come to understand a little better that Sakito, whom I used to think was a nasty guy, had his own reasons for his actions.

Act Three: "The Artist's Garden"

Unlike previous works involving mansions or ships, this is an unusual piece in that the culprit is already known.
I found it interesting how, under special rules, the protagonists take on the role of posing the murder mystery questions—a twist that makes the story unfold in a unique way.
Just like in typical mysteries, Remi herself isn't told the specific trick or the culprit, so the details of the case remain unknown.
Aki's ending was somewhat predictable, but the events leading up to it were very interesting.
I think it was a fitting episode to conclude the original series.

The fact that they matched it to Karin's note in the first film, using the same phrase "Death Penalty☆", shows great attention to detail.

It was creepy when he suddenly started singing the Heart Sutra and seemed to be high on it.

ROS series

Act One: "The Box of Illusions"

This episode sees a significant shift in the story's atmosphere as the main character changes from Remi to Kotaro.
Furthermore, the writing style has shifted from first-person to third-person, resulting in a slightly more novelistic style of writing.
In a first-person perspective, information unknown to the protagonist is not written, but in a third-person perspective, various things can be explained in the narrative text, and personally, I prefer this method.

Kotaro is a type of character not often seen in other novels, so he offered a refreshing experience.
She may not get good grades, but she's not unintelligent, and her hairpins are cute.

Regarding the LTL mystery, I liked how it was shown that even if Takuto couldn't solve it, Kotaro and the others could.

It's a shame that she was suddenly bombarded with intrusive questions during her teaching practice.

Kotaro expresses his feelings about being unable to do something.
I believe that dialogue is necessary for mutual understanding precisely because we don't understand each other's feelings.

I like it when the antagonist, who previously wouldn't listen to anything you said, finally shows a willingness to listen to what you have to say.

Act Two: The Princess in the Stone Prison

This is one of my favorite entries in the series.
Each character gets their moment to shine, and the storyline has some major plot developments, so it feels like it's taken the best parts from various genres.

It's packed with various elements that make it interesting, such as the classic plot of helping an isolated classmate, mystery, suspense, and horror in a confined space, and extreme battles like those in an action movie.

At this time, Kotaro, Shun, and the others aren't particularly close friends, but the fact that they all share the same opinion about LTL is an interesting and unusual display of solidarity.

For some reason, Moriya is starting to look kind of cute.

The scene where Shun, who is rather cowardly, uses his own life as bait to make the enemy let their guard down and then selflessly holds them off was really exciting.

This scene shows Kotaro trying his best to convey what he's thinking.
I like the scenes where Umino and Kotaro interact because you can feel that they are both trying to communicate with sincerity.

Act Three: The Feast of the Dead and the Dead

The game starts off with a shocking twist: Crystal, who enters LTL as the most powerful force, is suddenly murdered by someone. This kept me hooked until the very end.
The setting and the culprit somehow reminded me of the first book in the series, "The House of Gluttony."

The basic premise is that the person who acted as the intermediary for the LTL doesn't want to return to reality, so they are likely to become the culprit who tries to obstruct the escape. However, I thought it was well done that the car accident involved multiple people, making it difficult to narrow down the culprit.
The gimmick in the board game's player selection screen, which lets you see who has died, was simple yet frightening.

When he wears Western clothes, Moriya actually looks quite handsome.
It's cute to see her working while using polite language she's not used to.

I don't know if Kaya is supposed to look young, but I feel like it's already a bit much for a woman nearing 30 to wear this outfit.

This is my favorite scene in this episode.

Act Four: The Island of Gears

This is a fantastic episode featuring Kotaro from the ROS series and Remi from the original series.
The two of them looked just like Shinn and Kira (or Athrun?) from "Gundam SEED DESTINY".

Like "The Artist's Garden," LTL itself had death traps, creating a sense of tension.
In a situation where we needed to minimize casualties, the unexpected death toll was incredibly disheartening.
The back-and-forth between the culprits and the others, using tricks that fully utilized the characteristics of LTL, was very interesting.

この辺りのことをちゃんと認識できている辺り、コタローは本質が見えていると感じます。

Although Suisho speaks in a playful manner, I get the feeling that what she's saying is actually her true feelings.

初代シリーズではレミ視点だったので、なぜレミが冴木やタクトから一目置かれるのか明確ではありませんでした。
However, from Kotaro's perspective, this might be where Remi's uniqueness lies.

The LTL series features a variety of scary characters, but I think Linka is actually the scariest of them all.
Of course, she's not just scary; she also has a model student side, a cute side, and unpleasant and frightening aspects, and I feel she's portrayed in the most human and relatable way.
She has a cute ribbon like Minnie Mouse, and I love the character design, which seems to entrust all of her cuteness to that ribbon.

Reaching this conclusion at this age is quite remarkable.
I think that's very insightful.

Act Five: "The Tomb of Daydreams"

As the final installment in the ROS series, the story moves forward significantly right from the start.
It was sad to see Juli and Suisho killed off so easily, but I think they had both done some heinous things up until then, so perhaps this was their just deserts.
I was really saddened because I had grown quite attached to both of them, as they had both become very much on our side.

I was worried about what would happen when an armed group resembling an army showed up, but I was relieved when Peter unexpectedly died so easily within the LTL.
The presence of instant-death mechanics within LTL, similar to Gear Island and the Artist's Garden, created a sense of tension.
This time, the events outside LTL were much more intense, so the events inside felt relatively calm.
However, as usual, murders still occur, so it won't be easy.

The scene where Kotaro revived Tact with a desperate resolve was truly moving.
When Kotaro gets really angry, you get the feeling that he's unpredictable and terrifying.

Up until then, Makabe had given off a rather sharp and intelligent vibe, but all of that facade crumbled in an instant, and I couldn't help but laugh.
Even though many characters die, I think it was an ending that left a positive sense of hope.

I find the facial expression variations, which seem to have been prepared solely for this one line, to be endearing.

Even though he's out of touch with reality, it's admirable that he properly thanked the store manager (an ordinary person) who helped him.

This is a rare scene where Basara, who seems to be one of the most balanced and sensible of the Shikigami, utters a jokey line, which is unusual for him.