ef - the first tale. (All Ages)
Fair · Narrative · 2019
Steam Deck UnsupportedThe verdict
NO RUSH.
Fair at $29.99. Buy it if you want it.
- Length
- 11.9h 19.7h to 100%
- Value
- $2.52/hr
- Reviews
- 95% of 211 positive
Watch this gameOne alert at $19.74 or less.
Buy now or wait
Discounted in each of its last 8 seasonal sales. Last cut ended 11 days ago.
- Next sale
- Winter Sale, Dec 17 to Jan 4
Sources: IsThereAnyDeal, Valve.
What drives the score
How to read this
Grades run S to D, read from the buyer's side. ▲ marks a lift, ▼ a drag or a dock, ? an input we do not have, • a fact this genre's score does not use. How the grades work
About the game
What starts with a conversation between two long lost friends spills out into a captivating visual novel about four youths struggling to pursue their dreams and find their place in the world as love complicates everything.
Minimum specs
Minimum on the Steam store: 512 MB of memory, VRAM 32MB, 1.8 GB of storage. Windows only.
The value story
46 discounts in the 7 years on record, a median of 50 percent off across all of them, roughly 7 weeks apart. Today it is at full price, and its last discount ended 11 days ago.
On value it sits in the top 11 percent of its genre. It is pricier than 97 percent of its genre, and better reviewed than 92 percent. Among the games that feel like it, Life is Strange Remastered ($39.99, scores 64) beats it on value, while it beats The Medium ($49.99, scores 46).
Players
- Players online
- 4 when we last checked, on Oct 6, 03:54 UTC
Player counts from the Steam Web API.
What players say
Even with a wonky full-screen mode, I still enjoyed the high production values of this visual novel. Having watched the anime adaptation beforehand, it's interesting to know the changes being made, while still preserving the essence of Miyako's and Kei's tales. And yes, I've put the voices on silent, as I wanted to imagine the English voice actors from the anime adaptation breathing life into the visual novel. Now...
2 more reviews
This is part 1 of 2 of the VN. I loved the anime, but I love the VN even more! The art is just beautiful! If you are into romance, drama, and a touch of comedy, then it's worth reading! Do get the patch for the H-scenes.
-Highly advice to get the patch from mangagamer to play this VN- Fantastic love drama VN, highly enjoyed it. First things first, the production value is phemonenal. In 3 hours of this VN theres been more CGs than and entire duration of others, plus the art is quite beautiful. On top of that there lip synching and and gorgeous opening movie (that for some reason they decided to put at the end) The story is very good...
Steam reviews, mixed to its ratio and rotated daily. Opinions are theirs.
No data upstream: critic score (Metacritic), achievement curve (Steam global achievements).
Cite this score
ef - the first tale. (All Ages) scores 61/100 on the BANG Score (fair value) as of Oct 19, 2026. The BANG Score rates what a game is worth for the money. Via Steam BANGERS. https://steambangers.com/game/1144300/ef-the-first-tale-all-agesReviews set the ceiling, and price against real length moves the BANG Score inside it. How it works, and where it is weak → Steam reviews as of Oct 2, price as of Oct 19. A number here look wrong? Tell me and I will check the inputs.