SOME CONTEXT

I remember being very intrigued by this entry initially. I was drawn to the warm, inviting thumbnail, and I must admit, morbidly curious to see the lowest rated entry in the jam. I wanted to play it pretty early into my marathon, but my reading group kept voting for other VNs first.

I remember my first read was like a hazy dream, pleasant but blurry. Even back then I thought it deserved better ratings, since it was far from my least favourite. Eventually, I started wondering if being cozy and forgettable is worse for ratings than being a messy disaster.

My replay of both version 1.0 and 1.0.15. (mad props to keeping the jam version available for download, I wish more jam entries would do that!) only made me appreciate this VN more.

Also I foolishly wrote most of the review before I realised there was update 1.0.15. that resolved some of my grievances, so mind that many of my points apply only to the version 1.0 submitted to the jam.

WHAT I LIKED

The rest of the night was a blur. A wonderful, emotional blur. - that describes my experience of this VN. The vibes were soft and dreamy, despite every character the MC meets being up to some shenanigans. The author managed to make me feel the feeling of a hazy summer night.

... You're not Dillion: Why is his pussy out? I don't know, but what an iconic way to introduce a character.

The emotional heart of this VN: mono no aware. I feel like the biggest weeabo writing this, but it seems like a better fit than just pure nostalgia. I think the writer managed to hold onto this feeling that everything is fleeting. Everything is decaying, regrets and missed opportunities are always increasing in numbers and you can never truly go home again. The protagonist is worn out, but other characters show him ways to resist the rot, and how to make any house into a home. It's a very sweet and tender approach to the subject.

The characterisation of everyone was fun, especially the comparisons of what the protagonist makes with the past. His musings on how they have all changed, or managed to resist change was nice to see.

The romance is brisk and easy, and I honestly appreciate it. These two clearly had a thing for each other for a long time, and we are spared the chase and the long agonising wait of will they or won't they. In a story that seems so gentle and meek, it was nice seeing both romantic partners be so bold. The emotional maturity shown by everyone in this VN was a refreshing break from romance drama.

Slapping an entire url without a hyperlink in the textbox! A true power move. Little did the author know, it would become a tradition every May Wolf so far. It got (tragically) fixed in the update and now the game has proper hyperlinks.

WHAT I DISLIKED

General mistakes during editing: Missing name tags, wrong name tags, missing sprites, the narration switching between first and second person, mangled sentences, dubious choices when separating blocks of text...  Some of these have been fixed, but many still remain.

Some punctuation, spelling and capitalisation errors are all over the place. There's some pretty goofy misuse of words, something a few more eyes or proofreading sessions could have caught and fixed.

While I liked Dillion and his dynamic with the protagonist, I found it a shame that we breezed through their little dates. The scenes of them hanging out in the park and uhhh big park both skim or skip the activity altogether and cut straight to the emotional talk. I have mixed feelings on this. God knows I don't want more slice of life minutiae, but here... I kinda missed it? Waiter, waiter, More cute little nonsense like this wolf fighting for his life with slurpee! At least before the scene goes for my emotional jugular.

Fuck it, I can't put this random nitpick in any structured way. I love how this game just decides that the manatee is a narwhal. I don't think any other entry changed his species other than what the jam page stated he is. Confusingly, he gets called a manatee at some point as well, so it seems like this was also an oversight rather than a choice.

CONCLUSION

I'm glad I revisited this game. It's a very strange one, since I kinda spaced out and I didn't remember much other than the general melancholy vibes (and iconic dragon pussy). Despite me sleepwalking through reading it, it lingered in my mind the most from May Wolf 2023. I think I just dwelled at the (my personally perceived) injustice of the jam ratings. I know it feels silly, but it kept coming back to me.

I hope the dev returns to this, even if just to give it a good, thorough editing pass and remove that pesky "to be continued". Reading the devlogs, it seems like the ambitions were bigger, but I think the story can work as a short standalone as is.

All in all, I am very happy with how this debut VN went. I hope the author learns from the mistakes and maybe even more importantly, realises their strengths as a writer and cultivates them.