Delightful! I was pleasantly surprised by how fun of an experience this was. The game gave me a few chuckles but it was competently written all around: the action, the tasteful exposition, the setups and payoffs... Also, one of the best sound designs out of the whole jam, the music rocked and the stomping sounds pulled me in and were perfectly mixed with the music.
The one thing I wasn't crazy about were the CGs with the kaiju monster itself. I guess the design of the monster fits the tone of the story and the art style is coherent with the sprites, so I shouldn't complain... But when the writing and the audio introduce the monster entering the scene I was genuinely grasped by the story. So when the screen goes from black to the cartoony monster design, I can't help but feel a bit deflated and pulled out of the story. I think less is more applies to this VN.
My other minor criticism concerns the romance, which feels a bit unrealistic and too fast paced. This can be excused as it is sort of expected in this kind of genre. Plus, the payoff with the bonus scene was amazing.
It's good! The kaiju conceit gets spun into a tastefully deadpan romp with tight plotting and smooth setups and payoffs – the reveal of the significance of the car thief dad is laugh-out-loud good. While the romance develops pretty quickly, I think the gravitas of the stakes is felt strongly enough for it to work as a "bonding under extraordinary circumstances" kind of thing. It helps that the characters have a good amount of texturing to them despite being appropriately archetypical; I particularly like the protagonist constantly thinking about taking pictures as a fun character trait.
Likening in-universe kaiju fanatics to the furry fandom is an interesting angle to take. That kind of delightful worldbuilding fluff adds a lot to the experience in general, and I like how the game uses art to bring a lot of it in unobtrusively (and the self-promotion is gracefully subdued as well).
I guess I don't have that much more to say. Big Steps is just thoroughly enjoyable; all the pieces fit together, and the finished product is a pleasantly light read but not trivial enough to feel forgettable. It's difficult to imagine the kind of person who would not have a good time with it.
It's a fun read from the beginning to the end. Compared to the previous work, the devs definitely took a big step forward in the production value, mainly in the visual department. Despite leaning more on the silly premise (which is not a bad thing at all), the structure is pretty good and well-thought-out. The sprites are just as charming, with improved detail changes over the story's progression. The custom art / CG presentation, especially on the smut part, is a delightful touch. And speaking about the smut... y'all definitely know what you like and it was great.
I might be a little picky, but I think the relationship between MC and Haruo could be fleshed out better. It felt a little rushed; the budding connection between the two was given less spotlight in favor of telling about Kaiju tidbits and advancing the plot. Ultimately, the payoff was more of a "oh... nice..." than a "yes, finally!", for lack of a better word. The background in Haruo's room could also benefit from more touch-ups to help sell his passion for the subject.
At the end of the day, it's an enjoyable read. We need more cute big furry men, thank you for your service o7
Comments
Delightful! I was pleasantly surprised by how fun of an experience this was. The game gave me a few chuckles but it was competently written all around: the action, the tasteful exposition, the setups and payoffs... Also, one of the best sound designs out of the whole jam, the music rocked and the stomping sounds pulled me in and were perfectly mixed with the music.
The one thing I wasn't crazy about were the CGs with the kaiju monster itself. I guess the design of the monster fits the tone of the story and the art style is coherent with the sprites, so I shouldn't complain... But when the writing and the audio introduce the monster entering the scene I was genuinely grasped by the story. So when the screen goes from black to the cartoony monster design, I can't help but feel a bit deflated and pulled out of the story. I think less is more applies to this VN.
My other minor criticism concerns the romance, which feels a bit unrealistic and too fast paced. This can be excused as it is sort of expected in this kind of genre. Plus, the payoff with the bonus scene was amazing.
It's good! The kaiju conceit gets spun into a tastefully deadpan romp with tight plotting and smooth setups and payoffs – the reveal of the significance of the car thief dad is laugh-out-loud good. While the romance develops pretty quickly, I think the gravitas of the stakes is felt strongly enough for it to work as a "bonding under extraordinary circumstances" kind of thing. It helps that the characters have a good amount of texturing to them despite being appropriately archetypical; I particularly like the protagonist constantly thinking about taking pictures as a fun character trait.
Likening in-universe kaiju fanatics to the furry fandom is an interesting angle to take. That kind of delightful worldbuilding fluff adds a lot to the experience in general, and I like how the game uses art to bring a lot of it in unobtrusively (and the self-promotion is gracefully subdued as well).
I guess I don't have that much more to say. Big Steps is just thoroughly enjoyable; all the pieces fit together, and the finished product is a pleasantly light read but not trivial enough to feel forgettable. It's difficult to imagine the kind of person who would not have a good time with it.
It's a fun read from the beginning to the end. Compared to the previous work, the devs definitely took a big step forward in the production value, mainly in the visual department. Despite leaning more on the silly premise (which is not a bad thing at all), the structure is pretty good and well-thought-out. The sprites are just as charming, with improved detail changes over the story's progression. The custom art / CG presentation, especially on the smut part, is a delightful touch. And speaking about the smut... y'all definitely know what you like and it was great.
I might be a little picky, but I think the relationship between MC and Haruo could be fleshed out better. It felt a little rushed; the budding connection between the two was given less spotlight in favor of telling about Kaiju tidbits and advancing the plot. Ultimately, the payoff was more of a "oh... nice..." than a "yes, finally!", for lack of a better word. The background in Haruo's room could also benefit from more touch-ups to help sell his passion for the subject.
At the end of the day, it's an enjoyable read.
We need more cute big furry men, thank you for your service o7