Heya! Glad you enjoyed the world and monsters! “Odd and intriguing” and “gorgeous yet creepy” are high praises to hear as someone who enjoys world building and monster creation! This little project was I wanted to try and at least make a decent world for (and leave a little mystery for in what those relics are/why they exist) so I’m happy to hear I achieved it to some degree <3

as for the word count critique, I’ll definitely keep that in mind! Though, if I may inquire, is the lengthy word count an issue because this is an ADV novel written in a NVL style? I know the two styles aren’t typically meshed together so I’m wondering if that figures into it? I can see how that’s in issue in, say, the dialogue where it’s matched with character actions (I.e. something like [“I’m sorry,” Rean says, grimacing as he rubs at the back of his neck]). Or how maybe the paragraphs themselves feel too big for the space they’re in because that’s definitely an issue I realize hurts the mixing of VN styles OTL

And if not that, by tightening it do you mean  I need to cut down on descriptions in total? I can see where some things might go awry - the second scene and the river scene coming to mind in terms of potential meandering (especially since I had to speed run the introduction of an alternate with none of the proper pacing) - but I’d appreciate knowing in more detail what could be tightened up if don’t mind me asking ^w^

Oh!! It's funny you say the main inspiration is from Madoka Magica because ironically my thought process for inspiration was based more on card game anime while making this (namely, shows like YGO Arc-V and Future Card Buddyfight tied into a magical girl/boy package because I love magical girls and I love card game monsters so I figured, why not get the best of both!). I see where the Madoka Magica vibe comes from though, and in hindsight that wasn't my intention but I get why it feels that way!!

Happy to hear you like the music! I didn't have a lot of time to add it in (nor the experience, tbh) so this makes me :Dc to hear that I did a decent job constructing it together

And yeah I wondered how predictable the twist would be so that answers that~ I usually like to be a lot more subtle about my plot twists but for this project I don't think I tried as hard haha. Nonetheless, you're completely right!! It's all about the journey not the destination indeed ^0^

and oof,, I wondered about that but for whatever reason my game won't allow me to see the font whenever I change it on my end. I thought it would work well in Cairo font and I had someone say it worked fine but on hearing this I might return it to the default Renpy font. Thanks for letting me know (and thanks for the comment too, glad to hear your thoughts on this little project ^0^!!!)