to thoes who want to buy this game i wouldn't recomend it
My thoughts with spoilers explaining my opinion...
Edit: this game was probs made as a hobby and I didn't know that the other games I compared it to were crowdfunded and therefore the devs could do more with the game. And so I was a harsh with my justification of why I thought the game was overpriced. But the sentiment I have remains the same.
Not to mention at the time $15 was a lot to me and I actually had really high hopes for the game.
I hate to give a bad review and I write this with no ill intent as I spent my money on this.
Overall I somewhat regret spending my money, as the game isn't worth $15.
The game is unbelievably short and I wouldn't even call it a game but rather it's akin to choose-your-adventure stories. You don't have agency in this game but rather you simply are an observer and your choices do matter being that there are literally only two choices to make. (I'm not joking)
The illustrations are to die for, but $15 for 4 endings, no epilogue, no easter eggs, no side stories. Shesh.
Compared to the market, which to be fair is very unfair as people create visual novels for free in their spare time which are HOURS and Hours long with beautiful art etc etc. Most notably cinderella phenomenon, our wonderland, cupid. These games are free, have good art, and good writing.
I understand why the price is what is, being that deep down the VN community has been spoiled and I support indie developers getting their coin. Also, I knew what I was getting into being that it says the game is 8 hrs long, but for the price, I was betting that the writing would be top-class (like it was in the demo).
But it wasn't, especially in Anton's route.
Being that he's unrealistically obsessed with Lillian to the extent that he kidnaps her and hides her, essentially committing treason... for a girl that he met the other day. Unlike Shakespeare who critiques Romeo's obsession with Juliet, the devs at Guhuhu Games do not offer any explanation as to why.
I'm all for these scenes however I would say as a feminist. Writing a charater who kidnaps his love interest after shooting the man to hide her away from the authorities because he cares for her. Undoubtedly a good man who only wishes the best for Lillian.... is harmful.
Anton's love for Lillian is creepy, due to the great extent of his love in the incredibly short amount of time. I believe he should have been written as a villain of some sort and portrayed in more of a morally grey way, and there should have been more scenes where he debates 'love or country'.
....
Overall I believe essentially why this game fails is because it's written to be a romance first, spy mission story second. This is not realistic in the slightest, and it's quite funny how when death is at stake the characters won't fail to jump into bed.
Second of all, it's extremely short with no extra content at the end. Compared to other visual novels which are paid at similar prices e.g. Bandcamp Boyfriend, and Red Embrace Hollywood, which both boast more than 15 hours of content with many endings. This game was very expensive and the lackluster writing and unsatisfying endings. If I could turn back time I wouldn't have purchased it. (EDIT: still wouldn't reccommend this game but the devs did work hard and they weren't crowdfunded/made it as a hobby etc, so the lack of content compared to other games is explainable)
That being said I'm a sucker for period pieces and if you guys did make another game (hopefully longer ) I'll probably purchase it.... ik ironic as i gave a scathing review.