This is going to be a very long, spoiler-y comment, as I've got lots of thoughts about all the game's routes.
The 3d modelling is very unique for a dating sim and very charming. The music is beautiful and does an excellent job of carrying the game's scenes. The texting system is impressive and adds unique characterization to various characters. I'm impressed with how the texts take great care to reflect the story and narration. Nathan's phone profile changes to reflect Idril learning his name at the end of his route, you can only reply to Alaska's midnight texts around midnight, to fit with Atali yelling at you guys to stop texting at the late hour, among other examples.
I have to admit, I don't really understand the stat-raising mechanic, despite having played the game several times over? I know that raising Idril's GPA lets her attend the dance and knowledge is related to her GPA. I also know that confidence lets you pass speech class. However, I don't know what creativity, intuition, or fitness affect, if they affect anything at all, nor do I know if confidence has any effect if you don't take speech class.
My thoughts on each route:
Samson - Samson's route is really well-written! They're both socially awkward shy people with an interest in art and they get along really well. His scenes were cute and I loved that Idril helped him stand up to Brian and pursue his interest in art. Then he returns the favour by supporting her when she's worried about upsetting Lily. I liked all the recurring things in his route, like him and Idril holding doors open for each other, them saying 'I'd love to' when the other invites them out, and them complimenting each other in varying degrees of awkwardness. They're adorable.
Vincent - Idril starts off the game liking Vincent, and Vincent likes her back. They have an accidental kiss in the first few minutes of the game. Then Idril's mom bans her from talking to Vincent and Vincent ends what they have before it even starts, leading to Vincent's route being about him and Idril recovering from that. There's just one issue? I don't really know how Idril and Vincent... interact? I'm told several times that Idril and Vincent are close friends and have liked each other for years, but I barely have any idea what their relationship is like when there isn't this massive awkwardness between them? When I got Vincent's ending and he said 'we can never just be friends, we have too much history between us,' I got confused because I didn't actually know anything about their history aside from the time they first met and the fact that they skipped school together once?
I didn't even realize Vincent and Idril were supposed to be friends my first few playthroughs because, well, you don't actually have to interact with him more than two times after the prologue on any route that isn't his. It is incredibly awkward when Lily says 'oooh, you're sitting with Vincent~!' or when Alex tells me 'Vincent talks about you a lot, Idril, you're obviously super close' or when James spends most of his route talking about Idril and Vincent or when Idril namedrops him in the epilogue, when I haven't actually spoken to him in over a week?
James - The second time you meet James, he stabs Vincent in the arm with a fork for accidentally kissing Idril. Idril notes how creepy and possessive James sounds during the scene itself, since he's screaming things about how she belongs to him and such. James apologizes the day after, though, and spends a lot of time talking about how guilty he feels about the incident during his route. However... despite talking about how he regrets acting that way towards Idril and Vincent, neither Idril nor James address how creepy and entitled he acted towards her for the entire rest of the route? They spend a lot of time on small talk and 'I feel bad about stabbing Vincent, neither of you should have forgiven me when I haven't forgiven myself,' but they don't talk about how James felt like he owned her. The route ends with James forcing a kiss on Idril and Idril having a bad feeling about him for two lines. I was really shocked by the game ending there, since it felt like addressing James' entitlement would be a pretty major part of his route, considering how important the incident caused by said entitlement is.
Brian - Brian is a bully who is dating Idril's friend Atali at the start of the game. One of the first events you can get in the game is Brian badmouthing Atali to his friend, and if Idril confronts him, he threatens her with violence and tries to hit her. The game is clearly aware of Brian being a bully, as Idril can call him out for mistreating Atali, being violent and controlling, pushing Samson around, etc. However, Idril still has the option to go to the dance with him out of pity. But, if you go to the dance with him... Idril seems to lose the ability to call him out on his actions? Even if Idril pushes him away when he forces a kiss on her, he convinces her to go back into the dance and dance with him, with Idril thinking on several occasions that he might be different from his bullying exterior. It's really worrying that Idril seems to be swayed by a guy whose route is full of red flags? Why can Idril reject Nathan but not James or Brian after they both force kisses on her?
Alexander - I really didn't want to do Alex's route, because he's in college while Idril is 16, he has a girlfriend he seems to get along well with, and he's Idril's tutor. However, I found out as I went through his route that, a) Idril had the option to choose whether or not she had a crush on Alex and b) Alex's interactions with her weren't super romantic. He calls her 'shorty,' ruffles her hair a lot, and generally treats her like a new little sister. When I got to his ending, he explicitly said he didn't realize Idril had a crush on him, said he thought they were going together as friends, and specifically mentioned their age difference and that he was getting over heather. I thought everything was leading up to Alex letting her down gently?
And then Alex kissed her back and said 'let's see where this takes us'?
That was kind of the exact opposite of where Alex's entire route seemed to be leading up to, and it raises one major question: why did Alex agree to go out with a high school girl about 4-ish years younger than him that he's known for less than a month?
Nathan - I'll admit, I went in expecting Nathan to be a meme character added for a few laughs, but then he turned out to be really self-aware, mature, anxious, kind, and considerate! From the way he and Idril bantered it really seemed like he could be a great friend of Idril's if they talked a bit more, considering how easily he was able to come up with a witty retort to 'a princess cannot sully her hands with physical labour' and how they both had fun talking about Dig Dug. His scenes are very funny and they all added something fun to his character, like his pacing when he's anxious, his trying to help the arcade, his bad jokes, and so on.
But, well, returning to Vincent comments for a moment... it's kind of awkward when Idril interacts with the guy she's supposed to barely know more than guy she's supposed to be 'childhood-friends-who-have-liked-each-other-for-years' with on every route but Vincent's....
I really liked this game's friendship moments and a lot of Idril's interactions with her father. The game's pacing was really good and I was impressed with the game's features! But I'm kind of conflicted about the romance routes themselves...
Thank you for the effort put into this game. I hope to see more from you!
