Oh my goodness, I am absolutely in-love! This is amazing! I am, for one, so glad to see dark topics and situations handled so freaking well. I don’t, at all, understand negative reviews when warnings and even “safe word” and “aftercare” options were included. It’s astounding. It means the viewer didn’t do their job correctly, not that the dev didn’t. Anyway, I loved the grit and wit, heh. I loved the world-building. I loved the setting and locations - the art is gorgeous, the music is a character in itself, I loved it.
The dark situations are handled excellently, with aplomb. They’re tactful and decisive, and I loved the choices that were available in them - ranging from scared reactions to excited and even turned-on reactions - that’s amazing. I can count the number of games that tackle such topics, situations, and even choices like this on one hand. I’m so happy to see it done, here, and done so freakin’ well. Incredible. Thank you. It’s beautiful.
Beyond all that, the characters. Holy cow. I found myself falling in love with each of them, in their own rights. And that almost never happens. I joke, but VNs and LI games tend to be 60/40 as far as the LIs go, imo. But this? Each one was 100% something I wanted in their stories. I legit found myself liking each of them, genuinely. More than all that, though, each of them are just so very well-developed that I could tell what situations were genuine or risky, what choices would benefit or detract, etc. I also found myself thinking about the future chapters for each of them, diving head-on into the world and everything. That’s how well-dev’d the world and the characters are.
The masks/coverings/strangers aspect was also so well-handled, and it was basically another variable that added to each the world, characters, and even the situations/choices, and the subsequent feelings. It was a constant struggle of both liking and hating them, which is so genuine, when you think about it. And it’s such a great and interesting way to handle a game with LIs, rather than just a platformer/rpg/puzzle-game or something, you know? It’s an added factor to consider.
Even the side-characters were so great and endearing. The shop owners (and cousins), even the scary ones, the bouncer, the babysitters, the thief crew, the party attendees - they’re all just very animated in their own rights - they’re not typical NPCs, they have real and true personalities, and they legit made me feel things. Like, I could feel nervous or excited in the situations with them, and that almost never happens with side-characters or NPCs. So, absolutely well-done, there, too.
The branching was excellent. I already thought dev’ing a game like this was way beyond my purview. But seeing how diverse the choices were, and the different ways to branch of from each one - and even the different ways you somehow/give yourself a chance to rejoin/unbranch, if that makes sense? Anyway, it just further solidified the skill and hard-work that goes into this type of story-building. Y’all did freakin’ amazing. I was so happy to go back and try to get different situations with different choices, and that lead to me trying for all the endings (I got them!), and ao;jfa;sjfa;jflasjdf. I just cannot explain how happy it made me to do all of that, and how that, in itself, made me happy - because it just doesn’t happen very often at all to me. It normally feels like too much work, like a chore, but this was just such a blast to do, even over and over again.
I cannot, I repeat: cannot, wait for the full release, or more chapters, or whatever the term should be. This was incredible. Both new and interesting, original, and grand, and just beautiful. I loved it. Every minute of it. Literally. Every. Minute. The only negative thing I can say is that it’s incomplete. And even then, one, I knew that ahead of time. But two, that’s kind of a good thing as well, because it means I have more to do, more to look forward to. And like I said, I cannot wait for that!
10/10, guys. 100% would-recommend.
(but please, read the tws, because it’s an absolutely travesty for those who want to see things like this, but then they’re overloaded with -1s because the reader didn’t read properly).