Demo's alright, but I'm glad I bought the game on switch.
(They do taste blue ngl)
If I could describe this in one word, it'd be charm. If I could describe it in 81 words, though, I'd say:
This whole project knows everything it wants to do and does all of it amazingly. I found myself laughing at most of the jokes, and downright cackling at the better ones. (And it's in the middle of the night! I am not being respectful.) All of the characters interact in the same way you'd expect a group of friends to behave.
And, the "I will never jaywalk" bit reminds of me of "SUNNY! Don't walk in the road, that's dangerous!"
10/10
So, just getting this out of the way: Amazing game, never had more fun wielding a giant instrument in my life.
But for some reason, the game just feels... Off? I guess? Like, turn on all the lights in the room kind of off/... It might just be the 6th gen graphics, or the severe emptiness of most of the maps (which, don't get me wrong, is a major vibe), but this feels like one of those cursed ARG things with at least one dead kid.
And I have to ask... Is any of that intentional? The unease; the way that it just makes that small voice in the very back of your mind ask if something's not lining up right. This world just feels so desolate, and almost burdened by the weight of oblivion. That makes sense, right? Not sure if I just have a monkey brain but it is getting the heeby and the jeeby.
There's something I myself find refuge in via the themes of this game. Leaving your past self behind, only for practically the whole world to look at you differently. Not to mention it, but, the slight amount of character customisation at the start drives this point home even further.
But, that whole relation aside, this is still one of the best VNs I have read in my short yet voluminous time doing so. The art; story; characters; hell, EVERYTHING about this game; It's all amazing. If there was a world where you could rate things six stars, I'd ask for another.
tl;dr, This is peak
I do not even know what to say after that...
Utmost thanks for gracing my peasant retinas, I guess????
Like, if I didn't finish the whole thing in the span of a night and afternoon, I would have moved this to my desktop to read it faster. Things like these take talent, talent you clearly have in excess. I'll be waiting excitedly for the next chapter!