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ok I *have* to ask (and I'm so sorry if the answers are somewhere obvious) -- is Astralagus aroace?

the game was sooo cute!

Zilas's voice acting was stellar (game carrying, really, considering the relative lack of narrative choices/things to do) and the art was lovely. The writing was... something.

I'll give credit where it's due: the dialogue, streams, and live comments were pretty believable/entertaining, which made things more immersive. However, the game is soured by its messy pacing and cheap plot twist endings. Look, I read the trigger warnings before playing, and the endings still caught me off guard. It's true, there are some light elements foreshadowing that something is off; however, there just isn't enough to prepare the player when the writing started off coasting at 25mph then suddenly crashed full speed into an ending. Plot twists aren't bad, but a good plot twist should have the reader feeling like the twist was in plain sight the whole time. This game felt like someone had cut the middle 75% of a horror movie, roughly sewing the beginning (where things were largely ok and maybe lightly ominous) and end (where the final girl is covered in blood and screaming in front of a burning house) together.

I won't speak about the writer/director, as I am not familiar with her social media presence or her history. I hope she can take criticism with grace and look at this game as a growing experience.

There are a lot of very nuanced relationships to navigate in this IF, which makes it very fun to RP in. I did not mean to write a small essay but this IF has so many fascinating setups lmao I have brainworms (minor spoilers below)

The relationship between the MC, Lancelot, and Luceris is extremely interesting-- at moments, Luceris often even seems fond of his "bird", whereas Lancelot is very protective of the MC (and seems to have a deeper relationship with Luceris?). The MC I play feels caught between wanting to forge a deeper connection with Lancelot as a guardian figure but feeling betrayed by Lancelot's loyalty and affection for Luceris, realizing that a Shield's first priority is their king.

There's a similar potential divide felt there with Hunter, as they're Helios's Shield. When and if it comes time to choose, there's a hint of uncertainty: will Hunter side with the MC, Helios, or Rosea? Does that affect how close the player allows their MC to be with Hunter?

Also very intriguing (and the most potentially angsty route) is the  relationship between the MC and Helios. It's been fascinating to see these glimpses of Helios's personality and personal philosophy growing up. The MC often compares him to his father, but is his personality all that different from Luceris's prior to the consort's poisoning? Add on the fact that his appearance grows closer to Luceris's by the year, reinforced by its effect on the MC in the latest update, well... Moreover, it's doubtful that Luceris would approve of a budding romance between his two wards, or really, any romance involving Helios based on his reaction to the duke's child, though his thoughts on friendship are more obscure. 

Then, finally, the underlying theme of revenge-- is letting go and being happy the best revenge, as people say? Is finding the truth and potentially clearing your family name the path to catharsis? Would striking Luceris be enough, or must all his collaborators fall as well, even when that list includes Lancelot? Could the best revenge be turning Prince Helios against his father... or even, destroying the prince's heart and trust in a twisted bid to have Luceris watch his son fall to ruin? And if Catarina and your family really did set things in motion somehow... what then? Does it shift the spotlight of the MC's ire?

brain now also thinks Blaire from RCG2 is what all versions of Li look like :') except green hair

immediately going in the follow pile!!

kind of in platonic love with kana?? esp after (maybe) reading every ask about them on the tumblr?

but also (maybe related to being aro lol) i'm really weak to the "I've always loved you" and "reluctant to show feelings" tropes so Li is basically prime material there!

and super, super appreciate the option to stay platonic w everyone and/or focus on seer :), seer and azalea are such incredibly sweet people. I'm extremely weak to sister-sibling relationships, since I'm extremely close with my own sister irl! so happy to dote on seer, she deserves everything good

if you give me the option to endlessly be petting rory, angus, and Dog, I WILL ABSOLUTELY TAKE IT. love them all

I can't stop my brain from attaching its own erroneous hc of what f!rory and kana look like based on their vibes. They both had wonderful physical descriptions that fit them well, so I don't know why my brain is wilding out haha rip...

brain thinks:

- f!Rory looks like Marian from River City Girls 2. It must be the physical fitness and strength combined with the biker aesthetic, while also being friendly, direct, and warm.

- Kana looks like Sam Nightingale from The Seven. Like Sam, they're gorgeous, deeply magical, musically inclined, aquatic, well-dressed, and dealing with trauma....

the pillows song was great for setting the tone of the summers. it was easy to connect with the mc's feelings, and I think a lot of readers can also relate to the conflict between scrambling to hold onto belief and the glaring necessities of practicality. there's something about stories about growing up through summers spent by the ocean that just hit different. great work!

I enjoyed this immensely! The mysteries of the world are beginning to unravel and I'm curious to learn more. I'm also curious to see how the player character's different abilities will come into play.

Deeply surprised and delighted by the amount of gameplay elements planned and visualized in the demo. The game goes far beyond the typical scope of a visual novel and extends the genre into more of a lite rpg.  Enjoyed having side quests, crafting, exploration, etc, and the bgms were very fun. I was also greatly pleased to see different dialogue from background npcs after events occur and time passes. The conversations and explorations uncover a thoughtful amount of world building.

The sprite art is very pretty, and the use of stills of 3d models (much like in many manhwa) for backgrounds is extremely clever. There are some minor spelling and grammatical errors that did not significantly impact my enjoyment of the demo.

All in all, definitely keeping an eye on this project and strongly encourage others to check it out + support the devs!