Wow. I'm floored.
Spoilers for the game ahead, please try to play it first.
Just finished it.
I really didn't expect this. I was... honestly groaning at first when I saw the GF was a typical Yandere who overreacts, and thought that the title was about her after all, not the protagonist. But the twist of the Protagonist actually liking Gore and taking the murder as a gift was enough to let me back in. I laughed at first of confusion, but then came the other endings.
I think it's a good deconstruction. The use of repeat playthroughs was chilling and well-done. I particularly liked seeing the change in perspective of run 4 and 5.
I think it's the first time I actually saw the Yandere trope used in a meaningful way. Showing her as someone who can understand the protagonist's most shameful desires and be there for them, only to have the different perspectives of run 2 and 4 snatch that away, show that you can have friends who are disgusted by gore and violence but who will support you because they know you're good, or other people who like taboo stuff and will bond with you over it.
The result is to show that, no, the love of a yandere is unhealthy, even there. There can be no ending as long as she is around.
The mental deterioration of the protagonist was well done too. The background becoming fuzzier, the loops... the constant smiling without saying anything was creepy. There is that sense of guilt, self-hatred piling up. Ash was relieved to find someone who would understand them (even if finding the murder of your best friend hot was a bit out of it) only to have to face what they said in the new context... and wanting desperately to end this.
The ending is bitter.
...
...I liked this. It was much more than I anticipated.
Thank you. I'll probably let this... sink in and get the sequel.
Tsilla
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[Spoilers for the ending.]
I got this book from the Palestine aid bundle.
The premise was really interesting, be it the setting of the tomb or the concept of Ree. An archivist learning about ancient magic, and deciding to research and learn it, at the cost of being powerless in the meantime, in order not to be locked into the path of necromancy.
I liked the writing as well, as well as the humour, and it read easily. I spent the best part of one of my shifts at the library reding through it, after being intrigued by the premise of a librarian.
However and sadly, I can't really recommend the book without talking about its last portion, which felt like it really came out of the blue and was quite disappointing.
Long story short for people who don't want to be spoilered:
time travel that doesn't really feel well-integrated or meaningul, character who is seemingly all-powerful without much reason, and weak payoff to a major plot element.
***
At some point, Ree, to learn about the ancient magic she's been seeking for years, enters the territory of the Lich, a necromancer so old and powerful he's been stripped of humanity. And... the Lich, not managing to kill them with a curse, sends them back in time through a ritual.
I don't exactly understand how someone locked into necromancy managed to cast time travel. I might not be seeing a link that was explained and I missed. But time travel is something very powerful that can easily mess with the balance of a story.
Here, little is really done with it. It mostly serves as exposition of some background elements and to set up the next arc, where the protagonists have to undertake a dark ritual or die. You could say that Ree going to the past is what set someone practicing the magic she sought to write a book about it, but she already had found plenty of books about the subject, and it didn't feel like time travel was necessary for the plot.
Then, there is the problem of a character learning necromancy and being able after two months to do several really impressive, bordeline impossible feats, which is... half explained by the fact that "a necromancer who would also be a scholar and commit to learning would become the most powerful of all", and half explained by his drive to prove people who looked down on him wrong. The problem is that his amount of power doesn't feel earned. The character surpasses many powerful necromancers in two months, and, even starting as a strong magic user, it doesn't feel right in the context of the book.
Last... Ree continuously thinks about how people who looked down upon her for not learning necromancy will regret it when she learns this ancient magic and shows them how powerful she can me and make them fear her.
The problem with that is that the only use of that magic in the book (apart from a speed boost?) is to shapeshift into a crow. There is a discrepancy between the amount of hype and the end result. This might partly be a set-up for the sequel, where we'll see what's exactly so fearsome about therianthropy, but it feels pretty underwhelming in comparison to everything necromancy can do.
I'm sorry to have to be negative about this book. I really liked the setting, the writing, and the beginning, and I wish my review reflected that more instead of talking about the ending. If you're looking for something light with likeable characters and can disregard (or are not bothered by) the points I mentioned, go for it.
Played it and tried to find every outcome
Didn't notice the feet till the last playthrough (even though they're literally in the preview).
[Spoilers]
In order of endings, I got
Child Soldier - Artificial - Acceptance - Johann - Alien - Activated
It's... a sad game. Interesting. But sad. Kinda hopeful in some places (the child soldier, being thankful for the person who is gone but managed to pull you through life's hardships hit close, as I think I have some kind of PTSD too (from totally different circumstances)). I always got artificial and alien at the same time. Dunharai. It's... interesting. I like how "normal" she felt in the artificial one, asking to meet her maker, and noting other humans feel the same way.
The Johann ending was very sad. I didn't really want to prod around that, but it kept coming. An abusive ex. Laynie was 17 and suffered so much.
Honestly, the activated ending was the one I didn't really care for. The other were all interesting in their own manner, but that one felt... too much?
I don't know. I liked that game.
I think the option to skip text you've already seen and the intro would have helped going through several playthroughs, though.
Also, I was pretty skittish towards removing the teeth and the eye. The eye was easier than I thought, as someone else in the comments said.
Thank you for this game.
Hello.
I really like your game so far. Well. Played the green road until the very bad end as immigrants from Green Islands and that shocked me enough to make me stop playing it from some time. Anyway.
I tried playing again, pink (sharon) route, as French immigrants from the Marianne Empire when I noticed some problems. "Ignoring Charlotte" and "Ignoring Sharon" both lead to Marie ignoring Charlotte. And I don't know why, but the Act II seems to end right away if I pick an option about Sharon's clique being there, and Act III starts then.
I'm a bit confused. Can I have some help please ? Thank you.
(Also, as a French person, I second what was said earlier. J'en avoir plein le cul is not... grammarly correct, no one says Sacre bleu (it's Sacrebleu, which no one says either. No idea why people are saying tigress or lion or little lion. I'm confused.)