bleak, crisp worldbuilding and beautifully weighty prose make for an engrossing experience. this game pulls the player in, grips them tight, and forces them to ruminate despite the game's own sense of urgency. every word here does its share of work and then some. haunting and a lovely display of what i've come to think of as ayu's signature: lush, evenly-fleshed syntax and the uncompromising bone grit that composes its spine, occasionally protruding to keep the player on their toes.