Certified fun for the whole family, if a bit exhausting at times.

It's written in a strong voice, and the character designs are an interesting mix of good taste and that DeviantArt original character flair. I don't think anything summarizes this better than Camry's ridiculous blue anime hair – if you squint your eyes, the balance of colors works surprisingly well, but you can also pinpoint what we're doing a gentle pastiche of. (Well, the love interest bearing a striking resemblance to another wolf from pop culture is a strong candidate.) Plus, the expressions are all so charming; I love Camry's default sprite, where he looks both mildly smug and like he's on the verge of bursting to tears.

As a spoof VN, EEHAW makes several smart decisions. Firstly, in lieu of getting bogged down in parody of specific works or tropes, it's simply a more loosely constructed journey into the tortured WattPad teen's twisted soul; second, the plot and the world are of the exaggerated sort where just about anything can happen. This lack of constraints does ultimately feel like an advantage, as the game can focus on delivering whatever gags pique its interest. The comedic material is diverse and compelling, ranging from overtly dramatic, flowery action ("an tsunami of crimson vermillion red erupted from the volcano of his spine") to shopping montages accompanied by the protagonist's musings about the degree to which third-world child laborers are morally responsible for microplastics pollution.

However, I do think it could push itself a bit more. You can feel the pacing dragging just a little; no scene feels truly extraneous, but almost all could be trimmed down to move things along faster and increase the density of killer lines. I think that the narrative's slowness also comes down to the fact that though the characters are all pretty fun, group scenes are rare – most of the cast exists on separate islands for Camry to interact with one-on-one, meaning there's a lot of potential in character dynamics that remains unexplored. Couldn't Kari have come to the hospital, for instance? It feels especially strange that we don't get more of Wulver.

Furthermore, EEHAW prefers to work in a mode where it establishes a wacky plot point (e.g. the drama with the father) and then sees it meticulously through to its bitter end. While this approach does have its appeal, it can't help but feel like a missed opportunity that the game doesn't use its surreal tone as a license to subvert its setups more. It feels kind of weird to say that there haven't been that many surprises in the story so far!

I will also say that most of what the VN does with form and visuals is good (I love characters screaming so hard it breaks the boundaries of Ren'py's text box), but there isn't a lot of it yet. Really using the medium is one of those things that elevates a good parody to a great parody.

I do hope there's more coming, however! What exists of Ever Our Hearts Aglow... is a solid foundation, and there is so much good stuff I didn't mention because I don't want to just spoil it all. Go play it, if you dare........