Nightshift Librarian is a true, uncompromising work of art. It's an incredible experience tossing you between grounded, real interactions, and dreamlike, sometimes horrifying, surreality. The artwork especially is so unique and masterly crafted, that each entry could serve as its own story. Each music piece is also perfectly tailored for each section of the story, additionally enhancing whichever emotion you are already feeling from the reading and the artwork. 

It's difficult for me to describe the art work. It is so perfectly detailed and abstract at the same time, that despite the rough lines, sometimes strange perspectives, and blurry faces, I am immediately placed in that scene that I'm looking at. It is extremely immersive. I think all you have to do is look and at it and understand for yourself. The art is by far the best part of this game. Each piece could serve as its own art piece in a gallery, and we the audience would spend hours looking at them, understanding them. 

It is not a work completely devoid of flaws however. In the context of the game, I found myself at times wishing for some more correlation between the text and artwork, specifically in the details mentioned in the text, but left out of the art. For example when the narrator describes a feint green light from a student in the library, I would have loved to see that little flicker in the artwork. Or perhaps a close-up of all these old books described. It is not a major issue at all, but something that would enhance my immersion with the text further. 

The music, as mentioned, is perfect for this. You can really tell that Mistrain made exactly what they wanted with this. It is unfortunate then that the music does not seem to loop perfectly (perhaps it's an issue with the implementation), which briefly breaks my immersion every time it does that slight pop. 

The manuscript of the game is phenomenal, the story itself, the characters, and some of the writing is simply beautiful. But I can't help but feel that Mistrain might have been able to make use out of a proof reader, or even an editor. There are spelling and grammar errors, which are not a big problem in and of itself, except when they actually cause confusion for the reader. Although reading the main character's conversation with Josef in Chapter 4, this might be intentional, but regardless it at times comes off not that way, and takes me out of the moment to try and wrap my head around a sentence. I think a proof read could have gone a long way. Someone to simply ask what Mistrain meant by a certain sentence, or to simply point out that wet leaves actually do not crunch. It doesn't ruin the experience but with slightly more consistent writing, this would be an easy 5/5 for me. I think some texts are a bit too long as well. The artwork does so much of the story. I'd say let it! I do love how Mistrain plays with the actual text though, redacting some parts, highlighting others. I think they could have gone even further with it, especially during the climax, making the words themselves behave irrationally. 

I hope this review does not come across as too negative. Again, it is an AMAZING work of art, and it's clear how much passion went it to it. And some of the imagery will stick with me for a long time. I highly recommend this to anyone who appreciates good art, and the abstract realities that we all can feel present at times.