this jumps straight to four or five stars the second the gameplay disappears from the novel. I respect the ambition, but it seems like it's greater than your means... and admittedly the story suffers for it. The "we got sucked into our legally distinct game system to talk about our problems" feels like it comes out of nowhere, and is shoehorned in to provide a reason for the retro tech gameplay.

But otherwise I love the art. It's the best part, Diere's expressions are so good, and I love Lufo getting teased about his Bicep out look. The story... is good? The translation is a bit rough at times, and I think the setup of these two reconnecting, and using some old videogame to sort of segue into spending time together and talking about their feelings works just fine as is, without any supernatural element. If anything it feels like the puzzle game doesn't lead to them talking about their problems, but instead gets in there way and delays it. Hell Diere can't even remember what Lufo did, and I'm not sure we ever really find out. I relate to being in the academia mines, and that getting in the way of the passion projects you're working on, but to use fighting game terms, more focus on your fundamentals, and less on ToD videos you can post to social media, would go a long way!