This VN was a roller coaster of emotions! I found myself getting really invested and feeling sympathetic for each of the characters. Especially Reno who was my personal favorite! That poor boy! T_T Their struggles were so relatable! I love Anna as our leading lady and appreciate that she has a backbone. I love to see such a strong, female protagonist. ♥

Like Anna, I didn't care for Kalian at first, but he won me over before the end. He really is much more likable as a love interest when he's being sincere and selfless, putting the safety of others before his own. The sort of hero you love to root for and see succeed, even if he does make for lousy management material. But I like it when characters have flaws, because it makes them feel more realistic. This VN proves to be self aware of its characters' strengths and weaknesses which makes it feel mature and insightful.

 What impressed me the most, was the layers of depth found in all of the characters. Could definitely feel the creator's love and passion for them. I can tell a lot of thought was put into their personalities. I especially admire the growth that happens between Anna and Kalian (I want to play Albion's route, too!). The romance was masterfully handled. It wasn't instantaneous, which I appreciate with this being a tale of strangers to lovers. Instead there was more of a gradual curve as they came to better understand one another overtime  and support one another—even when they disagreed—during these difficult times. I found it very sweet, heartwarming, and pure. Love to see it in an otome!

My only complaint really, is it wasn't as action forward as I initially thought. Anna's narrations felt somewhat long winded and repetitive at times. In regards to the plot and setting, I wanted less 'telling' and more 'showing'. Either in the form of more CGs or perhaps sprites depicting some of the background characters such as the infected or the wounded soldiers since they were the focus of main conflict within the story. However, if for some reason the dev(s) are unable to produce more artwork, this could also be done in the form of writing via Anna narrating using more immersive sensory descriptions (sights, sounds, smells, etc.) as opposed to vaguely mentioning what the background characters are doing.

It's not just the narrator's job to tell the readers what's happening, but to recreate the experience, so that the readers can better immerse themselves into this world. And we do this by making use of those five senses to establish tone. It makes storytelling more interesting to read by giving it that extra polish.

Another suggestion, in order to better immerse the readers into the plot is to add some sort of survival elements, where the choices Anna makes during the more action-oriented scenes could possibly lead to a bad ending where her, the love interest, or another character gets injured or even killed. Increasing the stakes is another way of adding more emotional  tension and depth, not just through the characters, but the experience. Just some things to take into consideration should the creator wish to add anything more to this or future projects.

But despite my criticisms, as it is, I find the depth of the characters to more than make up for the lack of action. Which makes sense considering this is portrayed more as a tale of romance than fantasy/adventure. I found this to be a wonderfully charming story and I am excited to play through Albion's route in the hopes of learning more about the characters and their world. ♥