(Review is based on the Steam demo, previously posted there)

The accessibility is notably good, which comes as no surprise after Brok. Only thing "missing" is sound captions, but as the sound design is either peripheral or already combined with visual indicators, it's not critical. 

The art is straight up impressive, and that's beyond the thought and skill that went into the visual design of the characters to convey their personalities and roles in the world. Each sprite is just so dynamic with their poses and expressions, and the hand-animated lip-syncing becomes even more insane considering the sheer volume of different variation in expressions. 

Most of the optional interactions with Objects in the world give some kind information in favour of the narrative, which is worth mentioning as similar features in games I've played have been hit-or-miss whether what one gets out of it justifies exploration. It would be good if objects which have been interacted with - and will give nothing new if interacted with again - would be distinguished from new things. (As examples, in the first area it's mostly rocks or shrubbery, and I was stuck on progression a while as one had to pick the same dialogue option twice.)

As a visual novel, the most critical aspect is of course the narrative. While the demo runtime is on the shorter side, I'd say it pulls off the setup of giving the Squealers more complexity by painting them as underdogs actively screwed over by society, establishing core character dynamics, and hinting at the conspiracy. I also liked how Chief is being portrayed as brusque for utilitarian reasons, which feels like it's going to play into the management aspect of the gameplay (balancing risk/safety). If I look to critiques, there's a fair bit of Chief practically monologuing exposition at the player, which may have been better implemented through dialogue with other characters instead.

Either way, I look forward to All The Rats! For reasons I'm sure are obvious, seeing 'em get the spotlight in such a polished and expansive game is very exciting 🐀