Damn, did I really wait one and a half years for this visual novel to be finished? Yes. I did.
But the Lord is my witness, have I had to wait fifteen years for this to be completed I would be still as grateful and happy as I am this fine afternoon.
There are some video games that stick to you, like some sort of seasonal flu or a cold. After you play them, or well in this case, read them, you become so focused on them that your life just seems to go by as if it were completely indifferent to you leading it. Yes they leave such an impact, and for a good reason, they have actually got things to say, ideas to convey, or maybe the play on your heartstrings like an angel playing a lute, helping you in your emotional life.
Well truth be told, I seek out these games. They are few and far between like an oasis in a desert or a pearl in a clam colony. You can only really find these if you sift trough everything. Or by sheer and utter luck like I seem to do it, no clue how this stuff happens. Anyway, so I have seen some diamonds among the coal, gold among pyrite, that stuff. I long for the thrill of experiencing these and finding more on the way.
So, I come across this game, 9:22, the details of how I got here are unimportant and quick forgotten, they were only a hindrance in my side in the journey of getting to know this visual novel. My first reading of it is done. I am taken back and disconnected. How come that someone dedicates his lived experiences and writing knowledge and pours it out as if it were porridge, for us all to enjoy? How come that the characters all feel like they have been chipped away and formed for ten thousand years by an all knowing and understanding hand? How come the happening all feel right, and the mystery grows on our backs like moss from a cave wall, with curiosity that we feel even after we are long done with reading through all this? How come this visual novel exists?
Well, I checked, and the latest blog post said the game is still being worked on, the next update will include the whole story, all packaged in. So I checked again some weeks, maybe months later. I checked and I checked again, almost religiously, not dissimilar to how a worried mother checks on if her offspring is still sleeping. I saw the upcoming posts. About how things were going. They gave me a piece of mind and rekindled my hope all the time. And then this dreaded, but awaited day came.
So I gave it another read. Yes, from the beginning, all at once, not in one sitting. The story that was in the old parts was sweet. It reminded me of better times, and the feelings I had amassed reemerged, all of them, gradually and not long after came the new parts, and they were absorbed into me. The feelings, the ideas, all of them happened to flood all of the different parts of my brain with such power that not even the great Noah of old could have saved my bad thoughts and feelings, they were the first to be wiped clean as if it was done with divine intervention. It gave me joy, reading this. The interactions between the characters gave me life. The mystery and grand story line was the salt of my existence in those moments. It was a grand experience like no other.
As I reach the end of this, what do I even say, writing about this visual novel, and my metaphors and thankful remarks run dry I will make things clear. I am very grateful that you worked on this hard to make it the best you could so we all can enjoy this. It was a real pleasure to read through it, and I am satisfied.
I am glad this visual novel exists.