I'm positive that this is the best visual novel I've ever played. And so far, it may be one of my favorite pieces of fiction in this genre from any medium.
The setting is well crafted and interesting, with lots of cool twists and turns with effective foreshadowing and lampshading as needed. It's not too heavy on the exposition and keeps moving forward through character conversations and actions. Too many developers rely on big blocks of uninteresting text to tell their stories, but Eternum's world comes to life through its colorful characters. It leaves me craving more. Top-notch writing.
I won't comment too much on the flavors of spice presented since that's more subjective, except to say that they are portrayed very well. The animations and visuals are excellent all around. But the thing that makes them work so well is the context, the framing, the dialogue, and the tone. It's your typical harem game with college-age young adults we've seen a hundred times, but it's so wholesome and sincere that it just makes me feel nice while playing it. The characters, even the non-sexualized ones, are really funny and endearing and a joy to spend time with. I cheer every time the shopkeeper comes back into the story, and there are many other examples.
I also appreciate that there aren't complicated game mechanics like character stats or an inventory. Even the money you earn seems to be more like a story gate than an actual number you need to worry about. It's all about the story. The branching paths, as far as I can tell, amount to little beyond locking the player out of content with specific characters if they pick the wrong choice. However, I will admit to feeling a sense of satisfaction when I'm able to easily know what options to pick because I know the characters so well. The choices are like a quiz to see if you've been paying attention, and if you get it right, that leads to better outcomes with the love interests. Some folks may not like that, but it didn't hamper my enjoyment in any way. Thankfully, there is a good amount of feedback in the writing to let the player know if they've made a good choice or not, making it obvious when you need to rollback and pick something different.
The only mild criticism I can manage is that some of the major plot events are glossed over and resolved more easily than I would like. Each chapter ends with a cliffhanger that feels very important, with major implications for the story. However, those cliffhangers get resolved almost instantly in the opening screens of the following chapter. I'd love to see some of these major events, like what happened to the protagonist at the end of 0.7 to make larger waves in the narrative.
Overall, wonderful story. It's the kind of thing I'll keep archived on my hard drive and come back to every once in a while for fun. I cannot wait to see how this all plays out. And btw, if Caribdis would like a beta reader on the script, I'll sign whatever NDA they want. I'm an amateur self-published author writing similar types of stories, and I know the value of in-depth feedback.
Keep up the amazing work, and thanks for making this.