I came here after reading 4 arcs of Our Wonderland and reaching the recommendation to read this spin-off first before proceeding! Despite how much I wished to keep reading (I have been really, REALLY enjoying OW so far, but would love to elaborate on my feelings in a separate review once I finish the full story), I decided to follow the advice and check it out. Just unlocked all the endings, and I have 0 regrets!
After all the suffering, pain, death and severed limbs, it was a breath of fresh air to see these characters engage in some much needed slice-of-life shenanigans and just enjoy a fun little DnD session with a light-hearted atmosphere - is what I wanted to say, until I reached the ending. Gah?! I'm not entirely sure I understood it correctly, but if I did, then all of this was just another, somehow DnDified loop after all! We are back to hell and suffering!!! And maybe we never even left!!!!! WOOHOO!!!!!!!
I love-love-love how this looks! The little animations sprinkled in, making everything feel alive and dynamic, and especially the ending: the music syncing with the visual sequence as Iggy awakens in Jerry's castle, the nose-booping (my favorite!), the actual ending itself! It truly feels like a big, climactic moment! One can trace your evolution here from a somewhat animated but largely static OW, to the bursting with movement WDSR. Oh, and the irl interruptions are really creative! I also love the outfits every character gets! Iggy's sprites are particularly adorable, but Orlam looks dashing as an imp rogue too!
The story was so fun! As I already mentioned, it's nice to get a small slice-of-life break, even if it ends up not being a break at all (not that I mind the suffering - I absolutely love it - it's just that I have come to love these characters so much I can't help but want to see them goof around together for a bit). There was plenty to laugh about, but one of the highlights for me, as someone who is a little bit into programming, was the eye creature's javascript riddles :DD It's nice to see Iggy and Ghent embrace their shounen rivals dynamic. Characters disappearing one by one, Iggy ending up all alone, and even the player's avatars being empty and glitching out was so creepy!.. Once again, the whole ending sequence! I am so happy for Jerry! For once he gets some spotlight! Can't wait for him to suddenly become the most relevant character and the main antagonist in Arc 5!
To summarize, I had great fun and 0 regrets pausing the main novel for this spin-off. Now that I got to take a small breather, I'm ready (or maybe not?..) to delve further into OW and complete the journey that it is. Can't wait!!!