The art style is appealing, but some character design choices threw me off. Jerry, for instance, looks like a cartoon character mid–chicken pox. Cole is supposed to be a red panda, yet he’s yellow, and honestly, even if he were red, his design reads more feline than anything else.
There are some typos and grammatical issues throughout the demo, including awkward double negatives. Cole’s personality is intentionally grating, and while I get that the devs are leaning into that, it didn’t land for me; it felt more irritating than entertaining.
As of now, Jerry and Parker’s stories feel disconnected. There’s a moment where Cole bothers Parker, but that encounter isn’t acknowledged in Jerry’s route. As it stands, Parker and Jerry have no interaction at all. Most of Parker’s scenes are internal monologues or exchanges with unnamed, faceless characters, which makes his storyline feel especially uneventful.
The game’s tagline promises: “Follow the lives of Jerry Dalmond and Parker King, two students who cross paths at the beginning of the new term.” Ironically, they haven’t crossed paths yet.
I'm interested in seeing where this goes, but woof.