Phenomenal in my very biased opinion, absolutely underrated. How come there's barely any fan content for it? Ao3, tumblr, TikTok, there isn't even any video covering this on YouTube!! This is so peak that I had to create an Itch account just to leave this review.
Long review short: the game is well-paced, and Myrddin is realistically written, like you're talking to a "real person". You don't feel the cringe from the game trying to be a real experience, the creator tackled that problem decently well, but I'm not telling how since that'd be stepping into spoiler territory. Myrddin is a natural charmer with a unique and aware personality.
Imagine a well-meaning, knowledgeable, and reliable big-brother type character. That's what I see him as ||at least at first||. He also has a lot of childish moments, properly sprinkled throughout the game, which I find pretty cute, it makes him more 3-dimensional and less shallow.
I recommend you invest in this VN; it's not monstrously perfect, a cream-of-the-crop masterpiece, or a work from the second coming of William Shakespeare, but it's a fun and engaging story that leaves you with a lot to think about. This VN will be in your mind for at least a few months with the amount of interesting content to solve, backtrack, and reflect on once the full game is released.
WARNING!!! SPOILERS BELOW!!! NONESENSICAL RAMBLES!!
I'm the type of person who prefers playing games blind, so I didn't even spare a glance at the main page to avoid getting spoiled, immediately scrolling to the download page. ||So imagine my surprise when I first opened the game and was immediately flash-banged by 3 ciphers. I'm just a casual player, so I pasted the codes on Google, nada, got nothing, so I was forced to solve them manually.
After fumbling with decoder websites, 2-3 hours later, I finally got some readable English, albeit incomplete. I got "The lock hums my name in thel£ÇJvWt...swallow the hours like rust. Somewhere, a door dreams of opening." after connecting all three ciphers at the start of the game. I plan to fully translate this when I have more time.
My experience throughout the game reminded me so much of my naïve days playing DDLC blind. That neck snap particularly gave me trauma flashbacks to Natsuki lmao. Myrddin is such a creature, I can never form a solid opinion of you.
His charming "haha I'm an awkward genius anime boy with a mysteriously sad and cryptic backstory" exterior is fr so deeply ingrained in my mind that despite all the creepy and cryptic events pointing to him not to be trusted, I just can't help but lower my guard whenever he talks. Are you good or bad? Are we going to a more grey route? Are The Outers the enemies, or is it Myrddin? Are you an Eldritch being or something? What are you, and why is the player being prevented from seeing your face? Why is there a "physical" manifestation of "water" whenever Myrddin uses his abilities? Did he make it that way? Was it originally that way?
Being a casual player sucks because I'm sure there's so much more to this, and I'm interpreting things all wrong, but I'm too inexperienced and stupid to pinpoint those details. I have so many theories on how the game will progress, too.
Anyhow, I'm otw to fumbling with game files and doing a few re-plays to see if there's any hidden lore that needs to be decoded.
(Also, I just found out there's another cipher on the game's Itch page, which was echoed at the end of the game's latest update: Do not Trust the False Messiah." What's up with the weird capitalisation on "not"? Can it also be read as "Do Trust the Messiah"? Ughhhh I can't form a solid opinion. This is so peak. Is Myrddin the Messiah? In what way is he a messiah? Is the Messiah The Outer?? The implication of a messiah is weird itself, is the phrase more of a metaphor??)
Finally, ToMyself, your work is loved, and thank you for letting us have this experience!!! We look forward to more of your work and beautifully crafted art that really fits the VN genre. Please don't rush yourself. I hope your passion for this game never fades!
Much love, player.
(You can tell this is my first time commenting on something with how hard it was to read all this. Sorry.)