Why you gotta end on a cliff-hanger like that >.>
Anyway, the best thing about this entry is definitely the jokes. My humor is so dry I laugh at every single one of them. Guess I’m just a MARCUSbird.
Implementation of Theme: Folklore in this entry is quite unclear, though I’d assume it’s referring to magic and the occult in general (aka the very normal demon summoning circle and even more normal talking cat). It is the catalyst for the story’s events to start of course, but it doesn’t seem to be the centerpiece of the story. In the entry, the focus seems to be much more on the characters (which is a good thing don’t get me wrong), still, as of the current moment, it doesn’t seem like magic (or in this case “folklore”) affect character development in any meaningful way; even after a quite frankly “I would have a panic attack” event, their personality doesn’t change a whole lot on the surface.
Story: In a similar sense, the story mainly is in its infancy, with mostly relationship setup and establishing stakes. With what it currently has, it’s hard to judge the story because the reader has barely seen anything to judge meaningfully. Also, it reads to me like this VN is going to have two routes, because the way MC is gay for Luiz (wanted to get pet more) and somehow ADHD’d himself into sniffing Marcus’ fur (like ???). In this build, Marcus is favored one-sidedly if that was the case, and it felt quite jarring, especially since it seemed like MC was more into Luiz at the start. Also regarding that, the sudden rain felt contrived the way it’s just there to put the cg in. I get that there’s probably an explanation for that (something like the witch did it to separate the group or something), but for now it definitely felt contrived. For the characters, they feel a bit same-y to me, it seemed like all of them are just a template of liking to crack witty jokes + one extra trait of their own. I’m pretty sure at some point I even mistook Marcus for Luiz because they sound so similar and had to reread (maybe its just me). Nothing regarding Jane tho, she a diva.
Presentation: It’s consistent, I love the barely visible dolls behind the game menu. The sprites are very cute and cuddly, and I checked around a bit and apparently the cat has sprite variations. To be honest, the cat’s sprite difference is already small, and it doesn’t help that it’s tiny when shown even at full screen. The other effects are really cool, especially the part after the summoning. Also tension was held decently well despite all the witty jokes, and I jumped a bit the first time the music abruptly changed. I do wonder about the choice of playing whimsical music while the group was exploring the abandoned college at night though (and also it looked more like a high school than a college). The background was stylized in a way that fits well with what the story was trying to convey: the coziness of the daytime classroom; the sense of liminality with the dark empty hallway, etc… Though a small nitpick is that in the first scene the image is of a classroom, not an auditorium like what was described.
Writing: Probably the weakest point of the entry, there are use of wrong sentence structures, missing period, overuse of commas, wrong word usage amongst others. At least I’m dry enough that every joke landed and I also got the references. There was no real highlight in this aspect, as the story doesn’t get to approach its climax to give the writing a chance to hit. Overall, even with its errors, its at least understandable. Also obligatory Hatiko mention I respect it.
Creativity: Nothing against tropes but I feel like high school/college stuff has been done a thousand times now. Of course, there was effort in making it unique, though the setting itself certainly didn’t leave much of an impression. There was a bit of Among Us (lol) at the end that gives it a bit more uniqueness, but then of course the cliffhanger kinda just jumped in. Not a lot to say here, though even if the trope is overused I still like it and totally would read it.
Rating: 4-3-4-2-3
P.S Why is it that coming out of the VN I just like Jane the most; like go gurl drop the most iconic line in the scene and then let the men be gay for each other or something.