This was a sweet little story, with an interesting albeit absolutely unhinged premise. I'm sorry but I have to get that out of my system first.
I thought how this entire set up is really interesting and wondered why isn't it done more. We've seen an opposite sex arranged marriage a million times, and stories about queer people being forced into one have been done too. But an arranged same sex marriage? Kinda cooking, but at what cost.
I read this in a group and the spiciest take one person had is that this story would be a lot more interesting if one or both characters were actually straight. That would be a drastic departure from the author's vision and it got me worried that it could easily go some unintentionally dark place, so I'm not on board. It does leave me wondering, and we ended up with some question about Brock specifically. The reveal that his partner is another man was a shock to everyone in the game, and it was also a shock that he agreed to the marriage. I kept asking myself if his family knew he was gay back then. I wonder if he himself realised he's gay before that? We don't get many answers, but we get some little unhinged details about this entire setup that only lead to more questions.
Speaking of which, everything about William... His parents basically catfished Brock's family, didn't reveal his gender or name (I'd have a crumb more understanding if William had a unisex name and they all expected a woman from being told the name and then were in for a surprise), SHIPPED HIM TO ANOTHER CONTINENT, ALL ALONE, and then didn't even attend the wedding? 😭😭😭 I'm not sure if this is something that hasn't been given much thought cause of the tight jam deadline, but it's diabolical lmao
Absolutely wild marriage set up shenanigans aside, I did enjoy the story. The initial loveless marriage tension was done well, even if with much used images of the pillow barrier or one partner not wearing the wedding ring. My favourite part was Brock as a character and his inner dilemma. I'm an absolute sucker for characters who deeply care, but are unable to express it due to self loathing, but they still can't stop themselves from showing affection some ways. The fact that he makes a coffee for William every morning ,but never sits down to have it together with him is the perfect example of this.
What I'm less thrilled about was the resolution. The significance of The Badger's Moon was good, but I feel like Brock's inner turmoil was contrived and wouldn't survive for so long. It seems like this is the first serious pushback he received in two months and his insecurities immediately crumble.I do understand what the story was going for, and the way they bond through The Badger's Moon (and its significance of protecting the household from the cold, both literal and in this case marital) was done well, but it felt like this tension deflated too easily. What I expected was something more dramatic or cathartic. We got William pushing Brock out of his comfort zone a bit, but introducing more stress and conflict between them could have lead to a final confrontation where they are finally honest and reveal their insecurities and come out stronger on the other side. Another option would be having an even more sentimental climax. I found it weird how there is a line about Brock crying on the walk to his parents, but he takes what should be the emotional finale pretty stoically. Of course he is in a better place, but it feels like his anguish mostly disappeared instead of being released.
As for the proseitself, I'd say it was an improvement compared to A knight's myosotis. There were some weird times where the tenses got switched up for no reason that threw me off, and many sentences were pretty plain and lacked flourish or anything fun. I feel like scenes when Brock is alone have this habit of just describing things in a very matter of fact way, especially listing things he does without any flare.
Lastly, I want to say that I enjoyed the art! I think the characters were cute, their sprites expressed who they are (Brock's posture being very stiff is perfect considering he's suffering from having a stick up his ass), and the figurines on the bag in the end are soooo cute (main menu change too!). My fav illustration is probably the opening shot at the wedding though.
All in all, it was a sweet game I enjoyed, with my fav parts being the sweet sentimentality and the protagonist's big mental blockade. Despite harping on it a lot, I do like the insane set up about the marriage... I just wish the game milked the entire thing for more drama or more sweetness.