At first during my replay I was like, why was Damine my favourite he's such a jerk? And then him defending her and the little detail of him fixing the flower bed won me over and I was like oh right that's why.
Then the rest of the story that followed really made me fall in love with the character all over again! I'm so glad, it's as good as I remember!
I feel a little sorry for Aeron in that route, he was such a sweetie even if he did get carried away at the party. And the way it ends with <spoiler>Him saying "Whatever! It's not like it'll last anyways. I'll be waiting here with open arms, Acacia!" As if to comfort himself was so funny! How can you not have a soft spot for a guy that pathetic but sincere, </spoiler> he might not have stood up to the standards of the male leads at all but he was indeed a little cute.
The cg during the <spoiler> Damine proposal scene</spoiler> was so good!
I think a part of what I liked about Damine is that deep down he's just as childish and just as much of a romantic as Acacia is. I also liked the contrast with the way Acacia tries hard to be herself vs he puts on a jerk act for his entourage until she drags his kind side out into the light. Also he's very pretty and strong, so that helps.
- Then we have Edavine! The way this route started with the double drama of Acacia getting publicly embarrassed because she tried to tie her hair and the way our introduction to the male lead involves a loud domestic dispute made me feel like it was nice they had that shared point of empathy.
Aeron showing up earlier made me laugh! Did Acacia 'going crazy with a whip' attract him earlier? That boy really does want to get bent in half by Acacia. And then even though he shows up early Acacia still hangs him out to dry because she catches a glance of Edavine, you shoot you miss Aeron old boy XD But he sure is useful for the plot either way.
I was surprised that we don't get to see Edavine's character model/sprite till after the second choice! But it was worth the wait I love his design. I also found their conversation after the second choice really really fun and I appreciated that he was open about finding her cute from the get go, on the flip side having Damine gradually be forced to admit his feelings to himself and her because he falls so hard was also great, both options were nice to experience lol.
It was also funny that in this route Acacia's mother is pissed about Aeron's interest in her when in Damine's one she introduces him and even funnier how he wins her over just as quick, it was less fun the way he starts lecturing her about behaving less roughly and trying to change her, that's why you're just a side character and not a lead my dude, he was so much more obnoxious and dislikeable in Edavine's route.
I get why Edavine's route is more popular as it definitely feels more fairy tale romance like, he's got five gorgeous cgs compared to Damine's two and has also got that whole bad boy who gets beat up vibe plus his arguments with Aeron were great fun and the ending was so cheerful, but I really do have a soft spot for the character growth we get to see in Damine's route for both her and him so I think I like them equally now.
A fun game.