You guys sure are making my self-inflicted task of trying out all of the jam games extra difficult with the length of some of these projects xD Not that I'm complaining! It's awesome to see so many well-developed games ^-^ Plus it's nice to know that my team weren't the only crazy ones, haha. I think I've lost count now of the games I've played so far that took me well over an hour to reach an ending!

Anyways, the art is absolutely gorgeous, the soundtrack is wonderful, and makes the game feel pretty darn relaxing. Cxaxulu (sorry if that's incorrect >.< I did make a quick note, but I may have typed it wrong) is so cute, haha. But I really adore all of the character designs in general. The perspective is really neat too, the way that you get to see the sprites moving like that around the backgrounds. I don't think I've played anything quite like it before.

I haven't exhausted all the choices, so I don't know if there are different endings, but the one I got was very sweet. 

I also loved how you got a lot of the protagonist's inner thoughts because I've read before regarding VNs that a lot of players don't like too much of that, and so it seems like a lot of games try to cit down on it, however, I personally love to hear that sort of inner dialogue from characters, and it was so well-written too :3

My only niggle would be that I struggled to read the text from the apparitions when it was a lighter shade of grey just because it almost camouflaged itself with the box. It was still readable! But I don't have the greatest eyesight so I had to squint, haha.

Well, that was long. I did stay for the entire ride, though.

Cons:

- Locomotives did not exist in the eighteenth century.

- Certain passages could have used more musical variation.

- If Maisie cares so much about Shakespearean grammar, why does she use the formal "you" instead of the informal "thou"?

- The political system does not make much sense. It's hard to figure out who is in charge, to what extent, and why.

- There were no well-developed villains or antagonists.

- The Relationship Ambiguity only gets deeper and denser as the plot progresses, never reaching a resolution. I don't know what to make of our leads and their dynamic at the end, since there is so much circumlocution between them.

- The Cat is the best character. Where did he go?

- I'd love to see at least one feral monster, please.

- So much cooking!!

- How come Cinder claims that she has not been "this warm" for days when she had just pushed her limits the day prior??

Pros:

- Mehru, the Mummy. Everything about him warrants a developed backstory and a stand-alone continuation.

- Maisie's vernacular is nostalgic. At times, I didn't buy it, but her own variation on the forms grew on me.

- The Cat is the best character. Where did he go?

- The Game acknowledges choices I've made earlier.

- So much cooking!!

- There's a lot of verifiable occult lore in this Game. I'd like to have seen more of it.

- What little music there is does stimulate the imagination, and its dynamic variations set a tone, albeit a redundant one by hour two.

- The pixel artistry is both impressive and expressive. There is always something in a shade of grey here.

- Scenes serve "functions" in the overall narrative, as do objects. Narrative fans will likely praise this as an example of structural writing. You are a "blacksmith".

- Thank you for the Grammar and Spelling. I know: it's spooky stuff, these days.

Overall: I gave this Five Stars. It's not an A+, but it's an A. I can tell that a lot of thought went into this, as well as quite a bit of Heart and cooperation. It feels believable.

Rinzai Gigen.

[({R.G.||S.M.G.)}]