GOD THIS GAME.
I feel like I've just returned from a long beautiful journey sitting here writing this. What an absolutely gorgeous game in literally every single way! Everything is absolutely RADIANT and dripping with elegance.
SHALL I START WITH THE UI? I SHALL. It is... the most gorgeous thing I've ever laid eyes upon. The sheer elegance and detail! It ties everything up together like some sort of antique box of treasures that you can't help but want to open. Or... or... like Eshe's music box! So refined and exquisite that you're afraid you'll break it if you try to open it. At any rate. It was simply to die for.
THE MUSIC. YE GODS. Literally transportive. The theme playing through most of your time walking through the house was beyond gorgeous, lending every move I made a sort of tragic beauty. It gave me so little whiffs of nostalgia—my mind jumping from things like The Secret Garden to The Witch's House to even the soundtrack from It because of a certain chord progression I kept hearing LOL So absolutely beautiful. (ALSO I AM SOBBING THERE'S ONE SONG IN THERE THAT I RECOGNIZED DKAFJLSDKF but it's driving me crazy as now I can't remember what site it was from—the one that often plays when Vivica talks to you.)
THE ARTWORK. GGUUUUUUUHHHH. Why does everything little look like a museum-worthy painting worth thousands of dollars??? Breathtaking tbh. I was blown away by just how BEAUTIFUL everything was. The mirror painting?? THE ENDING CGS???? Just tear out my heart (like Vivica LOL).
And of course the story itself! I'm in love with how you set up the narrative structure for this! I was so entranced the whole time wondering what was going on and how dreamlike the bits and pieces of the story were presented. Honestly like navigating a surreal yet beautiful dream. The idea to collect all the different keys was wonderful! It made me want to explore every nook and cranny to get the different keys so I could unlock the epilogues. And such great use of different effects to really lay on the magical quality of everything. I chose Vivica's epilogue first as I found everything about her so fascinating. Though there was something so heart-squeezing and poignant about Isabelle's that really got to me. And Eshe's just felt so heart-warming. GUH. They were all great.
OK I'M GOING TO STOP RAMBLING NOW. Anyway. This was beyond gorgeous. An absolute treat and a magical experience that everyone should play!! Thank you so much for this piece of beauty! 💕