OH GOSH.
OH
OH OH OH
Ok I have finally played all the way through this. Actually, since I knew it was pretty long, I was going to take a couple days and play like one or two chapters a day but I ended up playing the whole thing today because every time I stopped for a bit I couldn't stop thinking about it so I would go back to it for "just a bit more" and then eventually I just got to the end LMAO
SO IT WAS QUITE ENGAGING. LET'S JUST SAY THAT.
Oh gosh though where do I begin OK I WILL JUST START WITH...
...the design 😌 IT. IS. EXCELLENT.
HELLO???? IT'S LIKE A MOVING COMIC BOOK / STORY BOOK / IMMERSIVE ANIMATION MOTION PICTURE???? I'm not sure I've ever played a VN like this before and it was just BEAUTIFUL! Every scene was so immersive. From the composition to the art itself to the animations. To the full CGs that really set the tone to the fun little cut-aways of the characters' faces and how you'd use all kinds of fun panning effects to use different types of shots and add a real cinematic quality to everything. It was just. A LOT. So so so much there to just fall into and experience. It was so wonderfully done, every single part of it. Also adding here that things like the menus and the cute little tutorial and just everything about it felt so polished and fun and unique and innovative and GUHHHHHHH.
THE MUSIC IS DELIGHTFUL. Some of those tracks really got me hard and pulled me in. Everything paired so well with the scenes and the emotions to really amp things up. And the WRITINGGGGGGGGG. It is SO beautifully descriptive and just an absolute delight to read. AND GOD LIKE. THE WORLD-BUILDING?? HOLY COW.... there is SO MUCH GOING ON. And you did such an excellent job of not just DUMPING it all on us but feeding it to us bit by bit through the story and characters themselves. I never felt overwhelmed or like I'd never be able to remember anything since I was only given the most important bits I needed to know right then and there, helping me build the world of the story together in my mind as things progressed. Which I just found so lovely. There are just so many fun small details and all these intricate backstories and complex relationships and gosh golly geez that must be so much to keep track of HAHAHA. Admittedly I'm not great at following and understanding a ton of political stuff, but I found it pretty easy here, especially since the characters themselves were so well-written and easy to attach myself to, so it made it easier to follow all of the complex inner workings of the government and the nobles and the families and god just so much LMAO It really felt like a living breathing world with years and years of history.
Ok I haven't even talked about the story yet HELP. I found the story SO. MUCH. FUN. As someone who grew up playing RPGs and other various games about saving the world and going on some giant adventure, I'm all too used to reaching the end and everything be like yaaaaay but then also me being like gosh I wonder what would actually come next after this???? So I found this whole premise an absolute delight and such a unique and fun start to everything. I love how the characters all have so much history between them and you can tell even from how they act and their dialogue how close they all are and you can see all these little references to things they've experienced together. Also I'm just like.... ------------ OK I reached the end of Act 1 / the demo and was like HELLO WHAT LKDJFALSKDJFALKDSFADFALKDSJFA??????? But I will not spoil it here BUT HO-LY COW. What a cliffhanger and now I'm just like PLEASE I NEED TO KNOW MORE. What a fantastic build-up. The whole first arc is just really well done, introducing us to all the chars slowly over the course of also revealing much of their history, their struggles, the current WEIRD STUFF going on, and just building building building until that BANG moment. And then the re-use of the beginning puppet-esque storytellling thing GOD THAT WAS SO GOOD HELP.
The characters themselves -- I LOVE THEM????? OK maybe not Hugh so much he was kind of a douche though I did like how he at least stepped in for us that one time with the princess. But Sei is just such a cutie and I love his and Shizu's relationship and he is just like this sweet little guy that apparently also kicks ass but he doesn't act like and I find that very endearing. Liam is hilarious?????? I got a number of laugh-out-loud moments from his dialogue. I especially like the part where he and Shizu went to go to the little town to investigate the thingie I don't know I felt htat really showed a lot of his personality and it was just very fun. I LOVE FAYE????? HE IS VERY CUTE AND SWEET. I honestly can't decide he might be my fav but I do love Liam and also Sei so I... do not know. UhhhHHHHHHH OH THAT SILVA GUY I admit even though he seems like an asshole it's in a way that intrigues me and I'm Very Curious to know more because he seems like me might wreck me slightly. And of course Shizu herself???? I admit I love the fact that this ISN'T a self-insert, because I tend to enjoy non self-inserts more. That's just a me thing though LOL I think it might come a bit from my ace-ness and generally preferring to not be involved in any way personally in the stories I engage with and prefer to ship chars with each other. And in that regard I loved Shizu a lot. She just has so much personality and is a really fun and conflicted character that is just so desperately trying to figure herself and her life out, which is something I can also relate to so much GOD. Her dialogue with all the LIs was so much fun, especially some of the snarky back-and-forths she can have with Liam.
OK GOD I will stop rambling this is literally turning into a novel and I must stop. BUT. I really enjoyed this A TON. It just really pulled me in straight from the start. Great characters, writing, and story mixed with an absolutely delightfully immersive design and so much great art and animation! I shall be waiting for more with bated breath!!!! 🤭💕
(also apologies there are probably rampant typos in here I just stream-of-conscious-nessed this whole thing in a flurry of rampant thoughts LMAO)