OK I've finished it now thanks to the clue about being able to skip 🤭
And I have to say, what an absolutely unique, wonderful, and beautiful game this is!! I'm in awe?? The amount of work that went into this feels like it must be astounding, there's just so many different parts and moving pieces and everything is so wonderfully polished and immersive and gorgeous! Opening it up is like stepping inside a gorgeous but chilling (and rather impish at times) fantasy world, and I'm still just trying to sort my head around all the different stories and interconnected pieces happening inside of it.
[Note that there will probably be some vague spoilers here, but I'll try to avoid saying anything TOO specific but also I can't entirely avoid it because I need to talk about these things!! LOL]
I'm not sure I've ever experienced a story quite like this before -- there's just so many different layers!! And then how it all becomes connected at the end, with a variety of different (good and bad) ways it can leave you, the reader, up to your fate. (I got what I felt was a good ending the first time, where I got to stay until it warmed up; then replayed again choosing a lot of different options and got a bad one where I got stuck in the book LDKJFALSDKF although despite the ominosity of such a development I found it quite funny).
My biggest lasting impressions of this as I sit here now listening to the music as I'm writing this are the beautiful silhouette story scenes and the quirky writing. Those silhouettes for the stories were so breathtaking and charming! And there were so many of them! And they moved!! It was truly like illustrations from a storybook, and I was entranced from start to finish during those scenes. And the writing! I feel like I spent half the time wondering exactly what was going on while being so entranced and curious (and at times fearful LOL) about what was going to happen next -- and I could never once guess what it would be. It's written in such a way that it makes you feel like you yourself are part of the fairy tale and attempting to figure things out, which I found really immersive and kept me hooked as all these mysterious things kept happening. Not only that, but the quirky taunting way Chiamour spoke was so entertaining. Coupled with the hilarious and well-done facial expressions, it made every time she spoke a delight LOL We're introduced to some riddles early on (which I did poorly at, but I digress) and I feel like that kinda sets up the entire vibe of the game, as the whole thing feels very much like a string of riddles and half-truths that you have to attempt to make heads or tails of as you go through (along with repeat playing with different choices to get some different scenes/versions of scenes). It was just incredibly fun to play and discover all these new tidbits.
The parts where the ghosts in the book were bickering was hilarious to me. I loved how Chiamour would be trying to tell the story and they'd keep interrupting or pointing out things they felt were wrong or even bickering amongst each other LOL
And then when the two at the end appeared, at first I didn't realize who they were. But slowly as the dialogue continued I was like WAIT A MINUTE and it all started coming together. I felt like there were 50 different miniature twists all piled on top of each other at the end and at first I felt as confused as my character who was also rapidly trying to make sense of things, which just made the pieces falling into place even more impactful as I started to figure things out. I loved that we got our own choice at the end on how to proceed. And we could use our own intepretations/thoughts regarding the stories to make that decision for ourselves. I was happy with the first ending I got as it felt very warm and happy to me; but I was also highly entertained when I went back and got the other stuck in book ending. I'm also curious what other endings there are, so I'll have to attempt a few other tries with other choices. I'm curious how much the preceding choices have to do with the final outcome? It seems clear that your final choices directly influence the ending, but for instance, I wasn't sure if the middle choices, such as what to put in the fire or things related to the Lifeblood/Love/Legacy, etc., had an impact as well, or were more for simply shaping the story.
I already mentioned how beautiful the silhouettes were, but the sprites for the two at the end were also so well done and made me love those two to bits, especially with their quirky expressions and the different CGs you can get. Also the BGs!! So beautiful and immersive. Sob sob I'm really rambling now but I also loved the music so much. I swear some of those pieces started to make my eyes moist as I was playing. There's something about poignant bittersweet songs like those used in here that really pang something deep in my heart and fill me with an emotion I can't quite describe. And ofc the GUI! Which was nothing short of breathtaking! From the pages of the book, which would be the backdrop for not only Chiamour but also the stories and silhouettes. To the variety of different dialogue boxes that helped to cue you in on who was speaking and how. There were really just so many different moving pieces here that all worked together fabulously to create this immersive beautiful work filled with some of the most delightful writing and stories I've ever read.
All in all, just a fantastic game!!! And to date one of the most unique VNs I've ever played! Just an amazing experience overall and one that will sit with me for some time!! 💕