First off, let me explain my rating system:
1 star = Bad enough it can't be saved
2 stars = Really bad, but interesting/good concept
3 stars = Was good but problems/bugs are in the way to make it fun/better
4 stars = Really good, but I still found things that can be improved/fixed
5 stars = I found no fault with it
I have only gotten as far as when the games map looped back to "the hub", thinking this was a good stopping point which took me about an hour and 14 minutes.
Overall fun - 3/5
Like any RPG, the beginning and such can become tedious with tutorials and "learning battles" but are necessary.
The introduction was quite long, but established everything needed to be known, letting me remember what character is what, except the girlfriend is who obviously had to be more mysterious. I was able to understand each character's personality this way by their speech and animations.
I was disappointed that in the bedrooms, I can't interact with anything.
The Battle Ranks is a really nice touch for perfectionists, but I don't fully understand how it ranks my battles except by assumption from previously played games with a similar mechanic.
I was confused that I could walk on a chair, but not small-trash. This also made it more difficult to decide what path I can actually take in the future.
Major complaint was, I did not remember if at all. I was explained that I could attack my own people. I used the arrow keys to switch to the "next enemy" but instead it went to my party and I already pressed Enter before I could cancel. Causing me to make a "stupid mistake" I never thought possible.
Having a system so I can change battle difficulty for only that battle when retrying, would be really nice. Also having something to let me know how much of a change -20% would do without needing to do a battle and feel the difference.
Art & Graphics - 4/5
Everything about the art is amazing, and I really liked the CG.
I think it might look better if the enemy-fog was animated even if only slightly.
Or that the floating objects would also be animated and not static.
In the battlefield, the enemy-fog made it difficult to see if a rock is under it or not.
Doors are missing an open-door animation, and that really bothered me each time. lol
The electric-guitar looked like it was floating until I actually focused on it and saw it had a barely visible stand.
I recommend having the TV have a bit of space from the floor, so it doesn't look like the screen is directly against the ground.
Having the console/controllers have wires would be a good touch, the time period the game seems to be inspired from didn't have wireless consoles/controllers from my knowledge.
The memory-living-room animated background was hurting my eyes due to the pattern, it wasn't because it was "bad" but more that it kept giving me an "illusion" effect that made me feel slightly blind.
Controls & UI - 4/5
Controls were very simple and I had no trouble with it.
I would like something on the equip-screen to immediately tell me if a Cards EP usage is too high for a character.
The games Font made it difficult to read some words like "Winklemo" which I could easily see and read here, but not in-game.
Sound & Music - 4/5
I understand the sound-effect direction you are going for but...
The high-pitched sounds hurt my ears, and because the intro was so long I had to have the entire game quiet before I could finally adjust the audio-settings.
The Game-Over screen had no audio(BGM), and this was disappointing.
Other than that, Audio was pretty good and satisfying.
Music was not intense, and did it's job. Setting the proper atmosphere.
Closing thoughts -
Overall this was an interesting game, reminds me of similar games of the past but doesn't share enough similarities to be "a copy".
It would not be something I would actively play but would be something I would want to revisit.
I do hope this review was helpful in some way and I wish you good luck on the game and that you have a wonderful day.