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Efforts oozes style and individuality.

I love the character designs, unique and fun, the colors, the UI, the way the text is presented. it adds to a very unique take on how to present a VN. While people try to stand out with fun and unique design elements.

I feel like my biggest issue with Efforts is that it doesn't really want to tell you what it wants. Not even the characters really do. Is this all a thick layer of metaphor? Is this all meant to be taken completely seriously? Hard to tell because the game ends on an extremely flat note and an even flatter comment. 

"This is based on the meme of someone wanting to make a game about the Little Witch in the Alps looking for a lost cat, based on the complex narrative and choice system of Disco Elysium". Well I am glad this is based on that because other than the cat and the witch there's nothing left of anything else here. 
The concept of witches "losing" something when they become a witch is intereresting but not really further explored, which might have done the entire thing pretty good. Proper worldbuilding, I mean. I feel like there's untouched potential here that might never see the light of day, unless the author wishes to explore it more.

I'm giving this one a "Sure, if you mean it." out of 10

This one is. Interesting.
There's been many things said about it already so I just want to go and say that it didn't feel much like a story with characters and more like... a narrative with archetypes.
As someone who absolutely hates it when characters get referred to by their characteristics I was at first angry at the use of "the poet", "the game designer" "the artist" until it simply kept on being used. It then clicked that these characters, at least to me, were not presented as characters and much more as tools for what they represent. Which then made it click into place that it was the case for everything here.
None of this felt much like a real thing and much more like a representation of experiences. 
A window into a world of archetypes that do, or do not work together.
As the initial "plot" of two strangers watching movies gets derailed by a man with ulterior motives everything else gets derailed as well.
I have never seen Finland or any of its cities so the use of actual locations and names felt both alienating and inviting.
The strange... replication of Renpy felt interesting as well.
Once I unzipped it and only an exe was in the file I had to prepare myself for whatever was waiting for me,
The camera movement and the little duckies jumping around in the end felt like a fine artistic touch.
I am leaving this one with a "what the hell/10" but am giving bonus kudos for not being american centric.
Hooray for more culture.

Down The River's Edge doesn't do anything novel, or special with it's storytelling.
Tale as old as time, lover's old as rhyme or however the Disney song goes, I sure as hell can't remember.
The geniunity(is that a word? it should be) of the lovers feels right, an ambitious youth, an old and gruff veteran with a heart of gold. A sin that's seems unforgivable, you know the drill.
The story is touching and has enough tension for you to also tense up while reading. While the deer character could have been presented as more gruff (the part where he cracks up was supposed to be a special situation, but he never really seemed as rough as the narrative tried to sell me) everything else was solid.
I loved the extremes the lawman's sprite went for in the end, really showing a completely different side of what was presented at the beginning of the story.

What obviously sells this one is the presentation. Custom UI, backgrounds, animation, comic sequences. The devs hopefully all got treated to something nice after the entire project. I even expected voice acting during the pretty well done sex scene, though that one felt a little too modern for me in the writing department.
Other than that, the sweet ending was earned and felt great. My only real point of critique is the way a lot of the sprites look a little too glossy, but that's just an artstyle thing I personally don't enjoy.

Writing so raw the chicken is trying to flee from the oven.

Cygnus leapt talks a lot about things I don't understand, but I think it does so with an intent.
It lets you in. It is raw, it is emotional.
It starts with a premise that you think you understand, but the more you read, the more it twists the expectations you have.
At least that's what I perceived it to be. 
The tale is a little silly, as silly as something this sad can be.
There's a tinge of internet talk, there's nonsensical fighting games and characters, there's quotes I can hear Blue yell as we would read the visual novel over discord, there is a very clear "this only exists as a plot device" set up but it feels earned. It feels out there enough to feel good.
The character interactions feel good but I think the writing dabbles too much into therapy speak (simply saying everything that is wrong out loud and what the course of action to mend this could be).
Is it fitting for this kind of story where the included parties are aware of their mental health situations? Yes!
Did it feel good?
I'm giving it a No.
The rawness feels good, it feels earned. With the gall to have no starting screen, no custom UI and only slightly edited backgrounds, the absolutely raw writing works.
It's emotional and honest, but a little bit of extra polish could have worked wonders.
Also a hoorah for slavic yotes in sluttily cropped tops. Your Adidas pants were the MVP espescially at the funeral.

The Bygones uses a bunch of music terms I  as a non music person don't understand and cannot keep up on even with the context clues.
And I think this is a theme that draws itself through the story itself.
The Bygones is written for a group of people that is in the know. I did not want to be handheld, I just wished to be included.
The art style is nice until the CGs pop up, which contrast heavily with the sprites, which breaks it a little too much.
Songs lyrics paced to the text on screen is a fun idea but doesn't really work if its not perfectly fine tuned and some lyrics just show up after they have been sung.
On that note the song in the beginning ontop of the existing dialogue is very distracting, I wasn't entirely sure what I should have focused on.
Keeping on I liked the "fast forward" pace of the VN, but this also lead to some things just being thrown into the void and others just arising out of nowhere.
The conflict with the MCs Dad/Parents didn't go anywhere, and one of the band members being addicted also kinda came from nowhere.
The main conflict and tragedy were played out nicely but I REALLY dislike the weird sci-fi fantasy fantasy thing happening at the end. I feel like that could have easily been resolved in a different way than to break the setting that was established until this point.
I'm giving this one a "I wish I loved you, but I can't."

Heavy is our crown killed me not only with it's presentation, but also things I have never seen before in the way I saw them here.
Growing up German I was always close to those immigrants one of the main characters represents but I've never been close enough to their struggles, yet the narrative here swept me away.
Though I am personally never much of a fan of characters just standing there and talking, the presentation of talking to a mirror, to the self, while it also being a window to someone else in a different time and space, felt wonderful.
The illustrations helped wonderfully with the contrast, the Prince in his simple street clothes and a fit and agile looking Cheetah, now looking at each other in ways they haven't even seen themselves in.
Heavy is our cown has some wonderful ideas and uses them, while staying simple enough and doesn't overstay it's welcome, actually wrapping up when you feel the tale coming to an end.
Something does happen in the end that might hint at something actually mystical happening, but the spirit of media literacy and proper object reading is not possessing me and I cannot make heads or tails of it, but someone else who just understands everything better might.
Heavy is our crown is a heavy recommendation but not something for those weak of heart.
I enjoyed this through and through as it doesn't try to be someone else. It just tries to be itself in all it's boldness and truth.

Deer diary felt like it didn't want to be much. And that's okay!
From the presentation to the very simple story it felt much more like a cute cartoon pilot you watch while zapping through the channels.
The character designs are fun and simple while staying recognizable, while being supported by everyone looking like plushies.
The music reminded me of animal crossing, lending the the laid back nature of the story and setting.
Though I am a little unsure about the intention of the VN as a whole.
To me, it read like a little foray into a larger narrative, not a deep one, mind you, but one that can get expanded on later on, there's a few plot points being brought up early that are never touched later, so there must be more coming right?
The fox' issue making connection, the Park ranger's and the manager's past. It felt like there is surely more coming when the devs can breathe a little more and make a proper roadmap.
If this was not the intend, then I feel like the simplicity is just not enough to make it anything special. A little feel good read that won't be anything more than that.
But I really think it should be more than that.

I really wish this was much more about the Furry Con itself than potential hookups. I get that that's the highlight for some, espescially heavily repressed folks, but it felt like it just kinda turned the entire experience into "Who can I get with" instead of geniunly celebrating 3 Days to Live as advertised.
Nice art though.

I went into "3 Days to Live" with an expectation of what I lived myself for a few years.
Go to a furry con, meet all your friends there and then be miserable back at home. Well, that's an abridged form of what I expected at least.
It delivers a lot.
From the wonderfully drawn sprites, huge artworks and customized UI as well as music the production value of the entire thing is insane. Fun character designs that could at least be a little more colorful to really show the design disparity of Furry characters (we only got the real rainbow huskies as descriptions, most other character designs are very grounded).
The writing style is nice enough, it fits a guy's casual inner monologue but it felt a little lacking, espescially when the roommate only communicated in memes (who just kinda, disappeared I suppose?)

Which brings me to my critiques.
Again, I enjoy the idea, most of us are, at the end of the day, single daydreaming cartoon animals and I REALLY liked the stylistic "I see everyone as their fursona" part of the story, and while that is a fun narrative aspect I think it takes away from furry cons their true diversity. I love seeing people from all backgrounds gather in one place and just let loose for a week .(European furry cons usually last from Wednesday to Sunday, with a longer stay into Monday for most and an early arrival at tuesday, so this aspect of an anime-con length furry con was already alienating to me).
Which also leads me to something else that slightly bothers me, the extreme America centrism of the work. I feel like scraping some of the overtly preachy Hammer dialogue for the sake of maybe some talks with characters from different countries and their experiences of Furry cons would have been fun. I get that 3 Days to Live tried to minimize new character art and designs and keep it at a certain amount of encounters, but despite it advertising a fun time at a furry con, it felt like it delivered "experiences with strangers that share the same space as me". Hell, Hammer's encounter didn't even play at the con?
I get that the Pulse shooting was a horrendous event that needs to remembered but was that really worth taking so much space in a VN that advertised itself with being about Furry con experiences? Further, it felt like preaching to the choir. The majority of readers are probably also horribly online (guilty) and know that these events happened and need to be remembered, it just felt like a video essay virtue signaling at me on things I am already aware of.
This ALSO cut into the final encounter(s)? The friend-breakup went incredibly quick and the fantasy with the horse felt like a cop-out to just have one more extremely short lived CG. I feel like actually seeing a human Swift at the end fading into his Fursona as he finds a chance with new people might have been a better choice. Which also brings to me the part where the other roommate just faded into the aether I suppose. No emotional help with the roommate situation, not a single peep about their feelings in the whole debacle, plus hows the payment gonna happen if there's tension in the friend group. Weird stuff that's not gotten adressed in the slightest despite things like expensive con food, bottom diet etc. at least being aknowledged.

As a finishing thought, the VN made me feel things, I felt like I was in Swift's shoes before, obviously and people with enough empathy might see themselves there as well. 
But that's kinda it. It felt like a cliffnotes version of a Furry con, it felt like a bunch of statements instead of an exploration.
Its a fun idea, perhaps inhibited by ambition, a desire to REALLY stand out, Is that necessary? I feel like simpler CGs and sprites could have easily made way for a more satisfying closing act before the epilogue.

Two extra points I didn't know where to fit in:
The borderless textboxes in the CGs don't feel good, I get they exist for the sake of giving a view ON the CGs but they are hard to read. Just encourage looking at them in the Gallery next time.
Second: Swift was very nicely animated but him just kinda hovering in the bottom left corner really didn't give a good eye on dimensions? He's into bigger guys but in the CGs he looked plenty big already. He should have just had a sprite on screen.
Third: The titular novembuck had like, maybe 3 scenes they appeared in, bit of a shame.
Fourth and this one is really just my own little annoyed pet peeve: Did we really have to squeeze AMICUS MENTIONED POINTING WOJACK FACE in here? It felt too forced.