I played on Steam and left a review there, but I'm gonna post it here too.
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This is a fantastic visual novel.
The contrast between the rather cute art style of the characters and the gritty photographs of the backgrounds is one I love a lot. The writing has a somewhat similar contrast, too. It's got a lot of big, bizarre, heady ideas, and it gets them across with the exact right amount of ambiguity. But it also manages to contrast it with very grounded, relatable, cozy, and believably dramatic character writing.
It's hard to talk about the story without spoiling stuff, and it's all worth discovering on your own. So I'll simply say it is very much worth the 8-ish hour read, especially if you are one who likes things that are heady, psychological, melancholy, and deeply heartfelt.
Highly, highly recommend.
(Many more thoughts below, somewhat spoilery, though I tried to be relatively vague)
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----- SPOILERS AHEAD -----
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I certainly can relate to some things Asya says in her internal monologues, and one of her breakdowns in particular was so painfully similar to something I've experienced (from the other side) that I had to step away for a minute after reading it.
What surprised me the most, though, was when the nature of Ira and others' condition was revealed. I felt it was presented in a way that was simultaneously respecting actual things some folks experience, while still being exaggerated a touch for the sake of making a more potent fiction. But what surprised me about it was how similar it felt to experiences I've occasionally had for over a decade. The first instance happened shortly after I started learning how to code. When I tried to go to sleep, my mind exploded and it felt as if I was suddenly conscious of all the countless decisions and logic flows and ambiguities my brain processes from moment-to-moment. It was completely inescapable, and I was stuck in this overdrive trance until eventually my body couldn't handle it anymore and I passed out. This still happens to me every so often. So, while it's not exactly like what Ira and others experience in the story, I still felt I could relate in some way, as someone who has witnessed things humans aren't equipped to witness.
I can see why this sort of fantastical turn in the story might confuse or put off some readers. I was quite surprised by it myself, and while it didn't really trip me up (maybe due to that relatable experience), I am still trying to figure out if there's more to it than "it's just how it is" (which I would still be fine with). I haven't quite made a connection there yet.
The ending is absolutely gorgeous and sweet, which was another sort of surprise. Given how frightening a lot of things were throughout the story, I was bracing myself for something really painful or sad or dark. But I love the way it wrapped up. My immediate thoughts upon finishing were that it's a story about multiple identities, being plural, loving oneself and one's parts. I actually theorized that Tosya was a part of Asya that split off and hid away during her traumatic experience at the car shop. I'm probably not prepared to fully back that up yet though. But I think, more than anything, the true heart and message of this story (to paraphrase a friend of mine) is: If you love the world and everything in it, that means you must love yourself. The game's title practically gives it away!
While I can't fully relate to Asya's loving the world and everything in it, I can very very much relate to her struggle and journey to love herself. It takes great effort. I'm still on that journey myself, and it's often incredibly hard to keep on the path. But this game made it just a little bit easier for me.
