Absolutely fantastic game! Truly one of my all time favorites. I played this entire game (all three paths!) for the first time two years ago, somewhere between 40-50 hours, but lost all of that progress with my old laptop. I just recently replayed it, nervous that it wouldn't be as good as I remembered it to be, but the story, characters, and world are so fantastic, and the amount of genuinely important choices is absolutely astounding; so much more than just the three main romance paths!
My only (minor) issue is a completely subjective, personal ick with stories where an otherwise pragmatic or experienced person close to the protagonist lies/tricks/misleads them under the guise of protecting them in a way that leaves them more vulnerable, especially when it's something related to their self-defense, and refuses to think about the worst case scenario? (It sounds specific, but it's actually pretty common lol). Like, knowledge is power and prepare for the worst case scenario and better to have something but not need it than not have something needed and all that, which is something that someone supposedly an experienced and skilled strategist should know.
I just wanna clarify that this is a very small gripe I have, despite its length, and I am just a very wordy overthinker, so please read knowing that I love literally everything else about this game (besides not being able to date everyone lmao). Also, I disagree with previous comments talking about the MC being unlikeable, so this isn't about that either.
Anyways, I understand why the player's dad and Leandros didn't let the protag actually learn how to fight, that's well explained and I get that it's part of both the protag and Leandros' whole character and stuff, but it just personally bothers me that the protag never actually caught on, for years?The protag never watched Leandros or other guards sparring, or overheard the other guards talking about Leandros being easy on his training, or even just that he is still so outmatched by Leandros despite training together for years since they were children? I know that he's not human and older and specifically tricking him, and the protag can't train as much as he can, but he's still a novice and never noticed? The main character sneaks past the guards to escape that castle to watch gladiator fights, but apparently hasn't ever sparred with any other guard besides Leandros, doesn't seem to have ever wanted to, and never picked up either any hint of this or any techniques from them? And even the pragmatic and more pessimistic Koshiro had absolutely nothing to say about this, just completely went along with it? Like, it would be like if someone really wanted to play a sport but were only allowed to play against one specific professional athlete for years despite being surrounded by other professionals, snuck out to secretly go watch live games, and never picked up on the fact that they're an amateur. It really feels like the protag should have either figured out before all this that Leandros was going easy on him (at least after seeing a few real gladiator fights), or be at least slightly better than they are in the game.
Once again, however, I wanna say that this is really not the biggest deal. I've literally played this game for DOZENS of hours at this point, and something as small as this is the one and only thing that annoys me a little, and it basically just makes me roll my eyes whenever it comes up before I move on and am full sucked back into this amazing story and game.
It never for a second crossed my mind to rate this anything besides five stars, and I'd rate it even higher if I could!!