i eagerly waited for this game to release and there are lots of things i liked about it—the art, how decisions and memories early on in the game made an appearance later on, the personalities of the characters. i definitely felt emotionally invested in different relationships and it was hard for me to say goodbye when that time came.
as someone that is big on romance though, i wish there was...more. i liked all of the other characters but i sometimes found myself skipping forward until i could have more alone time to bond with cove and make progress with the romantic side of our relationship. i am probably alone in this but it would have been nice in steps 2 and 3, if mc had a direct crush and/or was in love with cove, the family bit would feature a little less and the romance part was more prominent. romance didn't feel like a highlight of this game for me.
i also felt weird about choosing romance options i thought were typical in teen romance that seemed to initially make cove uncomfortable. i get that he struggles with certain forms of intimacy which is why i wish especially in step 3, we saw less of the family and friends and more moments of just mc and cove. by the end of the game i found myself craving more romance moments with cove and i bought both dlcs and played through them a couple times.
ohtomoe
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i really enjoyed playing this game! i just finished finn's route and i'm currently playing august's route! i love the vivid, descriptive writing and the way the relationships with all of the characters developed over time. i also appreciate the ability to choose gender neutral pronouns as a player and the attention to detail when writing the romance scenes. i've never played a game before that was so thoughtful about using inclusive language during romance scenes and i didn't realize how important it was to me until i played this game. so thank you!
one thing i'd like to say though is that i kind of got whiplash after playing finn's route (and falling in love with him !!!) then going down a different route. it feels weird to have ezra and finn together (and for me as the mc to nudge them forward) after just playing finn's route. for me it made the route i just played with him less special.
i wonder if in the future, there is a way to write the characters a little differently if they're not currently being romanced? i enjoyed the dynamics of august, ezra, and piper's relationships and i feel as though that same love and respect can be displayed between all characters without romance (unless their route is being played)?
just a suggestion! i look forward to playing the other routes and checking out other games you have made as well!