Tldr; The game is funny, looks great, and is well written, people should play it.
First and foremost, this game is good because the writing and the art are both fantastic. All of the characters pop immediately both in style and in characterisation, and I think that’s because their character designs and personalities compliment each other really well. The use of sprites also adds to this, with an extroverted character like Roxie having very large exaggerated sprites and Blythe having smaller more reserved ones, allowing their personalities to come through naturally.
The writing is also very good throughout; it’s nice to see a game which is actually funny, and not just attempting to be. Almost all the jokes landed for me, and there were so many that meant I pretty much always had a smile on my face when playing. Plus the story was compelling and engaging.
Also, big fucking shoutout to swearing! It’s great to see characters actually swear in a game, I’m sick of characters just not for reasons, and it was refreshing to see that here.
The absurdist tone of the piece also lands really well, with it being established early and regularly pushed to the limits. Absurdity is hard to pull off while also taking the world somewhat seriously, but by focussing on personal issues about game development it allows the story to he serious enough to be engaging while also being silly. The art style matches this tone very well too, plus it’s just really nice to look at.
Another thing that I really enjoyed about this game are all the little details that show how much was put into it, with touches like ‘Daisy’ playing in he background when LOIS is introduced, or an old phone cable splitting the screen between two characters on a phone call. Touches like these make the game, and there will be loads I missed, so clearly a lot of thought has gone into it, and it pays off.
This game also plays with the medium of visual novels in ways that you don’t always see outside of horror games. The use of moving sprites is great, and adds some movement that is often sorely lacking in (often poorly named) kinetic Visual Novels. The use of choices (or lack of) is nice to see and are used to good comedic effect. It’s making a good use of the medium, and I’m interested to see in what other little ways it’s used in the future.
If I had any criticism it’s that the game is too short. The people (ie, me) demand MORE (but there’s no need to hurry, take you’re time). This is a really promising start and I’m excited to see where it goes.