This is the first time I've ever rated a game, despite having lurked on here for a good long while (like, years at this point). But holy cow, this game is incredible. It's pretty kinky, and I'm not into almost any of the kinks (most of it is BDSM and humiliation stuff, some of it fairly...heavy in my opinion, and it's not really avoidable if you want to play the bulk of the game from what I can tell), but it doesn't even matter.
First off, the structure of the plot (yes, this game actually has a genuine, honest-to-goodness plot, not just "windowdressings") is fantastic. I actually felt an emotional connection to multiple characters in this story (honestly, just about all of them have made me laugh out loud and even tear up slightly at different points), and I truly care about what happens to all of them. The protagonist has a degree of character development that surprised me. The "corruption" of the characters feels more motivated than usual. There are genuine storytelling themes (I won't list them out for fear of spoiling) that are at least as old as the most ancient Greek myths, but the package they're delivered in is truly unique (and not just because of the sex scenes). Moreover, this game has a massive amount of content; even with skipping good-sized chunks of text (which I don't recommend in the slightest), this game will still engross you for hours.
Second (and here's why I said don't skip the text), the writing is quite excellent. There are a few awkward phrasings or typos here and there but certainly not enough to interrupt one's immersion in the story. Meanwhile, as I noted previously, the characters' dialogue alternates between genuinely hilarious and genuinely heartbreaking in a way that is more akin to...I don't know, a Fitzgerald novel than a porn game (or, heck, most AAA video games). Not quite as eloquent, no, but somehow capable of at least approximating something like that level of emotional rapport a reader can attain with the best of fiction. Not to mention the semi-subtle allusions to Star Wars, Game of Thrones, and more, all done in that perfectly tongue-in-cheek way that gives a little grin without feeling overdone or excessively parodic in the slightest. On a similar note, "Dick out" is a genius line; I find that character to be an unmitigated joy for some reason.
Third, the art is fresh, the settings unique, and the models quite pleasant (and, in a couple instances, heartbreakingly beautiful) in both face and body. Let's be honest, there aren't many games that do all of those things. This game is an aesthetic pleasure as well as a literary one. Also, the game's performance is excellent on my run-of-the-mill laptop, which isn't something that can be said for every Unity game (even those of a similar VN style and not a 3D "in-world" style). Props.
Does this mean the game is perfect? No, not quite. At times it can get a bit grind-y (and not in the good way lol). If you happen to finish certain events on just the wrong day, you may end up having to skip up to a week, and there's no particularly good way to do that. You can just stay in your room and go to bed as soon as you wake up over and over, but that does get to be a bit annoying at times. (Yes, there are usually other events you could do during those days, but again, if you happen to have finished everything else that's available, you're kinda stuck doing this.) Also, while the navigation is intuitive and fairly immersive on a certain level, there are some locations (the MC's bedroom in particular) that you have to go to every day that take multiple clicks to get to; this didn't bother me at first, but once I was quite a ways into the game, it started feeling like more of a pain. Also, the fact that you can only advance time by a single hour per click means that it can be a real pain to wait for repeated evening events. Some additional shortcuts for place and time would have reduced that sense of grind. Not a huge deal, certainly not a reason to avoid this game (I mean, it's soooooo much better than most other games), but if the devs were to see this review, that would be one of the two things I'd hope they'd consider adjusting.
The other thing is the sex/kinks. As I suggested before, this game doesn't feel like it would be the same without the BDSM and other "hard"-ish kinks, but not because it couldn't be. I mean, maybe one can completely avoid all of it and still have more or less the same experience, but...it didn't seem like to me on first playthrough. For those of us who are a bit more vanilla, more options for softer sex scenes wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. As it stands, the rewards/punishments tend to be rather "aggressive," which makes them less interesting to me. Now that's totally just my perspective/sexual proclivities and I fully understand that. I don't think the game should be changed to not include what it includes; I just wonder if there's a way in which it could also include other options that don't lean so heavily on those things. And who knows, I may have to give this another playthrough while actively avoiding that content and see how it goes.
But truly, neither the occasional grind for specific event paths nor the heavy reliance on kinks I'm personally not much into diminish the quality of this game. I was completely immersed in the story, the characters, the writing, the art, everything, and I enjoyed it utterly. I think this is the first time I've ever played a porn game and been genuinely grateful for the experience (not just the, well, y'know, that kind of "experience"). This game is a revelation and should be a model for other games moving forward. If you haven't tried this game yet, you should treat yourself. Thank you to the creators for such a wonderful, perhaps even revolutionary, entry in this genre. Y'all deserve a massive amount of credit.
