There have been lots of reviews talking about all the reasons this thing is awesome. So I'm just going to talk about one bit in particular - something that's easy to overlook but critical to the game's impact. And that's the protagonist.
This is a game where all the heroines have physical disabilities. It's kind of the whole premise. When writing a story like this it's extremely easy to make the protagonist the 'saviour' as fundamentally he can do things they can't. The gallant hero swooping in and rescuing the beautiful heroine from her tragic circumstances is a staple of literature, let alone in a scenario with this premise. But that's not the story the writers here wanted to tell. Not only is it a very cliched story it's a rather patronising one, one in which the disabilities are portrayed as things that make the girls need rescuing. Which raises the question - how do you avoid that?
To be sure, you could simply not write it that way. But instead they took the approach to make the protagonist disabled as well. Putting him on the same level as them. And the disability they gave him was... a heart condition.
I can't quite get over how genius this choice was. He can still do all the things that most people can, making it easier for the majority of the audience to relate. (By contrast, a story with a blind protagonist where the screen is blank the entire time would be interesting. But that's a concept to its own and not the story they wanted to tell here.) A lot of the time his disability isn't really relevant to the plot and managing it is simply a case of taking medication. This keeps the emphasis where it should be - on the heroines. But there's always that looming threat in the background. That if he forgets those pills. If he over-exerts himself. His life could be in very real danger. And even in the best of circumstances he's unlikely to live much past 30.
In doing this the writers completely flip the expected dynamic. The heroine's disabilites have a significant impact on how they live, and exploring that impact gets a lot of attention. But theirs don't pose a direct threat to their survival. And so rather than our protagonist being their saviour, he's the vulnerable one. In all of the routes it's not just him learning to live with his partner's disablity. She's learning to live with his.
I can't remember if it was ever stated, but I always had the thought in the back of my mind that if they got married and had children.. he'd be gone before long. He will never see his kids grow up. He won't be able to grow old alongside his partner. And on her part, she's going into this relationship fully aware of that. She knows that her love will almost certainly die before she's halfway through her life. There's something very melancholy & beautiful in how they all choose to be with him anyway.
This is a game where all the heroines have physical disabilities. It's kind of the whole premise. When writing a story like this it's extremely easy to make the protagonist the 'saviour' as fundamentally he can do things they can't. The gallant hero swooping in and rescuing the beautiful heroine from her tragic circumstances is a staple of literature, let alone in a scenario with this premise. But that's not the story the writers here wanted to tell. Not only is it a very cliched story it's a rather patronising one, one in which the disabilities are portrayed as things that make the girls need rescuing. Which raises the question - how do you avoid that?
To be sure, you could simply not write it that way. But instead they took the approach to make the protagonist disabled as well. Putting him on the same level as them. And the disability they gave him was... a heart condition.
I can't quite get over how genius this choice was. He can still do all the things that most people can, making it easier for the majority of the audience to relate. (By contrast, a story with a blind protagonist where the screen is blank the entire time would be interesting. But that's a concept to its own and not the story they wanted to tell here.) A lot of the time his disability isn't really relevant to the plot and managing it is simply a case of taking medication. This keeps the emphasis where it should be - on the heroines. But there's always that looming threat in the background. That if he forgets those pills. If he over-exerts himself. His life could be in very real danger. And even in the best of circumstances he's unlikely to live much past 30.
In doing this the writers completely flip the expected dynamic. The heroine's disabilites have a significant impact on how they live, and exploring that impact gets a lot of attention. But theirs don't pose a direct threat to their survival. And so rather than our protagonist being their saviour, he's the vulnerable one. In all of the routes it's not just him learning to live with his partner's disablity. She's learning to live with his.
I can't remember if it was ever stated, but I always had the thought in the back of my mind that if they got married and had children.. he'd be gone before long. He will never see his kids grow up. He won't be able to grow old alongside his partner. And on her part, she's going into this relationship fully aware of that. She knows that her love will almost certainly die before she's halfway through her life. There's something very melancholy & beautiful in how they all choose to be with him anyway.
