Outstanding game. Truly a masterpiece.
I should admit, I love sandbox games, though I totally get why a lot of people don't - they can be tedious and grindy, adding little beyond arbitrarily inflating play time. This, however, is a perfect example of how to do it right. There's a great sense of freedom and discovery, and I had fun exploring efficient routes, building my own priorities, and uncovering the mysteries in the game.
To that point, I loved the clue system. Obviously a labor of love there, and it was worth it. Really inspired. The spells were interesting too, though the clues definitely stole the show. I hope to see more games with innovative mechanics like this. I'd honestly be thrilled to see the developer just do this exact game again with a new settings, characters, etc. It's that good.
The girls all had a ton of character and depth, with compelling relationships and sensible progression. They're also all absolute smoke shows. I know not every girl is going to be your perfect type, and a couple of them missed the mark for me, but even then, they were still very appealing and I genuinely enjoyed the ride with each.
I have a few nitpicks, but only because this developer could easily be the best - no exaggeration.
- Humor in these games can be a big risk, and I'm usually pretty dubious about it. Tends to fall flat a lot. However, I think this game nailed it most of the time. Belle's dialogue was occasionally a little contrived, especially when first meeting her, but it wasn't off-putting. The sassy, wise-cracking thing was lighthearted and fun, but don't go full cartoon. Have it add value and not just be a gimmick.
- I would have loved to see a little more content in the epilogue with regards to your final love interest. I don't think it fell short, but I can't get enough of this game and these characters, so there could have been more depth and impact there.
- Again, the girls are all absolute babes. Some of my favorites from any game. And I hugely appreciate the more realistic, proportioned appearance, but a tad more variety would have been great. What can I say, I likes 'em curvy.
- A couple of the relationships felt a little shoehorned and inorganic. Nell's, specifically. It seemed disjointed, I'm just not sure how or why it started in the first place, much less grew to be something so significant for her. Honestly, that's probably the only one I have issue with, all the others were excellent. Samarra, for example - even if she wasn't my favorite, I still respected her character and could see the genuine bonds growing there.
- Being able to do more with magic, outside the one specific situation each spell was created for. Knock felt like a missed opportunity, shrink too.
Not to sound unappreciative. There's already a ton of content in this game, and I can't imagine how much work went in to it, so I don't want to just blithely be like "add more stuff lol" but that would have made the difference between like a 9/10 and a 10/10 here.
So stoked to see new projects from this developer, seriously can't wait to see more absolute gems from them.