DISCLAIMERS:
- Review written and updated for version v.18.0.0 at time of writing.
- As of writing, I am a supporter for the project.
- As is usual with my reviews, they are awfully lengthy.
This is something I am very well aware of but I feel it would be a disservice to compress a complex opinion like a review into a short handful of sentences, and to combat this, two things: First, I'll be sectioning the different categories into spoilers for the sake of
readability only - and second…
The TL;DR upfront:
Man, how I managed to sleep on reviewing this game, let alone supporting it, despite me playing it since version v.8.0.0 is beyond me. If you wish to tell me that RPG-Maker games are not worth the time, I’d like you to reconsider when checking out this one. This game has been polished to a mirror shine when it comes to characters, their development and overall story writing - packed into a nice combat-focused core with only some smaller issues along the way. If the story manages to grip you, you are in for a solid 20-28 hours worth of playtime as of writing this. Despite minor issues I had along the way, any score other than 5/5 I could not honestly give in good concience, and I’ve been playing adult games a lot.
We need to start on the basics, with the
story and writing:
Well, since I’ve mentioned them, we might as well start talking about said
characters:
But story and characters are for nerds, and here we need to talk about the
gameplay, since, you know, that is what you interact with 90% of the time after all:
But now for the part everyone is here for and that some will probably have skipped to, the lewds on display:
But with all good things come with some bad sides, and we’ll have to talk about some
Problems, otherwise this would just be me fanboying over the game for however much time you give me
. Note: this section seems so bloated mainly because I need to describe certain problems in closer detail, the game is still in active development and balancing is always an iffy act to get right - you can't please everyone, and after having experienced the game so goddamn often and having figured out most of the quirks it throws at you, there is some merit in these statements for veterans, but for anyone who just goes in the first time or has little experience in turn based combat, these "Problems" might not even exist. Therefore, take the following with a grain of salt.
Well, this is it, the end... here just some closing words to finish this little novel off:
Well, what is there to say for a game with a completion time of 20+ hours? It is nuts - simple as that. The story concluded in just the right way and left very few unanswered questions, not to mention the post game is being developed on. Not just that, but the writing and storybeats hit so well, I replay the game occasionally, not for any type of choice that you could or could not make, but simply to keep experiencing such qualiy that is quite the rarity nowadays. Like I said at the TL;DR, what problems I have mentioned are only smaller niggles that plunk off a very solid core gameplay loop - that is, if you can allow yourself to get immersed in writing and characters, which is where I put the focus on. Like I said at the start of the review, if I were to rate this piece anything other than 5/5, it would not feel justifyable, regardless of what smaller nitpicks I could take from this.
For those that actually read through to the end: Thank you for your time. This must've been a chore to read through and if you feel like you learned nothing from this review, I'm sorry to have wasted your time.
EDIT: After revisiting the game a couple more times, altered some smaller parts, edited out typos.
EDIT2: Adjusted the Review for the newest version, altered sections to be more reflective of the current state.