Alright so I've played it through to the latest update and everything, figured I'd drop my thoughts.
I will say right off the bat that I am someone who inherently dislikes overarching doomsday plots where the MC basically ends up being a pawn for a large part of it; participating in plans unbeknownst to everyone except the people he
should be able to trust. Regardless of how this is framed, I truly dislike this kind of premise, mainly due to my own personal experiences with betrayal and dishonesty. On top of this, it's so difficult to maintain suspension of belief when I've been around organized crime in my youth and I know how fast someone like MC would've just been fucking murdered if the plot followed realism, but again, more just personal pet peeve.
The humour in the game is top notch, has some good references (
) and overall the character writing is extremely good excluding a few characters;
Aine - despite being basically the titular character, she just falls extremely flat for me. She's also someone who owes the most towards the MC yet has done nothing to even attempt to make it up to him (unless I somehow tripped a "no route" flag before she even realized that the MC was the one she bullied, which would be weird on the devs side) and she just feels like she has no substance. It's like she's just the stereotypical "overly kind, timid" character and doesn't stray outside those bounds. Also, just the fact that she was a MASSIVE piece of shit to the MC is enough for me to not be interested.
Hera - I mean what's there to say here? Even though the dev will undoubtedly somehow spring a "but it really wasn't her fault!" type deal in order to redeem her, but I truly cannot
ever forgive a character that is willing to just permanently destroy their children whether be it physically or mentally (or in Aine's case, fucking both considering the unwanted marriage since that also implies intimacy without consent). Truly if I had the choice, I'd just put a bullet in her head.
Gwen - For some reason she just feels like such a side-character compared to everyone else. She hasn't really stood out to me at all, and besides some small tidbits here and there, there's no real substance behind her being a raging alcoholic with personality issues. Maybe I again somehow tripped a "no route" flag here in the first like 20 minutes of the game or some shit, but she just feels superfluous.
On another note, there are also some characters that have some of the best writing I've seen out of nearly any VN I've played and those characters being a joy whenever they're on the screen as you can almost always count on
them being there instead of a script, if that makes sense, meaning that they feel more like genuine and alive.
Emy/Emma - Just an incredibly sad story overall, her character toes the line of insecurity and emotional issues in a very real way despite the somewhat unrealistic circumstances. She doesn't force her ideals or wants onto MC which is admirable. She's not someone I'd
ever consider an LI for my playthroughs given that again, she did some horrendous shit to the MC while knowing who he was and also involved him in a fucked up plan without his consent.
Freya - Not really someone I can see as an LI either since she just looks young as fuck, but again just a really well written character with how she's struggling with her own personal demons in a very realistic way, plus she's a bit of a weirdo but in a good way.
Lily - Honestly just really like her for her simplicity, she's basically just a regular person dealing with her own problems and flaws yet does her best and doesn't let anything bring her down, aswell as trying to push herself out of her comfort zone.
I will say that, given the glimpses of brilliance I've seen within a fair few of the characters, I feel like if the dev made a game focusing on interpersonal relationships more instead of overarching doomsday plots, that his skill with character development and having that drive the MC's narrative along with some minor overarching plots would end up being an absolute hit and a half. I am however saying this out of bias as, again, dislike the whole doomsday plots.
Now for my final words, the unarguable best girl of this entire game and someone whom I'd absolutely go for given the chance;
Runner up goes to Naomi. Straight-man behaviour and to the point with a slight bit of tease, and I have a bit of a bias as I am a mechanic/handy-man in real life aswell.
