Woh! This game is right up my alley! I had a great time playing, many thanks to the dev,
Pandaman!
The renders are gorgeous (thank you for all those outdoor renders! This is most welcome when we spend most of our time inside because of this neverending pandemic!
) but the writing is definitely what sold the game for me:
- The story: a tale filled with mystery, love and adventure... Feels like the setting of a classic coming of age fantasy novel for young adults where our protagonist embarks in the adventure of a lifetime (here, he'll be slightly older for obvious reasons but the sentiment remains).
- The characters: how not to fall for them? The MC is a great guy so I'm happy to put myself in his shoes and Maria, the childhood sweetheart is beautiful (both inside and outside). The dev took the time to do some in-depth characterization for the both of them so we can understand where they are coming from and share their feelings. Also, I really like the dynamic in the group. I can't wait to make the acquaintance of other characters.
- The tone: this level of wholesomeness might be too sweet for some but I love it. Handholding and hugs for the win!
- The dialogues: the characters feel alive thanks to them and they make sense in this setting. Often cute and funny, my jaw was hurting for constantly smiling like an idiot!
Maybe once or twice, the characters were over-explaining their feelings and it felt like it was more directed to the audience than their partner (not every little thing needs to be said out loud but then again, being overly chatty is part of Maria's personality so it doesn't feel too unnatural either).
- The pacing: both the story and the relationships advance at a steady pace. No lewd with so much gameplay is unusual but I'm perfectly fine with it. In fact, I'm often annoyed when devs put naughty bits in their first releases just for the sake of having adult content. So kudos to the dev, I'm sure the build-up will make it all worthwhile (at least a lot more than some random voyeur scene or dream sequence).
- The overall quality: I don't remember spotting even one typo. A few mistakes here and there aren't the end of the world, especially in a WIP but putting so much care in the writing is greatly appreciated. Sometimes a trivial error is enough to disrupt the flow and thus puts a dent in the immersion.
The only thing that bothered me on the writing part was the benign entity that came here and there to break the immersion. The writing was great with a different style but it still annoyed me a lot... Especially since I first thought that the writer was breaking the fourth wall to spoil things a bit. Between the introduction, the entity's ominous warnings, the title and the setting, I first thought that the game was set in the future where humanity would have paid a heavy price for their power. But with each interruption, it feels like the entity is part of the plot instead of the dev playing the omniscient narrator. Therefore, my "realistic" take on the plot seems completely wrong if fantastic elements are being added to the story with the mysticism around the entity. And I'm happy to be mistaken cause it would have annoyed me if the entity ended up spoiling things instead of letting me enjoy the story...^^
After one playthrough, the game is at the top of my most anticipated adult VN so I guess I'll have one more artist to support starting next month!