Wow, this game is phenomenal! I absolutely adored the writing. I love the characters, the lore, the fights, it is all so incredibly well-crafted that I feel that even after the many hours I poured into it I still can't remember a single instance of any developments pissing me off, this is impressive for games in general, let alone x-rated games.
I generally try to hold-off on games that postpone developing the gameplay elements in favor of first completing the story, but this game is honestly so good it would still be one of my favourites even if it was released as a plain VN, so it goes without saying I'm super excited to see how it will play out when all elements are fully developed.
I haven't had time to exhaustively explore every single branch and variation since this is a bit of a busy week for me, but at least from my first blind playthrough I loved how all my decisions played out during the adventures and the big decisions, I don't know if I just chose correctly of if there was a bit of cheating from the writing in the sense that ultimately there were no bad choices, but either way playing through those was a very satisfying experience.
I did take the time to replay and explore the variations of some of my favourite scenes, and if I may make a single request, I think I would like it if Catherine were to steal a goodbye kiss from Briwala after their chapter 5 scene even if the player picked the roleplay option.
After playing through both variations, I think I understand the logic of both scenes (although I will admit at first I missed the implication of Briwala wanting to roleplay so she could dissociate herself from the act due to her low self-esteem, I thought it was just her kinky side in a similar vein to Amelie's scene and I wanted to do something nice for her), and I understand why the no-roleplay option is the more romantic one since the act ends up being more personal and we help crack open Briwala's shell, and I do appreciate that in the roleplay variation we get a little conversation about how Briwala feels about having children, but I still wish that on the roleplay variation Catherine wouldn't just accept Briwala postponing her willingness to be more open about their relationship to a vague future and could choose to steal a goodbye kiss from Briwala on the doorway of her house to help her start being more comfortable with public displays of affection. Even if Briwala would probably be more flustered and even a bit angry over this than on the "no-roleplay" version, Catherine could respond that officer Briwala will just have to punish her again in the future for her innapropriate behavior
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I definitely feel like I could talk a lot more about this game, and I'm going to want to write a post with my thoughts about the possible future gameplay elements, but this is a bit of a busy week and this post is already long enough, so I will just finish by saying congrats to the dev on this excellent game, and that I'm looking forward to see how it will continue to develop.
