Review for v0.3B
What got me right away with Seriel:Code is the visuals. For a Koikatsu game, it's impressively different. It's nailing that Cyberpunk aesthetic very well. Music and sound only adding to it. The game has a nice vibe going.
Character models are the same deal for the most part, they feel almost fresh. Though maybe that's an easier thing to say when most Koikatsu games' love interests are school girls. Animations seem to be Koikatsu standard which I'm neutral on. Will never be as great as custom animations, but I personally don't mind it that much.
I neglected to read the overview, so I was surprised when I got dropped into a sandbox. I think this part is a little hard to talk about given how new the game is. There are RPG systems in place, but everything is a little barebones. Hopefully solved with time. I will say I think it drops you into it way too early. A couple more events should have played out before it just says "hey you're in a sandbox now good luck." The moments after getting the weird mind control shard would probably be a good spot.
The one thing I feel the game is lacking on right now is character. This dystopian metropolis setting is established, but the world feels very empty. Almost lifeless even. I'm hoping it's another thing solved with time. Similarly, none of the characters have really left a strong impression on me, MC included.
The last aspect to talk about is the mind control powers we receive. This is a red flag to me. Mostly due to personal preference, but I hate when we get mind control powers only to turn love interests into brainless sex robots. Not my thing. For curiosities sake, I used it when available to see how far you can take things with it. You can get to full blown sex very easily with a character who I thought would be a bit more important for lack of better words. If that's something you like then cool, but I do hope the game gives you the option to build up relationships with characters instead of relying on mind control for everything. That could make or break it for me.
Overall, I'm cautiously optimistic. It's very easy to see that this has more work going into it than the average. Here's hoping it develops into something great.