I finally got the chance to sit down and play through this VN after seeing all of the hype for it on F95. And, yep. It's pretty fucking great.
I do have some issues with it;
The MC is a dickhead, especially for teasing Bella about her trauma, and she had every right to be pissed at the dude. And for her mom to brush it off by saying, "Oh, I know you triggered my daughter's trauma intentionally for the fuck of it, but it's all good, 'cause her ass was unstable anyway." Like, really? Get fucked.
But, then again, at least everyone but Bella's mom (for some reason?) told the MC what an asshole he was for doing so.
MC is a prime example of a malcontent. He's miserable and wants everyone else to be, as well. And, bonus fuck you to him for dismissing Haylee as a "cripple" (which is a literal slur) despite her being a fucking wonderful human being. Wanted to stop playing after that part, truthfully. But, I was willing to brush it off as the dev purposely writing the MC as a garbage human, that would hopefully grow.
My other tiny complaint is with how the characters are written. The game seems to be set in a world where nobody has a filter and everyone just says aloud what they're thinking constantly. And instead of others reacting like, "Um, why the fuck would x say y?" They'd often say something equally as odd.
Just a bit strange.
Now, for the good;
The fucking renders are the most gorgeous that I've seen in any game ever. The cutscenes/transitions are beautiful and are often effectively used to introduce new characters, which I really dug, and said character models are absolutely stunning. Words can't even do them justice. I found myself liking Mila's design the most, in particular. Total babe.
The music is fucking sick. You know it's good when you find yourself sitting on the title screen menu just vibing. It's all amazing and the song choices fit the game's vibe wonderfully.
The plot is engaging, and kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. The dev did a great job of interjecting drama without it being over the top like in other VNs.
Despite my disdain for the MC at times, and the weird use of slurs by the dev, this is a borderline masterpiece.
Edit: I will say that basketball subplot stuff kinda seems pointless and just drags and drags. A unisex basketball team? What? I honestly found myself skipping most of the practice sequences. Felt like filler.
Also noticed an abundance of grammatical errors and broken English in the later chapters that annoyed me just a tad.
Not quite a 5* but way better than a 4.
Guess I'll call it a 4.5