Certainly an interesting beginning. It doesn't really grab me like the opening of Haley's Story. The whole sobriety struggle feels a little forced, and seems an impediment to connecting with the MC. Unlike Haley's story where she was the immediate focus of the MC's narrative about their mutual history, Belle "the brat" seems almost an after thought. Sure she's the topic of Elena's ongoing complaints, but most of the time Belle isn't present to interact with the MC. When she is present, she doesn't interact with the MC. Consider her singular focus on her cell phone at lunch to the exclusion of conversing with the MC.
The MC spends most of his time around Belle passively watching her bait Elena. Belle, so far, seems never to be front and center as the focus of the action. Despite the MC's introspection about Belle's behavior, I end up feeling detached from the character who is apparently the main focus of the story.
Perhaps due to his struggle with sobriety, there also seems to only a weak connection between the MC and Elena. This weakens my connection with the other characters in the story.
Established adults do not interact like 20 something twins, and the writing reflects the kind of conversations appropriate for people sharing a somewhat peripheral relationship like Elena and the MC. As a result the writing, while believable, doesn't draw us in.
Enough early observations. This VN is technically excellent and well written. I'm excited that Viti has a new game out and look forward to seeing how it evolves.
