The author clearly had a direction they wanted to take their story, and while the direction wasn't innately flawed, they ended up missing the mark.
Chapter 1 is mostly a mix of slice-of-life drama and comedy, and consists of meeting all the characters, and typical harem building. It's a slow start, possibly too slow for some readers, but I didn't mind it personally - getting plenty of time to know the characters and slowly learning about the seedier elements of their situation was enjoyable enough to me. While maybe some events or meandering could be consolidated, I ultimately enjoyed the pacing and ramp-up towards the big climax of Chapter 1.
The characters (especially Iris) are all very likeable. That said, the writing quality in terms of their differentiation and depth is a bit inconsistent, and I do feel like some could have been cut to make the game more focused.
Chapter 2 kind of falls off the rails, at least initially. The author clearly wanted to make the story much darker at this point, but I feel they over-shot into making it excessively edgy, and losing most of the charm the first chapter had (including any of the "likeable characters"). The protagonist undergoes a substantial personality shift and acts like a total ass to people he cares about for seemingly no reason whatsoever, and makes a variety of inscrutable decisions without any clear logic behind them.
I feel like the author ultimately realized this misstep, and is trying to dial it back as of v1.7. Unfortunately, due to the initial overshoot in "darkness/edginess", it makes the writing and tonal shift back to normal feel kind of awkward, with some ham-fisted excuses as to why the protagonist was being such a tool. That said, ultimately I think this tonal shift will be for the better ones things settle back into a more consistent groove.
I think the scenes with Cole, Lucas, Mrs. Wilson, and Dr. Hadley in v1.7 are excellent examples of the author doing a much better job of writing a darker story, than their writing earlier in Chapter 2. Their scenes allowed the core personalities of the protagonist and cast established in Chapter 1 to shine through, while seeing how they now have to act and react to the darker/shittier situations they find themselves in, and even manage to throw in some dark humor.
The Koikatsu models are on the above-average side, no major aliasing or resolution issues, but nothing to make them stand out much either. Character designs are cute and mostly unique across the board. Backgrounds are typical stock ones found in asset packs, but they're used reasonably well. H-scenes use stock Koikatsu animations - the situations and camera are mostly fine, but I wouldn't bother with this VN if I was just after H content.
Music is a bit on the weak side for Chapter 1, with the same generic chill guitar song playing the vast majority of the time, and not much tonal matching of songs to scenes. This improves somewhat as more dramatic moments happen later in Chapter 1, and especially in Chapter 2 where the music choices are more interesting/unique as well.
Ultimately, I like this VN and its characters. Despite the awkwardness of the tonal shift back, I have overall positive impressions of v1.7, and see it as somewhat of a return to form, with it having some of my favorite scenes in the entire VN so far. Hopefully this trend continues, with a better mix of action, drama, and comedy, instead of the non-stop depressing vibe the author began Chapter 2 with.
EDIT: Upon re-reading from the beginnining of Chapter 2, it looks like some things were also adjusted earlier than the 1.7 content to add a bit more levity, humor, and clarity on the leadup to 1.7 - another positive change overall.
Chapter 1 is mostly a mix of slice-of-life drama and comedy, and consists of meeting all the characters, and typical harem building. It's a slow start, possibly too slow for some readers, but I didn't mind it personally - getting plenty of time to know the characters and slowly learning about the seedier elements of their situation was enjoyable enough to me. While maybe some events or meandering could be consolidated, I ultimately enjoyed the pacing and ramp-up towards the big climax of Chapter 1.
The characters (especially Iris) are all very likeable. That said, the writing quality in terms of their differentiation and depth is a bit inconsistent, and I do feel like some could have been cut to make the game more focused.
Chapter 2 kind of falls off the rails, at least initially. The author clearly wanted to make the story much darker at this point, but I feel they over-shot into making it excessively edgy, and losing most of the charm the first chapter had (including any of the "likeable characters"). The protagonist undergoes a substantial personality shift and acts like a total ass to people he cares about for seemingly no reason whatsoever, and makes a variety of inscrutable decisions without any clear logic behind them.
I feel like the author ultimately realized this misstep, and is trying to dial it back as of v1.7. Unfortunately, due to the initial overshoot in "darkness/edginess", it makes the writing and tonal shift back to normal feel kind of awkward, with some ham-fisted excuses as to why the protagonist was being such a tool. That said, ultimately I think this tonal shift will be for the better ones things settle back into a more consistent groove.
I think the scenes with Cole, Lucas, Mrs. Wilson, and Dr. Hadley in v1.7 are excellent examples of the author doing a much better job of writing a darker story, than their writing earlier in Chapter 2. Their scenes allowed the core personalities of the protagonist and cast established in Chapter 1 to shine through, while seeing how they now have to act and react to the darker/shittier situations they find themselves in, and even manage to throw in some dark humor.
The Koikatsu models are on the above-average side, no major aliasing or resolution issues, but nothing to make them stand out much either. Character designs are cute and mostly unique across the board. Backgrounds are typical stock ones found in asset packs, but they're used reasonably well. H-scenes use stock Koikatsu animations - the situations and camera are mostly fine, but I wouldn't bother with this VN if I was just after H content.
Music is a bit on the weak side for Chapter 1, with the same generic chill guitar song playing the vast majority of the time, and not much tonal matching of songs to scenes. This improves somewhat as more dramatic moments happen later in Chapter 1, and especially in Chapter 2 where the music choices are more interesting/unique as well.
Ultimately, I like this VN and its characters. Despite the awkwardness of the tonal shift back, I have overall positive impressions of v1.7, and see it as somewhat of a return to form, with it having some of my favorite scenes in the entire VN so far. Hopefully this trend continues, with a better mix of action, drama, and comedy, instead of the non-stop depressing vibe the author began Chapter 2 with.
EDIT: Upon re-reading from the beginnining of Chapter 2, it looks like some things were also adjusted earlier than the 1.7 content to add a bit more levity, humor, and clarity on the leadup to 1.7 - another positive change overall.