Now, this visual novel has a lot going for it.
The art, for starters. The quality of the art is just amazing. The art in this one is so good, it would have made this VN worth it even if the writing would have been utter shit.
And the character writing and dialogue are generally good, too. Fuyu and Mirari are well-written and likeable - in fact, choosing between them was seriously hard!
There's a few bad endings as well, and I felt that they were handled in a good way.
Another plus about this VN is that you can choose a male or female protagonist, and both are believable and well-written. As another revieuwer aptly pointed out: the female MC isn't just the male MC without a dick.
The music and special effects in this one are also good, even if they're nothing special. No real animations, but there's some scene effects that give it that extra zing. The soundtrack doesn't really have any bangers, but there's still some tracks that are worth listening to.
But... this title still has a downside. And that's also the only reason why I'm giving this a 4/5 instead of a full five stars.
The setting.
What's established here in the setting of this story only really works if you turn off your brain and don't think about what's going on here.
Yeah, I know - this isn't some grand settingbuilding project. But still, some of this stuff is just too in-your-face to ignore. The girls are wearing jeans, bras and stockings, and Mirari can use a regular human kitchen even better than the human MC - but both girls somehow have no concept of motor vehicles or vacuum cleaners?
The MC even points out how weird this is. But this is never actually explained. The girls are a weird schizo mix between anthro-wolf people who have never known anything but life in the wilderness, and kemonomimi girls who are actually quite at home in modern human civilization.
The role of these anthros, and how human society interacts with them, likewise gets weirder and weirder the more you think about it. Are these things wildlife? Half the time the story talks about them as if they're just like regular animals, and how they can be similarly unpredictable. But at the same time, the story clearly shows that they are basically human beings who speak regular English, and who have no real trouble communicating with people.
The whole thing makes about as much sense as the girls' skimpy clothes in that cold winter weather. "We're half-wolves, we can handle the cold much better than you" - yeah, except real wolves can handle the cold because they've got an inch of thick fur. These girls just have bare skin, and no more bodyfat than a regular human.
Then there's also some mention of these 'half-wolves' thinking nothing of killing people. That injured half-wolf hunter later in the story even casually says as much. But that doesn't even make any sense. Even actual wolves IRL are deeply wary of humans, because they are in fact smart enough to know that humans have boomsticks that can kill you dead from quite a distance.
...and being a wild animal that casually kills people is a *great* way to make humans band together and grab their guns.
There's a few other things in the story that don't really add up. Like in the tidbits running up to the good endings;
Now, I'll admit that I have a habit of being autistic about details like this. But the way the world in this story works really does feel like an over-the-top joke when you think about it.
Still. In spite of all that, this is still one of those rare works where the characters, the art, and the story actually manage to shine in spite of the weirdness in the background.
So, my verdict is 4/5
The art, for starters. The quality of the art is just amazing. The art in this one is so good, it would have made this VN worth it even if the writing would have been utter shit.
And the character writing and dialogue are generally good, too. Fuyu and Mirari are well-written and likeable - in fact, choosing between them was seriously hard!
There's a few bad endings as well, and I felt that they were handled in a good way.
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Another plus about this VN is that you can choose a male or female protagonist, and both are believable and well-written. As another revieuwer aptly pointed out: the female MC isn't just the male MC without a dick.
The music and special effects in this one are also good, even if they're nothing special. No real animations, but there's some scene effects that give it that extra zing. The soundtrack doesn't really have any bangers, but there's still some tracks that are worth listening to.
But... this title still has a downside. And that's also the only reason why I'm giving this a 4/5 instead of a full five stars.
The setting.
What's established here in the setting of this story only really works if you turn off your brain and don't think about what's going on here.
Yeah, I know - this isn't some grand settingbuilding project. But still, some of this stuff is just too in-your-face to ignore. The girls are wearing jeans, bras and stockings, and Mirari can use a regular human kitchen even better than the human MC - but both girls somehow have no concept of motor vehicles or vacuum cleaners?
The MC even points out how weird this is. But this is never actually explained. The girls are a weird schizo mix between anthro-wolf people who have never known anything but life in the wilderness, and kemonomimi girls who are actually quite at home in modern human civilization.
The role of these anthros, and how human society interacts with them, likewise gets weirder and weirder the more you think about it. Are these things wildlife? Half the time the story talks about them as if they're just like regular animals, and how they can be similarly unpredictable. But at the same time, the story clearly shows that they are basically human beings who speak regular English, and who have no real trouble communicating with people.
The whole thing makes about as much sense as the girls' skimpy clothes in that cold winter weather. "We're half-wolves, we can handle the cold much better than you" - yeah, except real wolves can handle the cold because they've got an inch of thick fur. These girls just have bare skin, and no more bodyfat than a regular human.
Then there's also some mention of these 'half-wolves' thinking nothing of killing people. That injured half-wolf hunter later in the story even casually says as much. But that doesn't even make any sense. Even actual wolves IRL are deeply wary of humans, because they are in fact smart enough to know that humans have boomsticks that can kill you dead from quite a distance.
...and being a wild animal that casually kills people is a *great* way to make humans band together and grab their guns.
There's a few other things in the story that don't really add up. Like in the tidbits running up to the good endings;
You don't have permission to view the spoiler content.
Log in or register now.
Now, I'll admit that I have a habit of being autistic about details like this. But the way the world in this story works really does feel like an over-the-top joke when you think about it.
Still. In spite of all that, this is still one of those rare works where the characters, the art, and the story actually manage to shine in spite of the weirdness in the background.
So, my verdict is 4/5
