This high rating might be influenced by me mostly having played trash VNs recently, but I was really impressed by its quick pace. It goes through a fun concept and really doesn't waste any time with drama, which is nice for this kind of thing. Honestly the first thing ive liked in which Ryushiki07 has been involved with. However, character depth you usually get in VNs suffers from spending so little time on each plot point, plus the ending almost feels like a regular full size Key route ending which is a bit drawn out and melodramatic compared to the preceeding fun time. Not the most amazing thing I have ever played, but a really good time you can knock out in an evening and be satisfied with, and honestly, for what more can you ask.

I think Loopers was made by the wrong people. Don't get me wrong, I don't think this work would've been better or worse if it was made by anybody else but reading through reviews and adjusting my own thoughts made me realize that if big names in a certain industry make a somewhat dissapointing game, it ends up gaining hate for every little thing it does even slightly wrong. Now in this case Ryukishi07 and Key collaborated to what in my opinion is a decent but quite enjoyable reading experience. However I really advise anybody to just ignore the names attached to this title. It creates false expectations on what the game should be and what it actually is. Because Loopers, by no means is your usual Key or Ryukishi07 novel. In contrast, it's actually a far simpler storyline that unfortunately tries to be more ambigous than it can actually be due to its natural restraints. Loopers is a kinectic novel without any branching paths and a lack of actual time to create a fully fleshed out cast due to being 5-8 hours short. It's really whack that anybody but the main 5 characters doesn't really contribute anything but quite funny one liners. Worst of all is when they try to give these semi irrelevant characters some kind of development and focus on that for an entire chapter just to completely ignore them for the rest of the vn. I also think the dialogue thoroughly suffers from this. Due to the short runtime, the dialogue often feels repetitive and the crazy amount of corny anime lines gets overbearing real fast. Not to say, they never hit but it's a scenario where it's a 50/50 chance to get good or just downright horrible dialogue. Now to get to the things I actually enjoyed. First of all, Hilda and Leona are awesome characters. Depite the mc loving to ruin any sort of character moments or development, they actually managed to create a lovely little sub plot for both of these characters and I couldn't help but fall in love with them even more than I already had. It also made up for the bad taste the chapters prior left in my mouth. Simon too is a very unique and fun character whose progression into a loveable and unique addition to the cast was probably my favorite part of the game. Now to get to our main duo... I have mixed feelings on them. Tyler is sometimes neat and sometimes feels way too perfect. As much as I like me some optimistic leads, the fact that Tyler could cure everything and everyone by being optimistic seemed too much of a stretch for me. I did change my mind on him in the last bit though because seeing him struggle with his emotions and convictions was actually refreshing. Overall a cool character I'd say. Now as for Mia, she's a character that gradually grew on me. I really didn't know what to think of her first and I actually started off hating her a bit for falling too much into the cutesy anime trope too much. However as the vn progressed, so did my opinion on her. I think she's actually the most carefully progressed character of the cast and I love her main internal conflict. The way it's solved is by no means what I'd consider great but it works. Despite that I did find myself quite emotionally invested in her arc by the end of the last chapter and I couldn't help but have a bittersweet smile on my face during the post credit scene. Overall a simple vn that manages to stick out from the masses by slightly twisting the tropes its built upon and also by having a great ost and artstyle

Short, heartfelt, and of genuine depth. A love letter telling us that happiness is something you have to seek out for yourself, every day being a new treasure hunt.

Everything is carried by great music (honorable mentions to the guitar tracks and sajou no hana songs), cool and cute designs, and above all by a duo of protagonists with strong personalities.

As for the other characters, they managed to characterize their identity, even though the credits for this should more go to Kei Mochizuki's beautiful designs than to their psychology and actions.
The artificiality of the time loop system doesn't help much on this point.

The intro features Ryukishi's writing tropes (albeit awkwardly presented) but he conformed to Key studio's codes for most of the story (good atmosphere + tears at the end). So don't expect mystery or horror.

All in all I had a good time, a nice little summer read.

this didnt feel like ryukishis writing at all. if we assume he just excuses ''war bad cant continue ciconia'' and actually got bored with ciconia then did he waste his time while writing loopers? dont get me wrong its not bad I enjoyed some moments but its nothing special with saving grace being art direction. some points were not explained like what happens to people on the outside of the loop (which is very important for me) and pacing felt rushed with could be potentially important moments for characters getting skipped or cutted midway literally. short fun though

Mia a cute.

Could've been a little longer to flesh out side characters, but oh well. Follows the standard Ryukishi story format of the early story being horror (light in this case) and then having the mysteries slowly unravel.

Also loved the treasure hunting gimmick.

Loopers was billed as a collaborative effort between Key and 07th Expansion, but it ends up being mostly generic Key fare. It feels like the extent of Ryukishi's autonomous involvement was in the characters - who, to be fair, are tightly written and fun to read - the OP and ED, and maybe some basic plot beats as, for better or worse, the game's writing lacks Ryukishi's typical flair, and the plot is so derivative of Key's other works one can see the ending from a mile away. As a very short game, the narrative sometimes has hiccups in its pacing, and most of the characters outside the main three or four remain underdeveloped. Two named characters don't even have sprites, which is a glaring omission considering how pivotal they are to the plot. Hopefully this is remedied in the Switch release.

All that said, the game still did its job as a nakige and managed to extract more emotion from me than it probably deserved. Its length almost does it a service here as the narrative doesn't meander, and it doesn't have time to get bogged down with too many hokey slice of life scenes or tangential plot threads. Mochizuke's character designs are very attractive and pleasant to look at. Key fans will find much of the soundtrack familiar thanks to Orito's typically catchy compositions, though the game's music is rounded out by Hosoi and others whose contributions shouldn't go unmentioned. The writing is by no means poor, with its light horror elements making it stand out among Key's other short works. The theme of geocaching is unexpected and unique, and is used to good effect throughout the narrative. Overall, worth the 20 bucks when it comes to Switch in English.