Very cute! Beat it twice as well for one of the secret endings lol
It's one of the most unique games I've played in a while, and it really nails what it's going for with its gameplay. The acts are all so different from eachother that the game never gets boring, since there's always something new to do. The game is a treat visually too! The sprites are super expressive (especially Pino) and it lends itself well to the anime look the game has. It's a pretty short game too, especially once you start really learning the mechanics, so I think anyone interested ought to do themselves a favor and check it out, it's a good time :)

This is a really unique point-and-click, so I feel like I need to open this review by introducing its core gameplay quirk and spoiling a minor puzzle. Rather than directly controlling Pino's actions, you can only direct him to interact with objects (but not what he does with them), and praise/scold him after the fact (depending on whether he petted or kicked the dog, for example). At many points, you won't even be able to do the above; the game puts Pino in a situation and his actions and reactions depend on his stats, as well as the skills/values you've been teaching him. As an example, the first skill you teach Pino is throwing a ball. Much later in the game, you need to get him to unlearn that skill through scolding, because if you don't, he'll throw a ball at a cop and get into trouble.

This gameplay style seems clunky (and it is), but it's actually a fairly genius design decision that gels with the storyline very well. You see, Pino is a new and extremely humanlike model of Gijin (robot), activated just as simmering tensions between humans and Gijin are nearing boiling point. He may be strong, but he's a day old at the start of the story; it doesn't quite make sense to be able to control all his actions. The sense of uncertainty when trying to coax him into being a well-adjusted kid is entirely realistic, and gives the player a greater degree of empathy with him and therefore a stronger emotional attachment to him...

Or at least it would if the game weren't so frustrating to play. Success and failure is not just down to learned behaviors and values - it's mostly down to Pino's stats. He has stats for everything from "arm strength" to "balance" to "imagination" to "kindness", and the process of raising these stats is a matter of using certain items again and again and again i.e. grinding. Take into account that:
- All actions that raise some stats will also lower at least one (lifting weights increases arm strength but lowers intelligence, for example)
- Many of these stat-raising items need to be bought and money isn't plentiful
- In the early game, Pino will break many of these expensive items during tantrums
- It's way too easy to trigger these tantrums by just scolding him a couple of times, leading to a vicious cycle where you scold him for something and he decides to rebel by tearing up the book you asked him to read, so you scold him again and on and on and on.

If you can imagine a grindy old-school JRPG where the characters randomly decide not to follow your instructions (best approximation I can think of is playing Dragon Quest 3 with a party of Gadabouts), that experience is 95% of the game. It's why, despite its many obvious strengths (some of the best 16-bit graphics ever, gorgeous art style, great story, tearjerker setpieces) I was forced to give up halfway and just watch a Let's Play.

I'd put this right next to Xenogears at the top of the list of "games I wish were animes instead".