One of the rare pieces of media I could find that hits the exact sorts of notes and feelings that speak to me and which I always hope to see but seldom do. Middle to late childhood, the feelings of being only at the beginning stages of adolescence, the old storybook feel of balancing the saccharine and cute with the heavy and real... they come together to form something that was a pleasure to run through. I've somewhat recently come to a point where I do cry a lot more readily at media than I once did, but this one brought me to tears more times than I expected. Those moments rarely felt cheap, making them quite a lot more impressive in my eyes. It's lovely getting to feel such things on a cozy afternoon.
There's a bit of weirdness regarding some bits of dramatic irony leading to certain plot threads and poignant moments being insufficiently tied up or necessarily absent the main ending, but besides that I found everything was woven together quite well. I found the 'charm' system was well executed for the game's scope with the doubling-back and backtracking being rather creative at times, and the small overall map helped with reducing any sense of tedium. The mystery unraveled itself at a pretty good clip, too, which I certainly appreciate. The characters tended to be enjoyable enough, and while I do wish we had a bit more time to get to know them, the game is compact enough that I don't mind. Clocking in at maybe 3-5 hours or so depending on your reading speed and desire for thoroughness, it's barely longer than a couple movies watched in succession, which by video game standards is bite-size indeed.
I think the game speaks plenty for itself in terms of how it looks and sounds and feels. I find the environment is very well-established not just with storybook styling and visuals but with the sound design and change- and nature-focused theming. Set in the cusp between two seasons works well to put together a landscape in the midst of change, especially since a lack of intense gameplay lets you take in the sights and sounds of the stationary locations at your leisure. On the topic of artwork, I did find the painted portraits felt somewhat inferior in stylistic integrity to the lineart sketches used by the tree interface and accompanying 'moment' artwork, but it still served its purpose and blended the characters better into the (incredibly beautiful) environments around them than I'd think the latter style would. Their adorable little sprites help, too, and so altogether it looks plenty good.
Most certain above all with this game is that I want to keep myself informed about what the developers do next. Another couple games in this style would be wonderful, covering different ranges of age and place. I do believe the choose-your-own-adventure walking sim style does make the most sense for this as it is closer to the 'interactive fiction' side of things stylistically, so I don't mind the lack of traditional adventure gameplay at all either. I don't think this is the kind of game that a ton of people would enjoy, but anyone who thinks they might will absolutely get a lot out of it as I know I have. It's something I can wholeheartedly recommend to anyone looking for a story hitting the careful mix of light and darkness fairy tales had, as well as for those liking the feeling of an old silly kid's movie or show from ages past. Even with the bumps in the road this game has, these developers did a wonderful job putting together this little slice of playful, youthful half-reality.
There's a bit of weirdness regarding some bits of dramatic irony leading to certain plot threads and poignant moments being insufficiently tied up or necessarily absent the main ending, but besides that I found everything was woven together quite well. I found the 'charm' system was well executed for the game's scope with the doubling-back and backtracking being rather creative at times, and the small overall map helped with reducing any sense of tedium. The mystery unraveled itself at a pretty good clip, too, which I certainly appreciate. The characters tended to be enjoyable enough, and while I do wish we had a bit more time to get to know them, the game is compact enough that I don't mind. Clocking in at maybe 3-5 hours or so depending on your reading speed and desire for thoroughness, it's barely longer than a couple movies watched in succession, which by video game standards is bite-size indeed.
I think the game speaks plenty for itself in terms of how it looks and sounds and feels. I find the environment is very well-established not just with storybook styling and visuals but with the sound design and change- and nature-focused theming. Set in the cusp between two seasons works well to put together a landscape in the midst of change, especially since a lack of intense gameplay lets you take in the sights and sounds of the stationary locations at your leisure. On the topic of artwork, I did find the painted portraits felt somewhat inferior in stylistic integrity to the lineart sketches used by the tree interface and accompanying 'moment' artwork, but it still served its purpose and blended the characters better into the (incredibly beautiful) environments around them than I'd think the latter style would. Their adorable little sprites help, too, and so altogether it looks plenty good.
Most certain above all with this game is that I want to keep myself informed about what the developers do next. Another couple games in this style would be wonderful, covering different ranges of age and place. I do believe the choose-your-own-adventure walking sim style does make the most sense for this as it is closer to the 'interactive fiction' side of things stylistically, so I don't mind the lack of traditional adventure gameplay at all either. I don't think this is the kind of game that a ton of people would enjoy, but anyone who thinks they might will absolutely get a lot out of it as I know I have. It's something I can wholeheartedly recommend to anyone looking for a story hitting the careful mix of light and darkness fairy tales had, as well as for those liking the feeling of an old silly kid's movie or show from ages past. Even with the bumps in the road this game has, these developers did a wonderful job putting together this little slice of playful, youthful half-reality.