My opinion is that it's good, but not great.
Generally the the VN got better is it went on route-wise, with the exception of Aki (derivative and weird incest stuff) and Reminiscence (not bad but forced you to go through stuff you've seen already).
Setting was pretty cool. Music was fine with a few stand out songs. Gameplay was cool, grinding abilities to get better ones was annoying but when you get your ideal build and just grinding out orbs for plug-ins and stuff makes things a lot more fun. Characters were generally likable and interesting but none I'd personally put on a top favorites list.
Biggest issue was definitely the repetitive nature of the storytelling. Yes it ultimately made sense when you got to Sora's route, but given the length of both Dives, I think they either should've made the routes stand out more by giving more unique scenes OR just cut down the length by like 1/3 or even 1/4 so you don't have to put so many hours in similar-ish events.
That said, for a VN its length (took me 150+ hours on Steam, though it's mixed with H scenes and Survival Mode and listening to music)... it's paced decently well. Gameplay taking over action scenes helped since I'm not usually a fan of how action is written in VNs. It does tends to keep you on your toes and even makes the slice of life/slower scenes fun.
Routes: 1) 6 - I actually enjoyed the first half of recruiting everyone a lot. Second half was cool if maybe relying on some weird writing to solve everything.
2) 5 - Just generally a feel good version of Kou branch. Good stuff happening all around
3) 3 - It being the first route to have Chinatsu develop from not being a cunt was nice, and having the final battle be the forgotten flashback with current mechs was nice.
4) Reminiscence [new stuff only] - The twist of the (half?) forced Simulacra romance was weird but interesting. Reveals in Sora route made this not as bad. Was also nice to see some filling in of the blanks.
5) 2 - Naoki coming in to save Kou before his Heel reveal was one of my fav Dive 1 moments. Otherwise finding out suffering Nanoha's life was hurt. Good route but everything else above was just that much better.
6) 1 - Had the unfortunate issue of being plagued by the most flashbacks. Ultimately didn't matter as much since I actually liked the flashbacks but it just goes back to my comment of how the repetitiveness/pacing could have easily better by either moving Reminiscence earlier, or just limiting flashback length while still keeping this the decent into route it was.
7) 4 - Had dumb romance and a lot of the story was just copied off Chinatsu route. Saved a bit by Simulcara and Tranquilizer fight stuff.
Characters:
1/2) Not sure if I like Nanoha or Sora more. Nanoha is generally more my type the deredere childhood friend but with a dose of suffering to make me care for her more. Did cry a bit too much at times though. Sora is by far the most interesting character in the VN. Not my type personality-wise generally but likable even in the flashback stuff. Woulda been cool to see more Dive Sora stuff.
3) Makoto - Was boring as shit in flashbacks. Became way more interesting once she got unmasked.
4) Chinatsu - Very fun in flashbacks. Was a bit of a cunt in present but developed enough and was pretty interesting regardless.
5) Rain - Was pretty consistent, maybe too consistent? Had a pretty stable personality that was fine but didn't go far beyond that besides a few cool moments. Didn't show up enough in flashbacks.
6) Aki - Likable enough just had the dumb romance dragging her down. Did rely a bit too much on her "super smart but lazy" stereotype.
Other notes:
Being fully voiced made the experience much better
Kou was an ok enough protagonist. Got the job done
Masa was a decent bro character. Having a wife and not being a total loser for once helped
Naoki coulda been one of my fav characters pre-Heel reveal. I like them mentor characters. Sad his character just became all about the corruption but oh well.
* Villains were a little too hammy to be taken seriously sometimes. Gilbert and Gregory were the biggest offenders. Anan's appearance and voice. Even Naoki went a bit far sometimes. 19 in general was just fucking weird all around.
Definitely a solid VN series as long as you don't mind it's length, gameplay, and want a sci-fi multi-route mystery taken to its meta limits.
Generally the the VN got better is it went on route-wise, with the exception of Aki (derivative and weird incest stuff) and Reminiscence (not bad but forced you to go through stuff you've seen already).
Setting was pretty cool. Music was fine with a few stand out songs. Gameplay was cool, grinding abilities to get better ones was annoying but when you get your ideal build and just grinding out orbs for plug-ins and stuff makes things a lot more fun. Characters were generally likable and interesting but none I'd personally put on a top favorites list.
Biggest issue was definitely the repetitive nature of the storytelling. Yes it ultimately made sense when you got to Sora's route, but given the length of both Dives, I think they either should've made the routes stand out more by giving more unique scenes OR just cut down the length by like 1/3 or even 1/4 so you don't have to put so many hours in similar-ish events.
That said, for a VN its length (took me 150+ hours on Steam, though it's mixed with H scenes and Survival Mode and listening to music)... it's paced decently well. Gameplay taking over action scenes helped since I'm not usually a fan of how action is written in VNs. It does tends to keep you on your toes and even makes the slice of life/slower scenes fun.
Routes: 1) 6 - I actually enjoyed the first half of recruiting everyone a lot. Second half was cool if maybe relying on some weird writing to solve everything.
2) 5 - Just generally a feel good version of Kou branch. Good stuff happening all around
3) 3 - It being the first route to have Chinatsu develop from not being a cunt was nice, and having the final battle be the forgotten flashback with current mechs was nice.
4) Reminiscence [new stuff only] - The twist of the (half?) forced Simulacra romance was weird but interesting. Reveals in Sora route made this not as bad. Was also nice to see some filling in of the blanks.
5) 2 - Naoki coming in to save Kou before his Heel reveal was one of my fav Dive 1 moments. Otherwise finding out suffering Nanoha's life was hurt. Good route but everything else above was just that much better.
6) 1 - Had the unfortunate issue of being plagued by the most flashbacks. Ultimately didn't matter as much since I actually liked the flashbacks but it just goes back to my comment of how the repetitiveness/pacing could have easily better by either moving Reminiscence earlier, or just limiting flashback length while still keeping this the decent into route it was.
7) 4 - Had dumb romance and a lot of the story was just copied off Chinatsu route. Saved a bit by Simulcara and Tranquilizer fight stuff.
Characters:
1/2) Not sure if I like Nanoha or Sora more. Nanoha is generally more my type the deredere childhood friend but with a dose of suffering to make me care for her more. Did cry a bit too much at times though. Sora is by far the most interesting character in the VN. Not my type personality-wise generally but likable even in the flashback stuff. Woulda been cool to see more Dive Sora stuff.
3) Makoto - Was boring as shit in flashbacks. Became way more interesting once she got unmasked.
4) Chinatsu - Very fun in flashbacks. Was a bit of a cunt in present but developed enough and was pretty interesting regardless.
5) Rain - Was pretty consistent, maybe too consistent? Had a pretty stable personality that was fine but didn't go far beyond that besides a few cool moments. Didn't show up enough in flashbacks.
6) Aki - Likable enough just had the dumb romance dragging her down. Did rely a bit too much on her "super smart but lazy" stereotype.
Other notes:
Being fully voiced made the experience much better
Kou was an ok enough protagonist. Got the job done
Masa was a decent bro character. Having a wife and not being a total loser for once helped
Naoki coulda been one of my fav characters pre-Heel reveal. I like them mentor characters. Sad his character just became all about the corruption but oh well.
* Villains were a little too hammy to be taken seriously sometimes. Gilbert and Gregory were the biggest offenders. Anan's appearance and voice. Even Naoki went a bit far sometimes. 19 in general was just fucking weird all around.
Definitely a solid VN series as long as you don't mind it's length, gameplay, and want a sci-fi multi-route mystery taken to its meta limits.