I and many others spent an incredibly long time waiting for this game. Given how much I unintentionally built it up in my mind with such grand ideas of what it could be, and what it might do, I wasn't disappointed even a little bit.
This is one of the most accessible long ass adventure games of it's kind. I say this, but if I were to rattle off descriptions of what it's like, you'd probably think that's crazy. Fuck it, in the spirit of what this game is, let's do that!
The entire design of the game is maximalism applied to the systems they've created, 13 intersecting plotlines with protagonists who are from entirely different genres of storytelling, a combat system that scales up for as long as possible and has a ridiculous post-game you're unlikely to ever see the end of, and a story structure that emphasizes your personally selected route through the game in a way few others do. Other players will experience plot revelations that hit you hard in your playthrough very differently, because it's something they already learned in their route through the game. The background artwork looks entirely like a painting come to life, and the character art is a particularly detailed style of shoujo (teenage girl) oriented manga, and yet the mechs are the most industrial and greasy looking things you've seen in your life. The unreasonably long soundtrack covers so much ground that getting sick of a specific track seems almost impossible. If there's one thing I hate in writing, it's attempting to redeem a boring adventure through twists that are designed to shock instead of contribute to a consistent world and themes. Not only does this game manage to tie everything together, there's a LOT of twists and turns that reframe the entire story and make you question not only it, but your own memory of it. Accompanied by a system that lets you view every scene and bit of plot relevant info in the game in a list, you're encouraged to fact check yourself and actively think about what is or isn't real. Ontop all of that, the emotional core of this game, the characters, frequently opt for a less is more approach. They often show their emotional development through subtext building up to climactic moments. When characters do something different and unique, which they do frequently, it feels special as a result. Analytical players who tried their best to figure everything out on their first go will greatly appreciate the last protagonist you unlock.
So, how the fuck does this contribute to my take that this game is extremely accessible? Am I not just making it sound like a giant spaghetti of a project barely held together, and with very little cohesion? My answer to that, is that there's a reason this game took as long as it did to make. It would be sane and reasonable to scale back this game, take less time to make it and focus on making a short but high quality game. But nah, they set out to do the unreasonable, polish the rough edges for as long as it took until this insane concept was realised. Obviously it won't land for everybody, nothing ever will, but there's a reason this game is beloved despite being a niche among niches. The game itself says much more than what I can by writing bullshit on a gamer psychosis website. Weird, 50 hour visual novel adventure game hybrids don't get this kind of broad positive reception from people outside it's target demographic. This isn't to say that critical response dictates how worth your time something is, only that it's really easy to discover an appreciation for this one. Accessible.
Oh shit, forgot to mention that you drop big bombs on a grid and make it explode into 6 million particle effects.
This is one of the most accessible long ass adventure games of it's kind. I say this, but if I were to rattle off descriptions of what it's like, you'd probably think that's crazy. Fuck it, in the spirit of what this game is, let's do that!
The entire design of the game is maximalism applied to the systems they've created, 13 intersecting plotlines with protagonists who are from entirely different genres of storytelling, a combat system that scales up for as long as possible and has a ridiculous post-game you're unlikely to ever see the end of, and a story structure that emphasizes your personally selected route through the game in a way few others do. Other players will experience plot revelations that hit you hard in your playthrough very differently, because it's something they already learned in their route through the game. The background artwork looks entirely like a painting come to life, and the character art is a particularly detailed style of shoujo (teenage girl) oriented manga, and yet the mechs are the most industrial and greasy looking things you've seen in your life. The unreasonably long soundtrack covers so much ground that getting sick of a specific track seems almost impossible. If there's one thing I hate in writing, it's attempting to redeem a boring adventure through twists that are designed to shock instead of contribute to a consistent world and themes. Not only does this game manage to tie everything together, there's a LOT of twists and turns that reframe the entire story and make you question not only it, but your own memory of it. Accompanied by a system that lets you view every scene and bit of plot relevant info in the game in a list, you're encouraged to fact check yourself and actively think about what is or isn't real. Ontop all of that, the emotional core of this game, the characters, frequently opt for a less is more approach. They often show their emotional development through subtext building up to climactic moments. When characters do something different and unique, which they do frequently, it feels special as a result. Analytical players who tried their best to figure everything out on their first go will greatly appreciate the last protagonist you unlock.
So, how the fuck does this contribute to my take that this game is extremely accessible? Am I not just making it sound like a giant spaghetti of a project barely held together, and with very little cohesion? My answer to that, is that there's a reason this game took as long as it did to make. It would be sane and reasonable to scale back this game, take less time to make it and focus on making a short but high quality game. But nah, they set out to do the unreasonable, polish the rough edges for as long as it took until this insane concept was realised. Obviously it won't land for everybody, nothing ever will, but there's a reason this game is beloved despite being a niche among niches. The game itself says much more than what I can by writing bullshit on a gamer psychosis website. Weird, 50 hour visual novel adventure game hybrids don't get this kind of broad positive reception from people outside it's target demographic. This isn't to say that critical response dictates how worth your time something is, only that it's really easy to discover an appreciation for this one. Accessible.
Oh shit, forgot to mention that you drop big bombs on a grid and make it explode into 6 million particle effects.