Really good game that shouldn't be a game. Even in a gameplay video, you can feel the sluggishness of this game—and it's infinitely worse when the controller is in your hands. With that said, though, Rule of Rose excels at damn near everything else it does. Haunting music, Fantastic presentation, and absolutely jaw dropping storytelling. If you're playing this game, you're doing it for the story, and it does not disappoint. The big 'oh shit' moment near the game's end where everything comes together is just tremendous. I'll be thinking about this one for a while.

I had 'this is a little Utena-esque' in my head from the jump and as time passed the game only proved me more and more right. This is high praise.

Straight up one of the best mystery games I've ever played. The production is ridiculous, and I mean that as praise—the music, voice acting, animation and witty dialogue all come together to form a delightful little game. Me and some friends streamed this one together, and had a grand old time trying to piece the mystery together as a group. The characters are all fun to talk to, and the sheer amount of flavor text with each one is such a treat. No bad puzzles, either, though the clock face one could be a bit agonizing.
The very final scene with the culprit fell a little flat for me, but the build to that moment is top-notch. I won't spoil it, but the "oh, shit" moment when it all comes together? Absolutely amazing.

I feel the need to say you should not get this version of this game. But it is the one I played as a kid + revisited recently, so even with its many issues its very near and dear to my heart. A farming sim unlike any other I've ever played — this game is honestly more like a boku no natsuyasumi game than most other Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons games, and I think that's absolutely to its benefit. It is at once brisk and ambling—while its ingame years are shorter than your average farming sim, this is in service to its in-depth exploration of the passage of time. Getting married and having a child are key early game events, but as time goes on, your child grows, as do other children in the town. Your neighbors age, and in time, pass — the Valley's inhabitants come and go as their lives unfold alongside yours. A Wonderful Life is a game that breathes, and invites you not to shape its world, but to exist within it. It's clunky, it's dated, it looks and runs horrendously, but I don't even care. There will never be a Harvest Moon game crafted more to my sensibilities than this one.


...Well, other than the remake that lets you be gay.