The rudimentary pixel art characters and visual novel gameplay both initially risked scaring me off from playing this, but I’m glad they didn’t because this is some of the best character writing I’ve seen in a game in years. It tells the story of a few pivotal days in a rural fantasy village, offering three coming of age stories from three very different POVs during those days.
Those three POVs are where the magic lies, as each one offers a unique perception of all 30 people in the village. Their opinions aren’t paragraphs long lore entries full of Proper Nouns but instead a mere 2-3 sentences of personal experience, as if someone asked “hey what’s that guy’s deal?” The economical storytelling in most entries is “for sale: baby shoes, never worn”-level great, whether it offers thoughtful insight into the private humanity and inner life of another village member or maybe flatly dismisses someone for believably petty or circumstantial reasons. Through these, each person in the village is brought to life to be much more than just whatever trope they could easily exist as.
I was also a fan of the choices available for each POV. While all three have to make a big choice about their future in an “alternate end credits slides” kind of way, even more interesting is the smaller, seemingly non-branching decisions leading up to that. Just like in real life, most of their decisions don’t alter the broader world happening around them as much as how they’re going to feel about those happenings (and make those around them feel). They are not the one true protagonist but instead a single piece of a broader community they currently exist within. On a side note, I also loved how quietly inclusive it is without ever calling attention to it; as an example, the three POVs are respectively living with a visual disability, a double amputation, and neurodivergence. None are defined by those traits, though, even as they’re still clearly affected by them.
And while the character art isn’t immediately impressive, it grew more charming as I played, and the background scene art even more so. I also can’t give enough praise to the wistful poignancy of its instrumental acoustic guitar soundtrack.
Those three POVs are where the magic lies, as each one offers a unique perception of all 30 people in the village. Their opinions aren’t paragraphs long lore entries full of Proper Nouns but instead a mere 2-3 sentences of personal experience, as if someone asked “hey what’s that guy’s deal?” The economical storytelling in most entries is “for sale: baby shoes, never worn”-level great, whether it offers thoughtful insight into the private humanity and inner life of another village member or maybe flatly dismisses someone for believably petty or circumstantial reasons. Through these, each person in the village is brought to life to be much more than just whatever trope they could easily exist as.
I was also a fan of the choices available for each POV. While all three have to make a big choice about their future in an “alternate end credits slides” kind of way, even more interesting is the smaller, seemingly non-branching decisions leading up to that. Just like in real life, most of their decisions don’t alter the broader world happening around them as much as how they’re going to feel about those happenings (and make those around them feel). They are not the one true protagonist but instead a single piece of a broader community they currently exist within. On a side note, I also loved how quietly inclusive it is without ever calling attention to it; as an example, the three POVs are respectively living with a visual disability, a double amputation, and neurodivergence. None are defined by those traits, though, even as they’re still clearly affected by them.
And while the character art isn’t immediately impressive, it grew more charming as I played, and the background scene art even more so. I also can’t give enough praise to the wistful poignancy of its instrumental acoustic guitar soundtrack.