i loved this game

i have issues with it but i still don't know if i'd change anything, as the issues i have are also a result of things that i love!

it reminds me a lot of 428 shibuya scramble, one of the few visual novels i unabashedly and without reservation love in its entirety, in the way you play through various branches to try to find the right ending - albeit a lot simpler, as there's only one character's path you really follow, instead of the... five? in 428? i forget, but anyway it's more than one

but something different about this one is that a lot of the character beats, the moments of huge growth and connection, just don't happen in the path that i assume is meant to be the true ending, since it's when the book gets closed

one of the best moments in the game for me was when luka and beck are hanging out in beck's room during the storm, and they open the window and scream to vent their feelings of frustration at life... it was very sweet and cathartic and felt like a real, if cheesy, moment of connection between the two... buuuut! that moment never happens in the true ending's path, and i think that's a shame?

but it's also fitting, this is just how life works, any given moment is a result of the choices you and others make before you get there, there's no such thing as "fate" leading you to those moments of connection, you just kind of stumble upon them

so it's frustrating but also... correct

ahhh but beyond that the art, the presentation, the polish, the music, the everything, it's just so good!

Fun game, works great on the Steam Deck. The story isn't super original or deep, but it did have some unexpected twists. The main gimmick of it being a play on "choose your own adventure" books was kind of cool, but ultimately it never really got past "find a charm to get a shitty bonus ending". Pretty much all you get are two timelines, which might not seem like a lot, but it's not really a bad thing. On top of them being fleshed out well enough, the game does a very good job with how it gives pieces of information about the overarching plot to the player (for example something in one timeline happens that doesn't make sense, but then something happens in the other that explains it). It also helps that the characters are quite likeable and the game itself is rather straightforward - it's pretty much just a visual novel. So yeah, the game is a pretty relaxing experience overall.