I recently got two friends to play through this game. One loved Suda games and visual novels, the other hated Suda's writing and visual novels. One thing we all have in common is that voicing our opinions on this game is hard.

Finding something to say about something you love is actually quite an undertaking. It's easy to love something without explaining why. It's even easier to hate. It all comes down to being able to formulate your thoughts in a cohesive manner, which believe it or not, is actually pretty fuckin' hard. I actually have a really bad habit of not collecting my thoughts before they get brought up. "Why'd you like this part of the game?" "I dunno, I just liked it." "Yeah, but it's poorly designed." "It didn't bother me cause I liked everything around it."

Hating is easy cause it's a strong and simple emotion and it can be used to zero in on any particular thing. Love is more of an 'all over' kinda feeling. It's not channeled into a singular point, it's 'all over'.

'The character portraits are inconsistent' - Yeah
'The pacing is awful' - Yeah
'The story is constantly fighting the way it's presented' - Yeah
'Plot details are hard to follow' - Yeah
'So, it's bad, right?' - No, I love it actually. A lot.

Next time you watch someone review a game they hate and hear them give detailed explanations on what parts they individually hate, watch them review a game they adore. They'll get into specifics, but at the end of the day they all say the same thing. "I just love it, and I can't fully articulate why."

Well, they won't literally say that, but an approximation... Sometimes.

"Like how you feel when a cool breeze flows by. It's a pleasant feeling."