The first in this reboot series doesn't have a great reputation among Hayarigami fans in Japan and it's obvious why. The messy story, the incoherent progression of events, the robotic characters... Yeah, it's far from enjoyable and the stiffly written localisation does little to help. Even its soundtrack is surprisingly lacking in any sort of memorability or atmosphere. The gameplay absolutely left a bad taste in my mouth, being rewarded through the Liar's Art mechanic to put the blame on a sexual harrassment victim for failing to report the perpetrator, or motivating a suspect to commit suicide in a mocking manner. Yet these characters never feel questioned for these acts. Part of me continued to pray for the story to improve, but the slow progression towards the conclusion never felt satisfying or natural. I absolutely did not care for the shitty romance subplot between the main character and her creepy sexist coworker. I could best describe the feeling this visual novel gave me as repulsive, absolutely not in any meaningful way. What a shame that artist's beautiful talent has been wasted on this.

Reviewed on Jul 10, 2021


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