finished story: march 29
all achievements: april 1

stuck between rating it 4 or 4 1/2 but i really enjoyed playing this
story reveal was satisfying unlike some certain other games and the characters are all wonderful
the mystery stays interesting to the end and all the hints they drop along the way without outright revealing the Thing are really neat

mizuki, aiba, and date are my favorites for sure and the dynamic between each of them was what i enjoyed the most
very very sweet :< mizuki route had my favorite resolution too

did not mind the comedic tone although it is a little jarring when youre in an ultra serious situation near the end of a route and aiba is like date you motherfucker and dates like ^w^ lollllllllll but i have a bigger bone to pick with this game than that

qte sequences are funny but odd and not really tense
i didnt enjoy the somniums at first compared to the puzzles of ZE but i gradually warmed up to them, mostly for their very surreal atmosphere

well animated in a way that looks nice and doesnt take you out of the game but there are some clipping issues sometimes and the dance is just a liiiiittle awkward but its fine, the game looks good overall
played with jp voices and they were fantastic but many people seem to like the english dub too so maybe ill check that out at some point

onto my big huge enormous issue that actively holds back my enjoyment of the game. how fucking creepy every man is to iris

sometimes i didnt mind date being horny because it was kinda funny but every time it involved iris i just rolled my eyes so far back into my head it was bad
i really like iris. shes a sweet character, her being a streamer and an idol is fun, and shes a big nerd into the occult and conspiracy theories partially to cope
shes such a major character and most things male characters say about her are the most disgusting creepy shit

i know shes an idol and the obsessive love is just the way that these things go but the way this actually drives the story forward with kumakura and ota is maddening !!!!!!!!!!
SHES 18!!!!!!!! we dont need to hear these grown ass men be insanely horny for her and its never ever ever ever funny! i know thats what its supposed to be, comedy, but it fucking sucks!!!!

the thing i hated the most was them making date continue to be creepy as fuck towards her even after they both knew what their previous relationship was!!!!!
i know date regards himself as a different person from falco but i think it sucks to write him thinking of her like that anyways and it upsets me immensely

anyways. the rest of it was good and fun and the jokes were funny for the most part but that is such an enormous issue for me thats such a major part of the game that prevents me from liking it fully