A tale of desire, damage, and discovery of what was lost and what was gained. 🩸

Spoiler for Route Names/Leads

Slow Damage is a ride filled with many moments of dread, of sensuality, and of ecstasy. Shinkoumi is an interesting setting with many unusual residents that makes the place feel like home when reading. During the nighttime, its mystifying and dreary atmosphere really shines through as you speak to its residents and explore through the emptiest and busiest sectors.

Towa's a fantastic protagonist with fun dialogue and dynamics with the other characters, and he perfectly enthralls you into the setting. Each main mystery in the chapters range from alright to thrilling but seeing how Towa and his muses, for his art, interact is always absorbing. I really love how everything is built up and structured regarding Towa's mystery, like going from Taku's and Rei's routes (nice BL with some hints and pieces about Towa's life) to unlocking Madarame's route (a focus on a bit of Towa's past and the prevalent figure within it). Everything comes together to not only form an enchanting read filled with crazy homosexuals, but a journey of a damaged and scarred protagonist.

This was also a very personal read for me, which was quite unexpected honestly. Descending into the world of Shinkoumi and Towa's life, I ended up resonating with this game way more than I had ever imagined. Towa and the true route, in particular, are crafted wonderfully, drawing out feelings of pain and disgust but also delivering soothing and beautiful scenes that are absolutely satisfying to witness. Towa's trauma and his buried memories is handled well and watching him get through everything and realize the parts of himself was just extremely compelling. Everything between him and Fujieda made me feel connected to them. Those last couple of hours of the game were extraordinarily written and quite tear-jerking.

The other routes are pretty nice as well. Aside from the true route, Rei's route is probably my favorite. His struggle is relatable, and his dynamic with Towa is sweet. Madarame's route doesn't pull any punches and could hurt to read at certain points. It does a good job of showing a different side of Towa, and that Madarame is an ideal yet very unhealthy partner for him. Taku's route is solid, but weaker than the aforementioned due to his character moments and roles he plays in being more interesting in other routes.

I can't say I'd recommend Slow Damage, definitely depends on the person. If you're a fan of what I've described in my review, I'd say go for it. Though I would look into the content warnings first. P.S: This is the first N+C visual novel I've gotten through, very excited to read more.

Other aspects of the game I loved ♥:

The soundtrack is so damn great. It perfectly sets the tone right and is memorable. The tracks for each ending are quite good too, great choices for each character. Also, listening to After All gets me really emotional.

Yamada Uiro's artwork is phenomenal, and I love all the colors and character designs.

I really like the side cast. The Takasato members, Rei's queer friend group, and a couple others were very enjoyable to interact with.

I'm not sure if I could trust anyone that actually likes this visual novel if I'm being real. I honestly only played this because I had "Saya's Song" stuck in my head for like a week and thought to myself at 1 AM today to finally give the stupid VN a go (knowing I wasn't going to like it). Anyways I did manage to play it through in like 3 sittings since it was short but Jesus Christ was it actually awful. I also got every ending so before any dudebro with nonce particles inside them gets rowdy thinking I only got one ending or something, CALM DOWN.

I liked certain concepts of the game such as Saya being a sort of "idol" to Fuminori, but I genuinely wished the game didn't try cramming down stupid unnecessary sex scenes down our throats like "heh... isn't this EVIL and DARKSIDED? take a glimpse at Urobuchi's DARK and TWISTED mind... heh". Like great, thanks Urobuchi I don't like you. Everyone and their grandma is like nnooo nooo these sexual scenes are supposed to cement how far gone Fuminori is and how he's losing his humanity and like it's to show how he and Saya are the only lonely people in each other's worlds and- BLAH BLAH BLAH I DONT CARE. IT SUCKS. If I'm being real the sex scenes with Fuminori feel like an excuse for men to find a way to feel aroused during these scenes because clearly they were trying to hit some sort of erotic points for the reader. There are so many things that could have been done better to still prove that Fuminori is a horrible human being without it resorting to sex. I had to keep skipping the h scenes and their dialogue because why would any sane person want to see a grown ass man doing all of that to someone who looks like a ten year old. If I had a nickel for how many times I saw the word manhood as a replacement for the word penis I'd have enough money to fly to Japan and drop an anvil on Urobuchi's head.

Anyways, I just don't appreciate how pessimistic and misanthropic this visual novel is, and I guess I'm glad I finally played through this myself so I can mentally throw rocks and strike people with psychic beams anytime I see someone praise this horrendous piece of slop.

This game (somewhat understandably) gets the rep of just being that weird yaoi mpreg omegaverse gore game. And I get that, because that is a large part of it, but it's also disappointing. This game has a lot more to offer than just the handful of niche kinks it appeals to.

It's a game about love, fate, religious fanaticism, devotion, gender, death, birth, chronic illness, mental illness, sacrifice, prejudice, queerness, ableism, adulthood.

It's a coming of age drama by way of Cronenberg. It shamelessly renders violence erotic and eroticism violent. It's a psychological horror and it's a heartwarming romance. Yes, it is that one game about the guy who gives birth to meat babies from his ass.

And it might be one of the most beautiful stories ever told.