as much as i'd love to crack a few among us jokes i'll refrain from acting sussy for the time being because what's here is a really solid and well-crafted experience wrapped up in a time-looping murder mystery that while exhausting at times triumphs in spite of its shortcomings. it's one of the few exceptions where i'd excuse giving it a lower score because the payoff is pretty darn worth it all things considered! well not like it's insanely long to begin with considering it took me a total of exactly 150 loops to finish over the course of 25 hours which i spread across several smaller bite-sized sections late at night which made my experience all the more enjoyable. i do think the game is best enjoyed doing a few loops a day but your own mileage might vary and i'm just suggesting what i think leads to less burnout in the long run.

anyways, onto the gameplay! one of the biggest reasons i love what the team at petit depotto have put out here is how well integrated the gameplay aspects are considering the medium gnosia actually is. although there are a few other notable visual novels that utilize the functions of the medium to better enhance the experience gnosia's left me, a rpg and visual novel enthusiast, rather pleased! i do think the stat system here is a bit tacked on seemingly in the beginning as it isn't until later loops where you'll really feel the significance of these numbers help in discussions. the real meat of the experience however is how gnosia takes the normal conventions of most visual novels and integrates it pretty seamlessly into the core mechanics of its social deduction style gameplay that fits snugly into its visual novel trappings.

now for the story, i'd like to acknowledge that due to the spoiler-heavy nature of it i'll refrain from saying too much as always but i'll just say that it's a typical sci-fi mystery in structure supplemented by plentiful twists with ideas touching upon existentialism, the human desire to connect with one another, and of course the dichotomy of humans and gnosia, all presented in a intricate blend of genres culminating in a compelling narrative that knows just when to let you breathe and when to land its more emotional gut punches.

as for the dialogue itself, i do appreciate the fact that these characters all have some very strong introductions as well as pretty well-contained mini-story arcs given the progression being tied to triggering these flags that leads to these character-specific events. HOWEVER, due to the time loop structure of this narrative, this also means a lot of repetition and i found myself at the end often skipping through the dialogue often only pausing to either to help guide the vote or actually read new lines in the flags i was looking for. contextually it makes sense but it's not something i wouldn't say makes some of the later loops a slog. the triggers are also pretty well handled with a designated event search that personally curates loops that will guarantee flags but as you fill out more and more of these flags the non-linear structure of progression wears thin with some requirements for specific flags being obtuse and also incredibly difficult at times to determine what exactly was the cause. i'll reiterate here though that the new events, ESPECIALLY the later ones, are really darn compelling given how they revolve around solving the mysteries of the narrative and also serve to add more characterization to gnosia's cast. (setsu? she's just like me frfr!)

with all that aside, the real icing on the intricate multilayered cake that is gnosia is the art and music! firstly, the art direction here is pretty incredible given how despite the somewhat typical sci-fi environments, the character designs really breathe life into the setting and overall look pretty great with each design being reflective of a character's personality. the music here too is pretty solid but the one gripe i'd have with it is that some really good tracks barely play for their total length. there's definitely stuff here that's pretty great to listen to and compliments the atmosphere of gnosia exceptionally.

all in all, gnosia isn't a perfect experience but it's still an enjoyable one! your mileage might vary depending on how much you love the time loop structure and its cast but i think most who played it will be willing to agree that this is a pretty darn solid first attempt at a vn and for the four-person team at petit depotto to have such a solid grasp and understanding on how to utilize the visual novel medium, i'm honestly really excited to see what's next in store from them! despite my exhaustion near the end given the repetitive dialogue and constant restarting of loops to trigger flags, the story still remained tantalizing as ever and by the end of it all i might as well have been emotionally exhausted too given how the true ending of it resonated with me. gnosia also got me to use my switch for once too, something i can hardly say given my general reluctance to use my nintendo certified drifting lap warmer for anything other than youtube so that's saying something about how compelling i found the overall experience to be! "ryukishi could never"/10 .

additional notes:

if you've finished gnosia and are looking for a game that also utilizes the vn structure pretty well i recommend "13 sentinels aegis rim"!