the aesthetics hit like a truck slamming into a young schoolboy playing ball in the road of a residential area at 70 km/h, the gameplay that made me feel like the mother of that boy watching it happen. when i learned the devs made RPGmaker horror games, all of its design decisions suddenly made sense. the story's neat, i love the protagonist being such a freak (she's so real), and i love me some good yuri but clocking into the night sections (esp the water one ugh) was draining. i wanted more time in the life sim parts, the mechanics of which never really felt like they came together (the suspicion mechanic was so exciting! but it had no relevance at all!). the alienation felt navigating life in a small, religious town as an 'other' in the preconceived notions of your community is such a powerful feeling to portray in a game - i wish it was more of the focus, narratively and mechanically.

it really can't be overstated just how gorgeous this game is, though. i'd like to play through its other routes (i never even talked to Freya once) but the thought of having to do that awful moon puzzle again is not an appealing one.