Cinders

This is absolutely not what I normally play, but apparently even I, who prefer to wield a sword and search caves for monsters, occasionally get in the mood to enjoy a clever variation on an ancient fairy tale. It's well told, visually wonderfully kitschy, and in the end you feel like you've read a solid comic book. If you're in the mood for sophisticated romance, Cinders is the answer.

it's a visual novel, and it's pretty enough, but if it's a novel, then the writing, in this case the characterization has to make sense, and it doesn't. a big component of the story is the characters of the family members. at one point one of the sisters, who has been grumpy and blamey, suddenly starts exhibiting graciousness and compassion. i get that the game is about no black/white, simple heroes/villains (obviously a worthwhile message), but there has to be transition and/or explanation, or even just some acknowledgement of acting out of character ("someone's in a good mood today") for this to work at all. i'm in the middle of my first play through, and i expect i will finish it, but i doubt i'll play again. :(

I wasted about 5 hours of next next next... - Animation is ... static, so game starts to look very cheap after 2 h of seeing same sprites again and again. - Dialogs are dull and full of water. Unreal and useless. - Main character is too aggressive as for me for no visible reason. - Choices? I remember 2 or 3 of them during my 5h gameplay, and they weren't really important to me. - Replayability? I gave up on the first run. Really, you can go to the coffee shop and talk to random real person and it'll be much more exiting. or you can buy a good book and read it if you hate people. You can even buy a book with branching storyline if you like.

The artwork is lovely, the dialogue is OK, if a bit stilted and expository- and I'm glad I got this on sale instead of paying full price for it, because it's a CYOA book, basically. The error is mine for not seeing the "visual novel" tag, and buying from the "adventure" game list. Honestly, I am a little annoyed that visual novels keep getting labeled as "games".

I fell asleep a lot while playing this. Not a fan