What more can you ask of a Visual Novel?
At the time of writing this review, it seems to me that ratings for this game are split almost evenly between those who loved it and those who hated it. I personally loved it, but I noticed that (again at this time) none of those who rated it poorly reviewed it, so I thought about leaving a review focusing on things that people may not like about it, so if any of the following points bothers you, just steer clear of the game :)
* Genre & Game Mechanics
** If the screenshots are not a big enough hint, the game is a visual novel (VN) so you should not play it if you don't like VN.
** The one innovation wrt a traditional VN is the fact that the main character (MC) is given the power to see the future, so the player is able to see the branching structure of the VN as a graph made up by nodes (the game scenes) connected by arches. The graph is visible only up to a point in the future, but the player can see if visiting a node is a prerequisite for visiting a given future branch or vice versa would cut off that branch permanently. The player also gets a sense of the direction in which their choices are bringing the story forward. The nodes contain a description of what is going to happen, but in general/somewhat ambiguous terms, and for some of them the description becomes visible only when you get close enough. All in all, I think that this mechanics ensures that you will not get stuck in a bad branch without spoiling the story too much, on the other hand it also means that there are no secret routes in the game to discover, which VN fans might miss as a feature.
** The game only allows you to reload from the last completed scene, or roll back the entire chapter and start by scratch. I normally don't like this but since the MC can see the future (see above) you are not likely to miss the ability to save at will during a playthrough. However, replayability suffers from it because the game contains A LOT of branches and several different endings, so trying a different route means starting from scratch and unfortunately there is no auto skip function for the text already read.
* Graphics and Sound
The production values are through the roof for this VN. I really cannot see what one could possibly not like about it...
* Story
The most important part of a VN in my view, also the reason I suspect the ratings are so polarised...
** The story is set on a fictional island in the near future (one of the youngest characters is said to have been born in 2010, and to have had a name change at 18, so I estimate 2028-2030 whereas the VN is from 2023) on an imaginary island. The MC however has the power to switch to an alternate dimension called Reverie, populated by supernatural beings embodying the aspirations of humanity, and the story explores how events in Reverie and Brittle (the "real" world) affect one another. From a technical standpoint, the story is well-written, I struggle to see how someone could argue otherwise...
** The events unfolding affect the island a whole, but the player only gets to interact with a handful of (well-written) characters. Some reviews point out that these characters are all involved in non-conventional kinds of relationships (I try to be generic here so as to keep this as spoiler-free as possible). While relationships are a big part of the story, I don't think the game is pushing any particular agenda, these details are all handled very naturally and stay for the most part in the background of interactions among characters. In the end, it is up to the player to guess whether this is just a peculiarity of the MC's family/friends, a general feature of the island, or a statement of the developer as to how they think the near future will/should be.
** The story does get political in its criticism of unrestrained capitalism and of leaving essential services to private corporations. I think it is a pity that the corporation MC and friends/family struggle against remains faceless throughout the game, although its actions must necessarily be the consequence of someone's decision. This may be narratively justifiable, but feels like a wasted opportunity, since the game does a great job of letting the player know the characters on the MC side enough to sympathize with them or at least understand where they come from (and some of them have quite evident flaws). Beyond the politics however, the message of the game is fundamentally positive, to the point of being almost naively optimistic about the ability of human beings to cooperate and live (as the title says) in harmony.
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