I'll start out by saying that I was pretty astonished by how negative the initial reviews here are of this game, often just harping on a few specific flaws and slamming it with one star without even the pretense of nuance or, you know, actually telling people how the game plays which might actually give them an idea of whether or not they might like the game. This is really par for the course for most user reviews, and I won't deny that for quite a few people the flaws (and the premise) of this game will be an instant turn-off, but in this case I think the reviews really do a disservice to any potential players and to what I have found to be - despite its flaws - a really unique and detailed hospital simulator. I'll start with the bad. This game has: - no rebindable keys (though I can't recall ever using any keybinds to begin with) - a very limited options menu - a buggy (but completeable) tutorial - very few missions - no camera rotation - a bad ui - a limited soundtrack - an occasionally frustrating ai which doesn't respond quickly to player input - a pretty slow pace and, later on once you've figured the game out - not a whole lot of challenge or variety So with all these flaws, why in the world am I giving it four stars? Because I've played it for several days now and still want more. While this isn't the first hospital simulator ever made, or even the first recent one, it is definitely the first one I've seen with this level of authenticity, flexibility of playstyle, and attention to detail. Unlike, say, Theme Hospital all of the conditions, symptoms, and medical procedures are based on reality and rendered in excruciating detail, and the game makes a big deal out of letting you engage with all these things yourself if you want, or ignore them if you don't. The game really is a hospital SIMULATOR, and like many simulators it is janky as shit. Turns out that is exactly what I want, and if that's what you want as well, then check it out.
I have mixed feelings about this visual novel. I should probably start out by saying that I've never read any visual novels before. I've seen a few eastern films, animations, and I generally read a lot, so the idea of a kinetic novel with no reader interaction whatsoever (which this is) isn't alien to me. However, I really am an outsider to this kind of story, and there may have been parts that I hadn't really been able to appreciate or which frustrated me as a result. Let's start with the good parts, and there are a lot of them: The voice acting is great, the art is incredible, and the music is good, if sometimes repetitive and out-of-place. A few other reviews have mentioned how minori is a pretty special developer, and there's no denying it. The story isn't something to sniff at either. The writing is good, if a little flowery, and the dialogue is great, which is kinda surprising from a translated work. The characters are well-developed, compelling, and all of them fulfill a role in the story. And then, of course, there's the story itself, which is... great, and kinda inspiring as someone who's an aspiring writer. It deals with a lot of interesting themes, and it's a real tearjerker no doubt, even if I sometimes struggled to "feel it". And this leads me to the main problem I have with the VN: The pacing. Despite apparently being on the shorter side of VN's, the story progresses at a snail's pace, and only gets slower in the second half. There were times when I felt the story just kept repeating itself. Even worse, by the second half many of the plotlines have been resolved and most of the tension is gone, and you're just waiting for the inevitable end to come. While I get what they were going for, I really couldn't get to grips with the pacing, and it's a testament to how good the novel is that I carried on regardless. In conclusion, I have no regrets, and I have to give eden* 5 *'s. If you can handle the weird pacing, you'll definitely enjoy this one.
