Update Three Hundred and Eleven: 2 June 2019

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Aaaaugh, another one right on the cusp of bein’ something! This game had more shit going on than Natural - Beyond Nature -, sure, but for more detailed highs it had more aggravating lows. The result is an experience I did overall enjoy, though it’s not one I’d out-and-out recommend. (Despite its name, no one’s eyes are particularly magical)

First off: this motherfucker runs hot. This VN made my computer run hotter and louder than any VN has any right to, it’s just that poorly optimized. Why? How? Don’t know, but this shit used up nearly a quarter of my CPU for whatever goddamn reason, making it annoying to play. I couldn’t just leave it on for however long—my fan whirring on high always sets my teeth on edge and gets on my nerves. While it might be a little petty, it sours the experience for me right off the bat.

The art is a style I like, and done well. Not a ton of CGs, but enough. The writing is REALLY all over the place in an odd way—the narration is often really meandering and teenagery-trying-too-hard… but the dialogue is hilarious. It’s got a good rhythm, paced great, people sound like people and everyone’s quirks land correctly. Anytime there’s banter (which usually preps me to roll my eyes), it was delightfully executed. There’s a lot of conflicting personalities in this story, and a lot of weirdos, but I really got the sense that people liked or at least tolerated each other, and that fondness made me smile.

What didn’t make me smile was the lack of women! Two women get sprites (the love interest who doesn’t do anything and the protagonist’s little sister who… also… doesn’t do anything) and while a few others are talked about, we never see or hear from them (except one right at the very end, spriteless). The game is split into three ‘sides’, that of the male protagonist Yuu’s perspective, the love interest Chiharu’s perspective, and then a ??? side that basically is everyone else’s perspective. Chiharu’s scenes are exclusively about how much she loves Yuu and cares about Yuu and wants to learn more about Yuu and waiting for Yuu to talk to her. Even her meeting his younger siblings (who are cute and funny in a way little kid characters aren’t usually) just kind of lead back into ‘oh my god! I met Yuu’s younger siblings!’, further enforcing how one-note she is. That’s a big disappointment.

What exacerbates all of this is that this is a really uneven story. Half of this is a monster-of-the-week type deal which absolutely could’ve just stood on its own, but all the character arcs are nonexistent or incomplete because this is one chapter out of… how many, I don’t know, but like there’s characters that show up in the OP animation that you never see in the game. This game was released three years ago, and it’s been just as long since there was any kind of update about when we’d see the sequel. That forces this game to be judged on its own, and by itself? It struggles.

It’s not all bad—I especially liked one character in particular (Tamura) and how he was portrayed. Since he was clearly just meant to be in this chapter, his arc had to be complete, and it went well! Gives me hope for if (big if) we get the second installment.

In other news: This marks my 400th perfect game! Whoooo!

Next up:

See you soon!