Stuck in a Yandere Visual Novel... HELP!!

Whats up chex (6) Kind of late but congrats for the release! I can finally play after the long long wait ♡

I'm yet to get the true ending (good god why the fuck you wrote so much and the lore crumbles are so tiny!!! I need to KNOW THINGS) But I'll get there! I love Leon! MC kept making me facepalm many times because he's a massive comical dumbass content. But so is everyone (and this statement is being said in affectionate way. Great comedy)

Saw you mentioned about DDLC being the inspo, but I like how it can definitely stand as its own solid thing. Bro fucking cooked with this one.

It's a good game! but how do we get the good endings? i keep getting the true ending and side B TwT

i wonder how tot get all endings ong   T-T first playthrough got a vincent bad ending

No spoilers!!! just a long overall review

So. I have to say that the game is really nice?? For me at least, I picked it up on a whim. I'm a bored student on summer break and none of the vns looked appealing to me. The way this game was advertised seemed funny and like it wouldn't take too long so it could be something to occupy my time with and ooh boy was I far off the mark. 

So off the bat, this is a long game in terms of vns. I think I played it for about seven ish hours?? And that was with the included use of me taking a few breaks and skipping through major parts of dialogue and fast-forwarding to the "important" choices as the game called them. (Funnily enough I didn't even fully complete the game, I got 3 bad ends and the true end and just... called it a day night)

I will say it was repetitive to get different endings though (obviously). And getting to the true ending was just me hoping and praying that I wouldn't die while I chose my options, at no point did I really feel like I was out of the woods, even while I was IN the true ending I didn't realize and kept freaking out at every option. This is not a bad thing though!! In fact it made the game fun and enjoyable and also a little immersive. 

I won't say that I took the game 100% serious my first run through (hence why I died) but it was difficult to get to the true end and seeing as I didnt get any good ends, I will say that there is a bit of difficulty to the game, which was actually nice since it is still a yandere based vn. p.s I know fully well that there is a walk-through, I just didn't want to use it.

Story wise: 

The game has a pretty decent set-up. You obviously play as a character who was just transported out of their life into a game character's life, so a lot of the story can easily be chalked down to "yeah me too mc, me too" and its a little comedic to think about you being the only sentient person who's actively fighting to survive while everyone else (especially in a school setting) is just overall ignoring these two major red flags courting you for like 90% of the game. 

True to it being a yandere based vn, you die, a lot. But the story is well written and despite vincent being the bane of my existence for killing me so often despite how nice I was to him, the plot for this game is great. Sure there's some confusing bits but its still has a really good plot that keeps you the right amount of interested and entertained. The game has comedic aspects which make it nice, but there are also moments where it gets tense which is honestly really cool and shows just how good the writing for this was. (I'm just glad quick time events weren't used, I would've actually died more often than I did.)

There is a true end at the end of the game, and though I think it was a clever little thing (I really love when isekai type scenarios actually send the mcs back to the world theyve been dying [figuratively and literally in this case] to go back to), I can't say that I'm personally a fan of the way the true end worked. It felt.. off? Like the mc finally got back to the real world and just... accepted it? I'm glad that we got some insight into the mc's actual life but the fact is that I felt like it was a little short? I mean I spent hours dying and replaying the game to get a true end, it would've been a little nice to have a clearer understanding of what was presented, getting an in depth backstory isn't necessary but we knew literally nothing about the mc throughout the whole game despite the very few and minor snippets that we got, I just think it would've been more satisfying to have those small snippets properly and fully explained, especially considering the ending, yk? 

Character wise: 

I think its nice that the character we play as often voices these thoughts that a real person would have but I also found it a little annoying when the character contradicted themselves. Like don't get me wrong, I am allll for a character having their own personality, but when they contradict themselves as often as this one did its a little annoying? Like yes we can count one or two times being the game pushing us in a certain direction, or the character genuinely responding how they would if they weren't in the game, but with the amount of times this dude contradicted himself I genuinely got whiplash. Idk i'm just gonna chalk it down to some weird form of stockholm syndrome that the character developed after... well the whole yandere situation they're in. 

The little brother in the game gave me bad vibes from the start. Not sure if it was the haircut or the overall color palette of the game, but he just felt so eery. For a hot minute I was actually scared he might trigger a bad end and it'd be some weird brother-con thing but, thankfully he wasn't!  His character was...okay I guess. He's technically the only person the mc can properly rely on that won't kill him and you can tell that the kid genuinely cares for his brother. He was written pretty well considering the fact that he is supposed to be a high school freshman who's between like 14 and 16 years old. I liked how the game explored his character and didn't just write him off unless he was important, like we actually got to meet some of his friends which was pretty cool all things considered. I did however hate that he didn't have a name other than "little brother" or "lil bro".. i dunno its just that as someone with siblings I felt like he should question only being referred to as such for two whole weeks, like id be side-eyeing anyone who referred to me like that while being supposed family, just sayin. But it's okay because I just started referring to him as "hat kid" so maybe i'm just saying this because of the bad vibes he gave me throughout the game. 

Love interest Leon was nice. I definitely liked his characters appearance the most out of anyones, the color pallet aside, he was a nice sight to see. His character as a yandere was nicely written, obv the creator took their own take with yanderes but it still worked out well. I do think I would've loved more options that capitalized on his puppy-dog-ness more, especially since he is the childhood best friend, but he was still really well written and those are just personal thoughts of my own. All in all he was well written and despite the fact that I died to him (once) I don't actually dislike his character, he's genuinely one of those "maybe he's not all that bad" characters if you squint hard enough and give yourself amnesia to forget that he kills you a few times.

Love interest Vincent on the other hand? I hate him. He was the right amount of the "rich entitled snob who buys his way out of everything" stereotype to genuinely irk my bones every time he appeared on my screen. So, really great writing on the author's behalf because oh they really cooked with him, but absolutely awful for me because everytime I saw him on screen I went "go away" because of how frustrating he was as a person/character thing. He is easily and very obviously the more likely character to kill you, its kind of impossible to please him without dying. Ignore him? you die. Try to placate him? You die. Like you literally can't win with him and you need the right amount of pushing him away but not entirely to weasel your way out of dying before the story progresses far. Which again, amazing writing on the creators behalf but jkbgfsk.kfsfdbmag he annoys me. I will say that the whole process of accidentally triggering his route is something that plays into why I personally dislike him so much though, the fact that it was unavoidable wasn't the issue but more so the way it happened. It just felt so rushed to just get it over with, which made dealing with him taxing and unenjoyable, though thats exactly how you're supposed to feel when you consider the situation so, good job once again creator.

Reme as a character was a little sad for me. We don't see much of her in the game which is fine, but seeing how she literally is the start of the game, I would have liked to be able to trigger her path somehow, even if it is only as a for certain death ending, would've been cool I'm just sayin'. Don't get me wrong, I know the story is meant to be a BxB which is why we can't trigger any of her routes, but it felt a little sad that we just straight up avoided her like the plague despite Vincent literally existing. (I just really hate vincent im sorry guys) However this is not to say that we don't interact with her at all, we do, I just wish we had more options to even if they aren't exactly for a love based route. As a character, Reme seemed like the perfect yandere, which is perfect for the game, but also why I'm so bummed about her not having much relevance. 

Soundtrack wise:

The in game music was okay I think, though i'm not entirely sure of that since after a few hours my brain filtered it out. I feel like the special effects sounds were also well. The only thing I really hated was how limited the voice acted lines were, which isn't really an issue its just that no actual lines were voiced just little sounds and hearing the mc go "aaaaaaaa" every time he screamed got annoying really quick. funny at first but after a few hours I muted the character lines. 

All in all, it was a great game to play and take up my time with. The fact of the matter is I was entertained despite the repetitive nature of vns which is always a clear sign that the vn is in fact, a good one. The art style did have to grow on me a bit, but it never once took away from the gameplay. The characters and story, despite any of the things I may have voiced displeasure over, were really good. At no point did any of the important characters feel like they shouldn't be main characters and surprisingly enough, there were a few side characters that were also well designed despite being extras, so you can easily tell that there was work put into them even if they have super minor appearances. (shoutout kidnapper d who we rolled eyes with) So overall, this was a pretty solid game. Sure there are bits that I feel could've been better, but never anything that majorly impacted the story or made it unenjoyable (except for maybe vincent idk), so I will definitely check out any other games made by these creators.

SPOILERS AHEAD

I have to say, should this game have ended upon MC going back into the real world, this would've been a much more mid game. Sure the plot would've still been quite original and fun to play around with but it wouldn't have been anything as jaw-droppingly spectacular as it is with the twist. The twist is spectacularly set up and keeps the player intrigued. The liminal feeling of post-valentines is so perfectly matched to how MC would feel; confused on what's going on and why the game hasn't "ended" yet. And the twist is cool, I can't quite describe narratively but it is. Just the way that little brother is set up to be the only character MC can "trust" since they're not a yandere, only for him to turn out to be the one and only true threat!(able to hunt him outside of the game). Also loved how all events are revisited from Little Brother's point of view AFTER he kills MC; it's a nice way to tell the story!

FUCKING LOVE Newt as a character tho. There's clear set up to see more of his adventurers, and hell if I'm not hyped asf! As a little add on, I do greatly appreciate just how tragic his story is written. Poor kiddo. 

I do have a few critiques, however. These don't take away from my appreciation at the innovativeness, creativity and sheer LENGTH of the game, but I feel they need to be said for the sake of constructive criticism. 

Most, if not all, of the Voice Acting is annoying as hell. I'm sorry, there's just no nicer way to put it. Could've done with more actual lines and less, random sounds? Especially MC's "oh noo"s and "AAAAAAAA"s, those get annoying so very quick and were so grating to the ears. I get they were supposed to be funny(which they went from being so to being annoying pretty quick) but I cannot understand the choice to use the same voice blips in more serious scenarios? 

Functionally, the post-game so to speak(ie getting anything but the bad ends for the yanderes) I found to be extremely difficult, to the point of making me seriously consider putting the game down early; which I really wish I didn't, the second half is really the meat of the content! I just feel one of two options could be a great improvement: either adding a walkthrough/guide to the game page, or working in better hints to the game itself on how to progress. It wouldn't have struck me I'd have to PRECISELY balance Leon's and Vincent's routes; the game very much leads towards avoiding Vincent(him seemingly being able to do more bad things to you, that kinda thing). 

I do wish some parts of the narrative were a little more clear/less underbaked. For example, Reme. I understand that she gets more of a spotlight in the afterstory, but even there I feel like she's so heavily underused and underexplored/explained. The game doesn't choose to go forward with her very interesting obession with understanding human bodies and instead waves it away as "the problem she's trying to fix by summoning demons with Little Brother". I also find Leon's bad end with her so very confusing like, it makes no sense? There is NO build up to it and it comes completely out of the blue? 

I feel quite similarly on MC's "irl" backstory and the deal with the demon, atleast I'd assume so? Little Brother's involvement and deal with the occult is perfectly understood however MC's relationship with that ginger character is very puzzling to me. It seemingly starts, and as soon as it starts, it just abruptly ends to switch to the plotline with Little Brother. 

Also, I find the way the Yandere's were written to be a good mix of tropey for the plot's sake(ie being literal video game characters) and with an actual level of depth. I would be keen to find out about Leon's backstory with Big Bro, however I can tell that is left ambiguous for a reason and enough is said to satiate the story's purposes.

This game really, really could be the next DDLC. I believe that from the bottom of my heart. Maybe it isn't as Meta as doki doki was, but hidden deep in the game doki doki also touched on occult themes like this did. In my eyes, this is the occult version of DDLC. 

4/5

OK so I just created an account to comment on this just to say a couple things. (spoilers below btw)

I really enjoyed this game a lot more than I initially thought I would! I play a lot of yandere games and I like games where characters are self aware so I already had high hopes going into the game but- wow. I loved seeing all the cliches in the game and I also enjoyed seeing the mcs reactions (both his initial ones and the ones he has after some loops). I also really liked how the yanderes have more to them besides y'know being obsessed with the mc, and that they were actually able to change (obviously only because of Newt but thats besides the point). It was just so interesting and I found myself (who was strictly going for Leon's route) getting interested in Vincent too because we started to see more of him.

Also idk if it's because I play wayyy too many yandere games but I had already confirmed to myself that the mc was also a yandere because of the conversations we had with Vincent and Leon after they started going to therapy. Like the mc had questioned if he would be a hypocrite during a conversation with Leon and had also related to how Vincent felt about his feelings. (The cutscene where Mc was talking about how he also took pills kinda clued me in too). Then I basically confirmed this a SECOND time when the full backstory between the mc and the coworker was revealed, So when I got the mc good ending I wasn't really surprised by the mc being a yandere but more surprised that we finally got to see his real face. 

ONE LAST THING, something I've been wondering since Vincents second(?) bad ending. WHAT THE HELL WAS THE UNCLES PROBLEM WITH US?? Like idk if I missed something in the dialogue but I was waiting for there to be some sort of reveal about why the uncles hates us so much?? He literally kills us in one ending and in the good/true end routes he tries to convince Vincent not to go on a date with us. The ONLY thing that gives any back story with the uncle is the cutscene where Vincent talks about when we met as kids but I don't think there's anything a kid would've done back then that would've warranted so much hatred? Can someone please explain this has been GNAWING at me ever since I got that ending.

The MC pisses me off so bad, but other than that, game's relatively alright.

i love this sm omg!!! true end literally made me scream i did not see that coming at all

Spoilers:

what's the deal with the coworker??? are they a demon too?

hiiii love the game, do you have the entire soundtrack? like this game making me dance ngl

I was only ever able to get 2 of Vincent's bad ends before the true end without the guide but OMG THE TRUE END IM SHOOKETH TO THE BONE I LOVED IT SM AND NOW IM SAD BECAUSE EVERYONE'S DEAD- This is truly one of my favorite VN's ever to exist. u fr ate this project UP dawg <3 words can not express how much fun I had playing this game, idek what to say nothing will ever feel like enough if I try to express my love for this game. AND TO HINT AT A SEQUAL?? OMG U GOT ME HOOKED LIKE AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! now ima go cheat and get all the bad and good ends. Byeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

IT RELEASES TODAY AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! IVE BEEN WAITING FOR SO LONG OMG

OMG IM SO HAPPY!!! I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS GAME FOR 2 YEARS, I'll play the game when It comes out!! >< <3