I finally finished the other two routes! Though I haven't gotten all the endings
I think I got the three romance 'happy' endings? As previously mentioned,
I got Karl's ending where they solve it and go on a date on Bermuda, got the same ending path with Connor and Bridgette too. I was so worried that I didn't get all of the necessary points/make the 'best' choices with Connor though when he vanished on me. I was really happy when he appeared again haha
I'll just lay out some of my random thoughts. Forgive any rambling or repeats of what I've said in my previous comment/on itch.io haha.
1: I loved, loved, LOVED the MC. Loved her. She was sassy and fun and much different from the 'typical' otome heroines. This is super important to me because I just can't play games where you are the perpetual damsel in distress or, perhaps even worse, are nothing but a naive and useless blank slate. I loved everything about her, her design, her dialogue options, how while you could shape her personality somewhat, she still had a character all of her own outside of your influence that was competent and engaging without leaving me feeling forced to roleplay a certain way.
2: The writing quality was quite good, I didn't notice any spelling errors or anything like that, and while it felt a bit rushed in some places (mostly in the climax/endings), it was still very polished and engaging. The dialogue choices in particular were both hilarious and natural.
3: I liked all of the LI's pretty equally, Bridgette ended up winning in the end because she's a childhood friend and I'm an absolute
sucker for the childhood friend trope and am also bi in real life, but Karl and Connor were both super close seconds. I've included a few individual thoughts on them below, I threw everything under spoilers just in case as well.
- Bridgette
Loved her a lot, she was sweet, and, cheerful, and pretty while also being anxious and relatable at the same time. I especially liked how in her climax she was clearly scared, but still summoned the bravery to stay by Maddie's side no matter what, and I appreciated this representation that crying and being scared or worried doesn't mean you can't do amazing things when the situation calls for it. I really liked how her relationship with Maddie developed as well. lesbian/bi-female romances all too often end in tragedy or are treated as simply 'token gay' options. You made the relationship feel every bit as real and and fitting as the boys', without ignoring the dynamics that make a g/g relationship unique. As a bi girl in real life with a preference for girls, this made me so happy.
- Karl
I'm usually not super fond of tsunderes tbh, so I played his route first simply to get it out of the way (and you better believe I chose the rude options in their first two dialogues at least haha), but I ended up actually genuinely enjoying him. Perhaps because he was more of a 'soft' tsundere, and that rather then making him more frustrating as they got closer, had him loosen up and become friendlier which made both the romance more realistic and avoided the hair-pulling feeling I usually get where I'd be like 'why would anyone even want to put the effort into romancing such a huge jerk???' My point is that his personality/main selling point wasn't 'tsundere', rather, he just happened to have some tsundere characteristics and was actually quite a well rounded character overall.
- Connor
I liked ghost/memory boy a lot. But I have to admit that I feel like he got a bit less screen time then the others, especially on his route, though I guess that's understandable since he was... you know, in a different plane of existence for most of the time lol. And even so, it didn't feel like he was neglected or anything. I also thought the surprise/mystery was beautifully done with him. It definitely took me by surprised when it was first revealed, but not in a 'where the heck did that come from' type of way, there were definitely all sorts of clues and hints that made the reveal make sense, without it making it obvious. In short, if Bridgette was my favorite romance and Karl was my favorite character development, then Connor was my favorite ending/overall route.
4:
What was that alien thing? I'm so curious about it, but I'm actually okay with not having figured it out in the game, I don't know everything in real life after all. Still, it would've been nice if it had gotten expanded upon a bit more imo. Especially whatever was trapped and controlling it, though DISCLAIMER it's entirely possible that it does get more attention in the endings I haven't gotten yet, so definitely just ignore this if that was the case, even if it isn't though it's not a huge deal.
5: I don't think I've said this before, but I really enjoyed the plot/setting as well. Most VNs are either set in a school (which tbh, isn't really my jam as I'm in my early 20s and no longer attend school) or a fantasy/royalty setting (which to be fair, I adore, I'm a sucker for a good fantasy game, especially if you're some sort of noble), so it was interesting to see something new.
I've played a few time-travely games, but not very many, and certainly none set on a cruise!
All and all I really enjoyed this game. Will definitely be eagerly awaiting future games of yours!
Though unfortunately for me it sounds like 'The Rose of Segunda' is coming out the week I'm moving across several states so who knows when I'll actually find time to play it
Thanks again for the game, and good luck with future endeavors!
Sorry, this got super long, whoops.
