It is the best visual novel I've played. I... really don't wanna say much, because the story is really fantastic, truly. I think the dev is an awesome writer, the game is all substance (9 hours of content, but I've played for 26 hours because of how much I was reloading because I just realized a crazy implication or a foreshadowing and wanted to check dialogues again) and "little" "style" (not many sprites, vfx, etc...). And is this a bad thing? Hell no. As long as you have heart and charisma, it's all that matters. It's clear that the focus of the dev was the message of the game.

The amount of parallels to reality is crazy. Syzygy, Pigmalion, etc...

The game made me cry and my heart ache a couple times. And the soundtrack played no small part in it.
There's 31 OSTs and damn... not only they're BEAUTIFUL, but they're very fitting as well. I can tell that every time I hear any of them, I'll have a feeling of nostalgia wash over my soul. Some of them have a bittersweet vibe of "Last year of highschool, summer is ending, this is the time to make memories". (Lolor).

To name a few, very impactul ones: Unforgettable, Lolor, Just Memories, Path to Lake Land, Sonatina in C Minor... all of them made me cry when stuff was happening in the game.

The sense of humor in this game is honestly mind blowing. I'm someone who hates generalized archetypes, but somehow I liked all the characters from the get-go, and they just got deeper and deeper. The dev is VERY self-aware. He knows exactly how to make you expect something, knows how to keep you curious, and knows what you want.

Each character is so complex and has a lot to say, both explicitly and implicitly. And they get more and more complex along the game. The foreshadowing and the double meanings are honestly crazy.

I was rooting for the main character since the beginning. And I knew I was playing something special when the game started with the Pianist and the story about the three friends.

It's one of those pieces of art that I just stalled for 2-3 days to finish, because I just didn't want it to be over. I wanted to be in that world more. Because as soon as the credits roll... it becomes just a game (if you know what I mean lol, idk how to express it, it's like, as long as the game is not over, that world is real inside my head).

The concept of the greatest liar is great. All of the monologues are so meaningful and insightful. Like, that _IS_ the point of the game, it's about the message, the emotions, the feelings, the struggle, the decisions of the characters, not a grand, world-changing story.

Also, there are no choices to be made. Again, it this a negataive? Hell no. Somehow, this dev, understands the meta aspect of it perfectly. If, you, the protagonist, has no choice, then you have no expectations of where your choices are leading you. You're gonna end up exactly where the dev wants you to end up. Therefore, the stakes are super high. You have no choice on whether Ciarán is gonna react explosively, with a cynical joke, or a sentimental remark. And the consequences are real because the character is very real.

By removing the element of choices, you don't need to divide your attention and account for everything, but instead, tell a very, very, heart to heart story. Also, let's say, if you could choose to be kind to Ziva and mean to Luce all the game. You, as a player, in that situation, already knows where the story is going, because you have the wheel. You want to romance Ziva. And the dev would have no choice, but to give you that outcome (imagine you trying to bang a chick for the whole game and she just rejects you at the end, you'd be understandably mad).

Therefore, contrary of what you might think, the replayability of this game is also great. The story and the characters are so nuanced, the dialogue hides so much, there's simply a lot fo unpack, and knowing the events beforehand helps a lot.

I don't think I can sell the game (it's free lol) as much as it deserves without giving any spoilers... so let's just say, that I give it a 10/10 masterpiece score (I'm probably biased though).

--- SPOILERS ---

The ending just destroyed me. Straight up, I was ugly crying. I think it was perfect.

(Only thing that I would like to see is if Ziva apologized to Ciaran or vice versa.)

It's just that... Ciarán is extremely relatable to me. So it all seemed too familiar. The truth is that my highschool years were ♥♥♥♥♥ garbage, so seeing his interaction with his friends always put a smile on my face. But I also used to write to escape reality / create a new one. And I also won (2nd place) the writer's context in my school by creating a story based on something that happened with me.

You can tell that your relationship with your friends is evolving along the game. But again, it's so difficult to understand it without a foresight of what character is hiding. About halfway through the game I thought of the possibility of Claire not existing, but being a product of Ciar.

Even then, the way it was done, just wow. The juxtaposition between the Sun and the Moon was there since the beginning, since you click "Play" on steam. I'm talking about the banner of the game -- Luce hugging Claire. I started wondering when it was gonna happen. When would these 2 become close. But they always are. Because Claire is Luce. And Claire is Ciarán.

At the end, when Claire wasn't wearing a hat, was so poetic. Because she didn't have to "hide" anymore, as in, Ciarán had fully denied reality and his friends, and retreated to Claire.

Again, because you have no choices, I was very curious where the game was going. I didn't think it was a polygamy type of game, specially because of the MC's personality, yet there are 3 girls that seem romanceable.

But damn, looking back at it with hindsight, the game was leading us to Luce the whole time huh? This is what I mean, the writing is so fkicn good.

The Ziva plot twist caught me more off guard than Claire's, it gave me a whole new perspective when thinking about these 2 interacting.

The "Reaching the Sun" story is so rich and complex to unpack, it was somewhat clear that the lone, limping dog, was Ciarán, but it took me a while to understand what Reaching the Sun represents for him.

In pursuit of happiness, in pursuit of the Sun, he failed to realize what was right in front of him. He failed to realize, the Sun was never meant to be touched. The Sun is given to us since birth, but sometimes it is so blinding, that we cannot look at it directly.

And thus, Ciarán realized that the Moon, so comforting, beautiful and delicate, only exists because of the Sun. Without it, one cannot as much as see the Moon, because it does not produce it's own light.

I... really don't know what more there is to say... there probably is a lot. But some things I'll never be able to express with words. I'm so lucky and happy that I found this gem.

--- END OF SPOILERS ---

I feel so bad that a lot of people are just leaving positive reviews because it is easy to get the achievement, or negative reviews because they don't get the game.

The fact that this game doesn't have a subreddit or a wiki is a crime to me. I would create them myself if college wasn't sucking the time and life out of me.

And Keinart, keep doing what you do, man!

[h1] A masterfully writen visual novel, thank you Keinart [/h1] [h2] Hidden behind One Thousand VNs, there is One Hidden Gem [/h2] It is the best visual novel I've played. I... really don't wanna say much, because the story is really fantastic, truly. I think the dev is an awesome writer, the game is all substance (9 hours of content, but I've played for 26 hours because of how much I was reloading because I just realized a crazy implication or a foreshadowing and wanted to check dialogues again) and "little" "style" (not many sprites, vfx, etc...). And is this a bad thing? Hell no. As long as you have heart and charisma, it's all that matters. It's clear that the focus of the dev was the message of the game. The amount of parallels to reality is crazy. Syzygy, Pigmalion, etc... The game made me cry and my heart ache a couple times. And the soundtrack played no small part in it. There's 31 OSTs and damn... not only they're BEAUTIFUL, but they're very fitting as well. I can tell that every time I hear any of them, I'll have a feeling of nostalgia wash over my soul. Some of them have a bittersweet vibe of "Last year of highschool, summer is ending, this is the time to make memories". (Lolor). To name a few, very impactul ones: Unforgettable, Lolor, Just Memories, Path to Lake Land, Sonatina in C Minor... all of them made me cry when stuff was happening in the game. The sense of humor in this game is honestly mind blowing. I'm someone who hates generalized archetypes, but somehow I liked all the characters from the get-go, and they just got deeper and deeper. The dev is VERY self-aware. He knows exactly how to make you expect something, knows how to keep you curious, and knows what you want. Each character is so complex and has a lot to say, both explicitly and implicitly. And they get more and more complex along the game. The foreshadowing and the double meanings are honestly crazy. I was rooting for the main character since the beginning. And I knew I was playing something special when the game started with the Pianist and the story about the three friends. It's one of those pieces of art that I just stalled for 2-3 days to finish, because I just didn't want it to be over. I wanted to be in that world more. Because as soon as the credits roll... it becomes just a game (if you know what I mean lol, idk how to express it, it's like, as long as the game is not over, that world is real inside my head). The concept of the greatest liar is great. All of the monologues are so meaningful and insightful. Like, that _IS_ the point of the game, it's about the message, the emotions, the feelings, the struggle, the decisions of the characters, not a grand, world-changing story. Also, there are no choices to be made. Again, it this a negataive? Hell no. Somehow, this dev, understands the meta aspect of it perfectly. If, you, the protagonist, has no choice, then you have no expectations of where your choices are leading you. You're gonna end up exactly where the dev wants you to end up. Therefore, the stakes are super high. You have no choice on whether Ciarán is gonna react explosively, with a cynical joke, or a sentimental remark. And the consequences are real because the character is very real. By removing the element of choices, you don't need to divide your attention and account for everything, but instead, tell a very, very, heart to heart story. Also, let's say, if you could choose to be kind to Ziva and mean to Luce all the game. You, as a player, in that situation, already knows where the story is going, because you have the wheel. You want to romance Ziva. And the dev would have no choice, but to give you that outcome (imagine you trying to bang a chick for the whole game and she just rejects you at the end, you'd be understandably mad). Therefore, contrary of what you might think, the replayability of this game is also great. The story and the characters are so nuanced, the dialogue hides so much, there's simply a lot fo unpack, and knowing the events beforehand helps a lot. I don't think I can sell the game (it's free lol) as much as it deserves without giving any spoilers... so let's just say, that I give it a 10/10 masterpiece score (I'm probably biased though). --- SPOILERS --- [spoiler]The ending just destroyed me. Straight up, I was ugly crying. I think it was perfect. (Only thing that I would like to see is if Ziva apologized to Ciaran or vice versa.) It's just that... Ciarán is extremely relatable to me. So it all seemed too familiar. The truth is that my highschool years were fking garbage, so seeing his interaction with his friends always put a smile on my face. But I also used to write to escape reality / create a new one. And I also won (2nd place) the writer's context in my school by creating a story based on something that happened with me. You can tell that your relationship with your friends is evolving along the game. But again, it's so difficult to understand it without a foresight of what character is hiding. About halfway through the game I thought of the possibility of Claire not existing, but being a product of Ciar. Even then, the way it was done, just wow. The juxtaposition between the Sun and the Moon was there since the beginning, since you click "Play" on steam. I'm talking about the banner of the game -- Luce hugging Claire. I started wondering when it was gonna happen. When would these 2 become close. But they always are. Because Claire is Luce. And Claire is Ciarán. At the end, when Claire wasn't wearing a hat, was so poetic. Because she didn't have to "hide" anymore, as in, Ciarán had fully denied reality and his friends, and retreated to Claire. Again, because you have no choices, I was very curious where the game was going. I didn't think it was a polygamy type of game, specially because of the MC's personality, yet there are 3 girls that seem romanceable. But damn, looking back at it with hindsight, the game was leading us to Luce the whole time huh? This is what I mean, the writing is so fkicn good. The Ziva plot twist caught me more off guard than Claire's, it gave me a whole new perspective when thinking about these 2 interacting. The "Reaching the Sun" story is so rich and complex to unpack, it was somewhat clear that the lone, limping dog, was Ciarán, but it took me a while to understand what Reaching the Sun represents for him. In pursuit of happiness, in pursuit of the Sun, he failed to realize what was right in front of him. He failed to realize, the Sun was never meant to be touched. The Sun is given to us since birth, but sometimes it is so blinding, that we cannot look at it directly. And thus, Ciarán realized that the Moon, so comforting, beautiful and delicate, only exists because of the Sun. Without it, one cannot as much as see the Moon, because it does not produce it's own light. I... really don't know what more there is to say... there probably is a lot. But some things I'll never be able to express with words. I'm so lucky and happy that I found this gem.[/spoiler] --- END OF SPOILERS --- I feel so bad that a lot of people are just leaving positive reviews because it is easy to get the achievement, or negative reviews because they don't get the game. The fact that this game doesn't have a subreddit or a wiki is a crime to me. I would create them myself if college wasn't sucking the time and life out of me. And Keinart, keep doing what you do, man!