My friend and I played this together. We genuinely found this one of the most well-written games we have ever played. The game is split between two major sections: visual novel/kinetic novel-like narration with illustrations (no branching choices) and Metroidvania-like dungeon crawling.
Regarding the dungeon crawling, I would describe the combat system as "turn-based Sekiro". Please note that a story mode exists for those uninterested in dungeon crawling or in reflex-based battles, and we would highly recommend for anyone hesitating to at least try that. If one has not played Sekiro, this means: the protagonist and enemies take turns. First, the protagonist (on a timer) can choose between fighting, blocking, dodging, and using an item. If one fights, one uses stamina (from a regenerating stamina bar) and must time an attack according to a visual circle, akin to a rhythm game. If one blocks or dodges, or when the enemies' turn comes, one does the same. Some attacks require the joystick/directional button to be held in addition to timing the attack or block button (for example, holding left and then hitting attack at the appropriate time). The timings do not feel extremely tight. There are "perfect" attacks/blocks with tight timing, but one does not need to hit them to complete the game. One can "sloppily" complete the game with relatively poor timing and some level grinding, or can perfect their skills to defeat powerful enemies at low level with tight timing. I appreciate that the players can choose to spend time grinding or gitting gud or some combination thereof, instead of either forcing grinding or forcing players to learn very tight timings. I found the combat system extremely fun. Even my friend, who normally does not appreciate stressful situations, found the stress and heart-pounding of the timer-based turn-based system very appropriate to the game. Frankly put, the combat system will stress you out relentlessly, which is intentional to put you into the mindset of the protagonist. Again, a story mode is available, and I would not say that a stressful combat system should deter one from experiencing the story. Aside from that, the dungeon is a 2d side scrolling Metroidvania. There is absolutely no platforming involved, just good ol' exploration, mapping out the area (there is an auto-map), and combat. One picks up items scattered around the world, opens shortcuts, and also picks up enemy drops. In a Dark Souls-like manner, you lose your level-up material (Memory Iron) if you die and can collect it if you get there before dying again. However, Memory Iron is so plentiful that I would not worry about dying because you can grind up anything lost rather quickly as long as you level up regularly. Note that one can purchase items in the town which increase Memory Iron drops.
Items include different weapons, different shields, different clothing/armor (tops + sandals), and different accessories. One can purchase some in the town and obtain others from exploring the dungeon. There are no repeat items, so purchase anything you might like to use in the town. One does not need to purchase anything to complete the game. There appears to be a limited number of upgrade materials for weapons/shields, but the game was completed long before we had exhausted it. I would say that there is enough material to upgrade 3-4 weapons or shields, so you can experiment a bit. I do not recommend upgrading every weapon or shield you come across because there is a limited number. I do wish that this number was limited per weapon or shield instead of overall, because I would have liked to upgrade more weapons/shields to experiment more with the game. But, don't worry about "mistakenly" upgrading a weapon and then not being able to complete it if you find a better weapon or shield later. I do not think that any of the weapons or shields are strictly "better"; they are all sidegrades/alternatives for different playstyles, and you can complete the whole game just with the starting material.
We upgraded the stats perfectly evenly. Spoiler warning: when you first open the menu, you will notice two ??? on the stat menu. When you unlock those ???, they will start at level 1. You may want to either keep some Memory Iron around for them, or wait to use the various Shards, etc. that you pick up (which you can Salvage for Memory Iron) for when you unlock that point.
As for the story, we found it incredibly haunting. There are quite a few grammar errors, typos, misspellinsgs, etc., but they do not detract from the woven work. The writer has an excellent grasp of humans and of human interactions. If you find yourself thinking, "But this is unhealthy..." while playing, that is the point, and the writer clearly understands, and it does get addressed later in the story. The characters that may begin as simple sketches get filled out as you go. The writer is also a master of pacing. If you find yourself thinking, "I want this part to be over. I want this to stop. I want to get back to that other thing," then you will realise that those thoughts mirror what the protagonist would be thinking. Note that the game depicts themes of violence, self-harm, child (and adult) abuse, suicide, etc. There is no sexual abuse. Blood and gore are depicted, but there are no graphic wounds or anything like that; for instance, there may be a blood stain on brick or on fabric, but the actual wound is not on-screen. The art is simple and extremely effective in terms of displaying emotions. The artstyle may initially appear amateurish, and perhaps so, but the skill in depicting emotion is impressive and commendable. I do not want to spoil the story. The beginning can feel slow, but the game is pretty short, so I genuinely recommend sitting through the first few hours until "it" happens (you'll know what "it" is) before you decide. As a side note, I genuinely hope that the story does not have a "villain" per se, because the conflicts presented are so incredibly compelling without the need for a figure or enemy to hate, and I think that that is intentional.
I am usually pretty good at predicting what will happen next in a game. This story continuously surprised me both with things that ended up doing well for the characters and with things that ended up going badly. At no point did I feel like a deux ex machina or diabolus ex machina happened. The characters never suffered or got a happy ending Just Because. There were no magic accidents to make the plot occur. Things happened because people acted in ways that there in accordance with their characterizations and actions. In stories, I often feel like characters are made to be incompetent or irrational in order to move the plot along. This did not happen here. When characters acted in ways that made me shout "No!" out loud, it never felt forced or inappropriate. It made perfect sense. I might have done the same in their shoes, or even worse, and their actions are consistent with themselves as people. I find that very impressive. I find it impressive that the game was not predictable, but not by being random or having "twists"; it was not predictable by being an extremely well-written story that, in hindsight, made total sense in every moment, preceding from what had previously been established. I do not mean to imply that the writing is perfect. Like any other story, it has flaws. However, the story truly impressed me in its scope and its execution.
It's free. It's really good. There's no reason not to play it. I advocate for piracy for anyone who wants to do it, but this is a game that I will be supporting financially by purchasing the soundtrack, because of how truly excellent it is. Join us in the wait for the third chapter.
