I love this visual novel to bits. Admittedly I was quite narrow minded coming into this as I have had quite the bad and boring experience with previous VN's but alas, along comes Aloe & Cal to completely rewrite what I think visual novels should be! This VN is fun, light, bubbly and hits all the right flavours in its approach.
The characters are lovely and well written and the story, although rather slow and even tedious at times, is a wonderful, warm and well thought out piece of writing. The games makes you feel warm and content, like eating soft serve with your best friend or eating theme park food after going on a big roller coaster. The writing makes you want to continue playing, wanting to know what comes round the corner for any of the boys.
As for the characters themselves, Aloe Monocot, Cal Pris, Olive Vermouth, Kain Saccharum, Noisette Caturra, Vera and Cabot and yourself as the player, each have their qualities and (some more obvious than others) flaws. Each character you interact with will make you feel warm and you get to know everyone rather well, the author of this put in a lot of effort to make each character they created as rounded as possible without anyone, maybe apart from Olive, too perfect or too boring. Of course, you will find out who is the creme de la creme yourself when you start playing this novel as everyone will most definitely have their personal favourite character by the end of it.
Aloe, he's quite likeable at the start of the game and can be seen as a bit of a Gary Stu in some player's eyes, but I don't personally agree with some of the reviewers. Aloe has his flaws just like everyone else and although you may not see it at the start, his flaws tend to come out quite fiercely, or coldly, when certain areas of discussion are held. I quite like Aloe's mostly cheerful, level headed and logical approach to things. I also love the way in which he shows his affection towards Cal and how he is cutely shy when he gets complimented or is given one of his favourite meals.
Cal, another intriguing character that is surprisingly complex. He is all bubbly and warm when we first see him with his bag of goodies for the nights dinner, but you will come to find out that not everything is sunflowery and glowing for the red hared hunk. My favourite things about Cal are his protective tendencies with Aloe and I love that he can cook any meal no matter how simple or complex. Cal is definitely you would want as a big brother type figure.
Olive Vermouth, I'll just come out and say it right away... He is by far my favourite character in the game and you will most definitely love him so much. His infectious cheerful attitude, his happy-go-lucky personality and his almost child like view o the world makes you unable to fall for him and want to protect him. The writer can easily be forgiven for the way in which they wrote Olive. It's difficult for players to come across Olive and not think that he is a Gary Stu, but A.S. did a fantastic job at making Olive vulnerable, sweet and, in my biased opinion, well rounded. Olive will most definitely have your heart strings pulled and you will definitely want Mr Vermouth to be yours by the end the story.
Kain Saccharum, the quirky, socially awkward foodie lecturer at Pokkum Uni is a likeable fellow and will definitely make you chuckle a few times. He is my second favourite character behind Olive but I think you will come to like Kain too. His character is quite funny and though he may not share anywhere near the same screen time as the three main boys, he is certainly memorable as he comes out with some great lines.
Noisette, the baker at Pokkum Bakery, is a rather funny yet stubborn older guy who thinks his treats and pastries are the greatest in the world. Man, I wish I could try one of Noisette's pastries, he makes them sound ike they come straight out of a French patisserie oven. He can come across as quite forceful and even rash, but he means well. He is always on the look out for Vera and simps for her so hard lol
Vera Monocot, the best lawyer in town. Aloe's mum is great, high class but never snooty and is always happy to talk to the player even though she is rather busy. She is very friendly and acts as a motherly figure even towards the player which makes you immediately warm to her. Vera is best friends with Cabot and their friendship is so cute even as adults.
Cabot Pris, Cal's mum! She is so kind and nurturing, even when she does embarrass her big boy haha. Cabot is a lovely warm woman who, like Vera, also acts as a motherly figure towards the player. Don't ever worry with Cabot being around, she will always make sure that you are well fed and looked after. Her and Vera make a great friendship and I love the way they are together on screen.
The player, well... at first I thought that the player was nothing more than a spare wheel or an awkward third wheel in certain situations, and that may be the case. The player character has their moments of course, and ultimately makes the crucial difference in the end. Although the player can be seen as someone who doesn't make too many earth shattering decisions within the game, it's the subtle ones that make the biggest difference in the end, and all your choices, regardless of outcome, will come out in a satisfactory ending for everyone involved.
All in all, Aloe & Cal is a well crafted, well thought out, creatively written visual novel that other authors could most definitely learn from. The theme of food which runs through this game like a wonderfully smooth chocolate sauce oozing out of a molten lava cake is lovely and one in which I personally love. The friendships are genuine, the characters all gel together and the way in which some themes are written, spoiler alert, like a certain character at Christmas time, so damn well. The author really makes you feel like you are friends with his three main characters and gives them enough individuality to make you like them and want to know more about them.
Thank you for publishing this game and I truly hope to see another one in the future, A.S. Fantastic work, you should be proud of all the hard work and hours you put into this. It was most definitely worth it, like waiting for dessert after a great meal, just a perfect ending.
