As We Know It

The game starts off alright, if a bit oddly structured at times, but it completely falls apart in the end. Do not recommend under any circumstances, the ending is abrupt and poorly handled.

I saw this tagged as "sci-fi" but I don't know if it should be categorized as that. It's a post-apocalyptic story, but the science/technology in it isn't fictional at all. Anyway, it's got Mad Max: Fury Road vibes, but takes place within a setting similar to that District 13 underground city from The Hunger Games. The implication is that climate change eventually impacted the livelihood of humankind, and for some, the answer was to move into underground city shelters. [b]Good Stuff[/b] [list] [*] Racial diversity. More than half of all the characters are not white. [*] Queer representation. Two male romanceable characters (one of which used to be in love with a guy), two female romanceable characters. [*] Thicc representation. (Though, it would've been better if it was more than one, aka tokenism.) [*] Interesting, well-written story and characters. [*] Causes players to utilize critical thinking skills when considering moral and ethical dilemmas. [*] Obviously, climate change awareness. [*] Several endings to reveal the consequences of choices. [/list] [b]Complaints[/b] [list] [*] While the other three romanceable characters were likable and elicited romantic feelings, I found Gloria to be rather insufferable, which disappointed me greatly because aesthetically speaking, I liked her best. In the context of the story, she's just so privileged that she doesn't understand how good she has it. Paralleled to real life, I can't stand spoiled/entitled people like that. [*] No CGs. But I get it, art costs money. I'm just fond of pretty pictures of romanceable characters. [*] Several playthroughs to get all the endings can be a bit tedious, but that's what skip mode is for. [*] Typos. [/list] I definitely recommend it to visual novel fans. Those other three romanceable characters are totally worth it!

Diverse characters, in-depth relationships, sci-fi setting that builds as you play the routes. Really love being able to make friends in addition to focusing on the love interest. Everyone romance Micah! He's [i]amazing![/i]

I liked the concept of this game, and the characters were all interesting to me. I wasn't prepared for the scheduling aspect of the game, which forced me to load saves and retry several times in order to get the character interactions I needed for the relationship scores. The story was compelling and I was really interested to see where things went at what I thought was the climax of the story... but that turned out to be the end. At the moment that all the conflict and tension finally comes to a head, the game just ends. There is no epilogue, nothing but a bit of text where the characters say "this is what we're going to do next," and then that's it. The "romance" aspect doesn't really feel fully developed because of this, considering that you have mixed chances of even getting an "ending" that suggests the characters might stay together at all. Their relationship doesn't seem to factor into the ending, because your end result primarily focuses on some story choices made before the characters even "officially" enter a relationship. I'd also say that the term "heavily branching" might be misleading in the game's description. The overall plot of the game is the same every time. The only "branches" are the dialogue scenes you may or may not see during your free time, and the dialogues that go along with whatever job you've chosen. Imagine the narrative like a ruler with the tick marks along the side; it's one long, straight line, with some short variations along the way. I'm certain that a lot of writing went into this game in order to create so many different viewable scenes, but replaying the game for a different route primarily entails hitting the skip button and waiting for the game to scroll through all the text you saw on the last playthrough. It doesn't feel like it's "heavily branching" at all when most of the text is the same across every playthrough. Similarly, the multiple "endings" aren't really branches of their own, so much as a few lines that change based on one particular story choice and a stat check. All in all, I feel like playing this game was like riding a roller coaster where you hit a steep climb near the end. You think there's going to be one last big drop, but as you reach the crest of the hill, you realize that you're just being pulled back into the station. I'm certain I would have really enjoyed this game if the plot was paced differently, but the endings just fell completely flat for me. I guess I see it as a case of lost potential.

I love the concept of an alternative future-- it's a wasteland and you're living underground. This is one of the longer English Original Language Visual Novels that I have played--as of writing this, I've only achieved two endings. I enjoyed the rock tracks (although, it'd be nice to have more songs), the character design and the attention to facial detail was spot on. As characters become more stressed, their expressions reflect that. I had never read a visual novel like that--and I read a lot of them. Varied character design. Although few, the backgrounds were well done. No voice acting in this VN, but there is so much to read-- this is also a stat-based VN by days. You'll have a routine when you play this. There are also not only stress and love stats but friendship stats as well. I loved the dynamic between the mother and the MC. I am looking forwards to more games by Jaime Scribbles.

As We Know It est un visual novel que j'ai trouvé bien écrit. Côté positif : - Le côté post-apocalyptique de l'histoire, si il n'est pas montré visuellement est plutôt bien rendu lorsque l'on échange avec les différents personnages du jeu. - Ces derniers sont d'ailleurs variés et peu stéréotypés, ce qui est un soulagement. Leurs réactions varient en fonction de leur personnalités et de leur vécu et c'est plutôt convaincant. - Autre point positif : les relations amicales ou amoureuses que noue notre personnages au fur et à mesure du temps -> tout ne se fait pas en deux-trois scènes. Il faut au contraire un certain temps pour apprendre à connaître les personnages. - - Les évènements ne sont pas rushés et cela donne l'impression d'une vraie construction. Pour l'instant je n'ai fait que les premières routes d'Eva et de Sam et ces deux personnages sont vraiment géniaux. Eva est juste adorable et Sam plus complexe qu'il n'y paraît. Sinon les sprites sont beaux et agréables, pareil pour les background. Peu de variations dans les musique, mais ce ne m'a pas gêné. Côté moins bon : - J'ai trouvé vraiment dommage qu'il n'y ait pas de CG, ça manque et donne un goût d'inachevé (j'aurai aimé en avoir ne serait-ce qu'une seule pour chacun de persos romancable, ça aurait déjà été pas mal. Si il y en avait à venir par la suite ce serait génial!) - La fin, même si il y en a en soit plusieurs, un peu trop rapide et certains choix décisifs pour la fin ont des impacts que je ne trouve pas assez nuancés en termes d'impacts scénaristiques. De manière globale cependant, je recommande ce jeu pour les personnages attachants et bien écrits. Même chose pour l'héroïne qui est plutôt réussie. C'est une histoire intéressante et rien que pour ses personnages (Eva! :)), ça vaut le coup. Now I'll try in english (sorry for the mistakes). As We Know It is a visual novel that I found well written. Pros : - The post-apocalyptic part of the plot is interesting enough, even if it isn't shown visually. Talking with the characters give enough informations to understand what it's like on the surface. - The characters are varied and not stereotypical, which is a very good thing. Their behavior change depending on their personalities and their life story. And it's convincing. - Another good point : relationships, either friendship or romance are done with time. You need to take your time to know the characters. It's not over in two or three encounters. - Events are not rushed and it gives the feeling that time passes - The sprites are good and so are are backgrounds even if there isn't a lot of variation. - The music is ok For the moment, I only did two endings with Eva (such a good character!) and Sam. I enjoyed these two! Eva is just adorable and Sam more complex than she is letting on. Cons : - The lack of CGs - really it's a pity there is none. It feels like things were not finished (I would have liked at least one for each romancable character and I'd have been happy. If some were to be integrated in the future it'd be great \o/) - The ending, a little too rushed for me and some key decisions for the end of the game have impacts that I found not toned enough (not sure it's the right word) . Overall, I recommend this game for the well written and endearing characters. The story is interesting and just for its characters (Eva! :)) it's worth it. And at last, will the Deluxe Content with the bonuses be available on Steam?

This was a really great visual novel! I love all the characters, and I really love that we have the option to simply befriend some of them! The writing was really well done too! Only complaint with this is that the ending really is cut quite abruptly which made me think I got a bad ending the first time but ah well, the story was really good anyway! Definitely recommend!