Asphodelium

I was immediately compelled by the premise and the way the protagonist and his love interest are presented. Hazel, still sick with grief and guilt over killing someone who once meant the world to him, is suddenly faced with someone who is and is not that very same man. Aster, whose true relation to his dead "former self" is unclear, is simultaneously extremely suspicious and disarmingly earnest in his desire to be in Hazel's life (again?). They quickly fall into a deliciously complex dynamic of nominal strangers with an aching sense of familiarity between them, and neither is able let alone willing to explain what they represent to one another. Aster in particular really charmed me, as is his right as the love interest. He's childish, innocent, needy, helpless but not in a knife fight, lies as easily as he breathes, bitterly resentful, self-assured and self-depreciating simultaneously, assertive yet easily flustered when Hazel responds. The game competently establishes such a complex character and explores the ways he changes depending on who Hazel believes he is within its fairly short playtime. I would have liked to spend some more time with him, but if the worst complaint you have about a game is that there isn't more of it that's generally a good sign. It took some going back and forth but I eventually got him to kill me, yay! I also enjoy the way Hazel being a trans man is used in the story, namely as something that is established mostly off-hand and not necessarily explored, but which is crucial to the game's themes. To me this feels like the most "realistic" kind of queer representation: it doesn't outright dominate your every waking moment, but it does influence how you navigate the world. Visually the game is pleasing to look at and competently constructed. Some choices, such as the blurry backgrounds, were clearly to cut down on workload, but they also lean into the dreamy feeling of the game. I particularly like the flower border around the text. I spotted a missing word in the script once or twice, and personally think it could do with a lot more commas to let the text linger longer, but if I can push through the typo-riddled mahoyo localisation surely I can extend the same courtesy to an indie developer. All in all I had a wonderful time for a very reasonable amount of money :)

I did not have any real expectations and went in blind into the game. It quickly turned out to be a well written visual novel and was fully engaged. The theme was serious but had light touches of comedic moments with Aster. I do like there was LGBTQ representation and how Hazel was [spoiler] running away from washing dishes![/spoiler] Music was subtle and didn't over dominate the scenes. The backgrounds were mostly blurred and character were behind the text boxes which was unusual. It did make it harder to read and the names next to the dialogue was too similar to the BG colour. The text size was a little small for my liking. The general theme of the overlays suited the game. The character art were unique and liked how soft it looked and clothing matched each characters. Looking forward to playing more and reaching an end~

Cute art, great game, great story. Will update once I get time to finish it.

a delightfully melancholy vn about a fractal identity colliding with an established life and the consequences of how what stories we are told define us. that, a memorable side cast, and an excellent presentation make for a vn where the only complaint i can fairly lodge is that there isn't more of it

I enjoyed this game. the concept pulled me in and kept me interested. I did kinda feel like it ended abruptly, although I only got one ending so maybe some of the other endings explore the other relationships in the group?

good but kinda short

Beautiful soundtrack. I can have trouble relaxing into stories that are slow-paced and pretty, but the melancholy vibes put me into the mourning mindset of the protagonist. The art direction is deeply pleasing; it’s the spark of life in a somber mood. Lovely without falling into dreariness.

there were a lot of choices, but most of them are just for flavor, aside from [spoiler]the one about the bridge[/spoiler]. a story about a trans man struggling to not deadname a cis man.