**this review is full of spoiler, read at your own risk**
The game still has quite a few plot holes, but overall it’s a big step up compared to The Divine Speaker. Noah is a character who’s hard to like but easy to understand. Growing up in such an environment without going insane, being aware of how toxic it was, and still managing to stay true to himself is already a miracle. So even though I don’t like him as a character, and I don’t understand why the LIs are into him, I don’t really hate him either.
The BGM with lyrics in this game honestly distracted me so much while reading that I had to mute it to keep going. The text size in this game is way too small, and the font is so thin that it’s incredibly hard on the eyes. I suspect this might be because the developers worked on the game using a 4K display and never really considered that not every player has a screen that large.
Out of all the romance options, I like Ivan’s route the most. Noah is the most tolerable in Ivan’s route, and it’s also the route where his character development is handled the best. I also think he’s the only LI that truly fits with Noah. First, my personal preference is “like attracts like” — and Ivan and Noah have WAY too many similarities. Second, I like a relationship where power is balanced between both sides — and Ivan’s route nails that perfectly. Both Ivan and Noah have moments where they need to rely on each other, or scold the other when he’s being ridiculous. I don’t really get why Noah suddenly started caring about Ivan, but from Ivan’s side, it makes sense. He’s been starved of affection his whole life, so the moment someone shows him genuine care, it’s not hard to see why he’d fall for them. Their height difference is also super cute! The scene where Ivan has to tiptoe to kiss Noah honestly made me burst out laughing.
With Crow, I just couldn’t see any real shift in awareness or psychology that would allow someone as stubborn as Noah to accept that Crow isn’t August. Out of nowhere, the writers suddenly had Noah say, “I don’t see you as August,” even though just a moment before he was still clinging stubbornly to the idea that Crow was August, without showing any sign of letting go. The fact that Crow could somehow manifest into reality—from being just a figment of imagination into an actual person—also feels way too far-fetched (even if, of course, it came at the cost of another character’s life).
As for Kaine… I agree with the general consensus that he deserves someone better, but at the same time, what he went through was the result of his own choices, and in a way, he had it coming. Even after watching all his flashbacks, I still don’t understand why he was so obsessed with Noah to that extent. People keep focusing on how much he sacrificed for Noah, insisting that Noah should like him back because of it, but they forget that the world doesn’t work like “You get what you give”, nor does it work like whoever comes first/stays with the protagonist the longest is automatically the one who deserves them. When you give something, that’s just your own wish — the other person can choose to accept it or not, and even if they do accept it, they have every right to use it however they want without having to give you anything in return. After all, you’re the one who gave it, right? If you want things to be fair, then negotiate. Sacrifice, on the other hand, is a one-sided relationship. Nobody asked Kaine to do all the things he did, only for him to turn around and act like he’s suffering because of it. It’s like when parents spoil a child too much—there’s no guarantee the kid will grow up grateful; if they don’t turn out completely entitled, that’s already lucky. “Excessive indulgence breeds ingratitude.” afterall. At the same time, when someone does things on their own under the excuse of “I just want what’s best for you,” even though you neither asked for nor needed it, it honestly just feels annoying. So to be frank, Noah’s attitude toward Kaine doesn’t seem strange to me at all. If someone like Kaine can’t even value himself, then who’s supposed to do it for him? To put it bluntly, he’s stupid. And someone that foolish really has no appeal to me. Imagine you’ve got a friend who’s simping for someone else blindly — no matter how hoarse you get from warning them, they won’t listen and just keep throwing themselves at that person. Sounds like Kaine, doesn’t it? You can hate Noah for who he is, but hating him because of Kaine is a whole different story. Noah never promised, forced, threatened, or deceived Kaine — everything Kaine did was entirely HIS OWN CHOICE — yet somehow Noah gets blamed for it? Don’t you see how ridiculous that is? It’s no different from parents telling their kid, “It’s because of you that I suffer,” when the child had absolutely ZERO say in whether they were even born in the first place.
As for Kaine’s murders, honestly, I don’t really care about the trash he killed — like Noah’s parents or that pink-haired guy — since they deserved it. The real problem is that he killed way too recklessly and almost ended up killing innocent people too — like Noah’s former teacher. He didn’t even know exactly what had happened between Noah and that teacher, or whether there was some misunderstanding, yet he was already ready to kill. Straight-up psycho.
I also came across a review that felt like they were putting down Noah and August’s relationship just to prop Kaine up. Like, trying to say Noah and August’s feelings were nothing more than some immature school boy crush, and that aside from being “pure,” August didn’t stand a chance compared to Kaine. Hah! Sorry, but Kaine’s feelings also started back in school days — and they were already leaning toward unhealthy obsession, which is way worse. And honestly, someone as good-looking and kind as August would make anyone fall head over heels no matter the stage of life. If anything, meeting someone that amazing too early is exactly why it took Noah six whole years to finally move on.
I like how the devs managed to balance the three LIs without making it feel like they were favoring any particular one. Each character carries a piece of the story, and only after completing all three routes do you get the full picture. At the same time, whichever LI you don’t pursue will meet a tragic end — there are no exceptions — unlike in Paradise. Of course, which route feels the most fitting or like the “true route” is completely up to each player’s personal feelings; here I’m just speaking objectively.
And August really is an angel! He’s the only one who brings healing energy into the entire game! Beautiful, gentle — no wonder Noah clung to him so desperately (I’d fall for him too!). In a way, I’m relieved that August escaped from this tangled mess from the very beginning, because Noah honestly doesn’t deserve him at all! But then again, it’s precisely August’s death that set everything in motion and shaped the game into what it is now.
