[b]BACKGROUND -- (optional read, but useful context)[/b]
Firstly, I would like to point out that I had completed the entire story, as of the time of writing this. The 11 hours on the first playthrough, I believe, were well-spent. However, to be fair, I spent some time also chatting and taking screenshots (saved, didn't use Steam overlay, in case anyone actually checks); so I think a more realistic time frame would be 6-8 hours, for a normal-speed reader, or 3-5 for a speed-reader (not that I would recommend trying to speed-read this).
I enjoyed this developer's previous game, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/961640/The_Tower_of_Five_Hearts/]The Tower of Five Hearts[/url], so I was very much willing to snag this title, pretty much as soon as it came out. Despite having done so, I only [b][i]just[/i][/b] got around to reading it, this past week. (Yes, reading, so be aware -- Forest Guardian is a "kinetic novel", and it has no routes)
I also should point out that I am a Linux user, which will come into play, later on. I was expecting the same ease of running this that TToFH, above, gave.
[i]So, let's get into it[/i]
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[b]STORY -- 9.25 / 10[/b]
Being a "kinetic novel", FG requires extra emphasis on story. There are no choices to be made, so every word and description counts. Overall, I would not say there were any glaring issues with the story, at all, but I think a bit of proofreading might have been beneficial. There were several (I would comfortably be able to retrospectively say at least 20-30) that I came upon. Mostly spelling or slight grammatical errors, though a couple required you to reread it, because it used the wrong words entirely. Some dialog was also a bit awkward, in general, but nothing overtly disruptive.
The basic rundown is that a female merchant in some long-past and fantastical world stumbles upon a forest, where she meets a kitsune (also female), who guards the place. This is a love story (as well as a [i]lust[/i] story), so without spoilers, it pretty much goes as you'd expect. Won't go into details, but there's teasing, interesting backstory, and a captivating (albeit somewhat cliche and predictable) plot twist, at the end. And lots of boobs and ♥♥♥♥♥.
It was an immersive tale (perhaps, 'tail'), but I do believe it could also have been longer, as a few parts of the dialog were jarring and seemed to have been rushed.
[b]ART -- 9.5 / 10[/b]
I came [in]to this novel with similar expectations to TToFH. However, I am [i]even more[/i] impressed. The art style was noticeably more polished, and I feel that the color schemes really helped to keep with the tone. I liked how it was vibrant when it needed to be, but it was able to dull things down for the more serious and colder (physically and emotionally) moments.
[b]AUDIO -- 7.5 / 10[/b]
It is not very often that I actively listen to the audio in VNs. Maybe, I will give them a once-through, but I often opt to listen to YouTube or music in the background. However, the audio was quite pleasant, and it fit the story well.
For the audio, I would say the ONLY con was that the game didn't have an option to keep the music playing, when you alt+tab out. It was more jarring and disruptive to lose the BGM, than it was to actually take and save screenshots for later.
[b]BONUS CATEGORY (SEX) -- 8.5/10[/b]
The sex in the story was good. It really got into it, and the lewd artwork was delicious. Perhaps a few extra images would have been appropriate, given that the scenes often had more than what the images could portray, but the dialog for it was nice, and the descriptions were well-done.
(small spoiler -- don't read that part, unless you wanna ruin the scene, description should be sufficient not to)
Only thing I saw that threw me off (but not in a bad way) was [spoiler]purple silicone double-sided dildo[/spoiler], because it was out-of-place in a supposedly fantasy/medieval setting. But it did so in an almost humorous way, so it didn't really break the mood, just a bit of the immediate immersion.
[b]BUGS / GLITCHES[/b]
Now, I said I'm a Linux user, right? Right. I also said how this game had a Linux-native release version. The same is true of TToFH. But despite this being native, it does NOT actually work on Linux. What I thought was a simple fix, where the $HOME/.config/unity3d/Tsukiware should be symlinked to by $HOME/.config/unity3d/tsukiware (lowercase), was not the only issue. There is a [url=https://steamcommunity.com/app/1181030/discussions/0/2566438792570091491/]thread[/url] on this issue, and it was not repaired, by the time I played. I never ran into the magic number bug, and opening the main menu only required the symlink. However, I was still unable to start the game -- it actually runs, and you can hear it progressing, but you can see nothing, as the new game overlay will not disappear.
I had to FORCE a "native" Linux game to run on Proton (5.13-6). Unfortunate. However, it [b]does[/b] run fine, with Proton.
This is the only real issue, but it was annoying to deal with.
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[b]OVERALL RATING -- 8.75 / 10[/b]
The story and art were excellent, and the music complemented them well. In terms of the game quality, I am very largely satisfied. My expectations, given that this "kinetic novel" did [i]not[/i] have choices, were exceeded. I really got into it, and I loved following the characters along their magical, sexual, and romantic journey. I do wish that it [b]did[/b] work native on Linux, but it worked on Proton, so I still got to enjoy it. A bit of extra proofreading might have helped, and some of the scenes and dialog could have been longer.
Overall, absolutely enjoyable experience.
[b][i]DO RECOMMEND[/i][/b]
