Deleted my previous review in order to write a fresh, comprehensive one that should hopefully get my point across better than "GateTail good".
After having done ALL the endings (most of them without the ending notebook, including the softlock one, somehow...), and with almost 70 hours of gameplay, I now have a better idea of what my review should be. This review will tackle the usual (story, gameplay etc) and also stuff that I personally loved or stood out to me. Before reading this review, please keep in mind that I will mainly be subjective throughout writing it.
Gameplay: 7.5/10
This is a simple RPG Maker game with simple RPG mechanics. You go around battling enemies and solve puzzles (MOST of which are enjoyable and don't require a degree in engineering).
In terms of puzzles, I would say this game is perfect. It provides a balance between simple, elementary puzzles such as merely pushing rocks in various directions, to puzzles that will make you want to rip your hair out until you figure them out and then feel like a complete dunce after you complete them (looking at you, Frostlet puzzle). I firmly believe that all RPGs should have such a balance.
Combat is where GateTail loses a few points. While I love basic turn-based combat, the game does a poor job at explaining mechanics such as status effects (I still don't know what most do!) or Elements. All skills are split into three types: Physical, Magical, and Neutral (for setup and healing skills). All Elemental attacks you can use except Normal are Magical attacks. Elements are essentially locked behind an item called the Staff, which costs a whopping 15k gold and is not even very useful in the latter part of the game, which is where the player might finally have enough money to buy it in the first place. To use the Staff and the Elements at their full potential, one must first use an Asper of their desired Element (dropped by an enemy of that element), use the special skill Elemental Surge, and then finally use the skills attributed to the Element they're using. This is not too useful in the second half of the game (will elaborate on this later), as many bosses either resist Magical attacks or won't give you opportunities to set up. This really only leaves two bosses on which the Staff can be used to its full potential, one of which you shouldn't even use it on, as they are weak to Physical attacks.
I would also like to point out that it is very, very easy to become overleveled in the latter part of the game. While that might be a flaw in of itself, the game's story presents you with different "routes" you can take to complete it, and for two of the four main ones this may prove beneficial.
I would also like to mention the chases in this game. Simply put, I love them all! The boat sequence was my favorite, as it essentially limits you to one area, making it more challenging.
The Kermarvel minigames were also great. Unfortunately, I am not of the skillful variety, and can only get an S at the invader minigame.
Lastly, the most vital gameplay element of them all: Fast Travel. I would say this game has overall decent Fast Travel, though maybe not as much in the first half of the game. However, this flaw is completely negated by the fact you get to have fish teleport you.
Story: 8/10
I absolutely love this game's story. The game starts with the main character, ... (or Rein), monologuing to themselves what they wanted to do, when suddenly they remember they wanted to go look for Ira, someone who is presumably either a family member, a friend, or the protagonist's loved one. Rein jumps into the gate, leading her to GateTail, where they forget their name. Rein doesn't remember anything about Ira and only knows they need to look for her. I will not be spoiling the story from here on out. However, I will mention some things that bothered me:
-Some characters' goals are very hard to understand. Even after five playthroughs, I still don't understand why Elijah wanted you to experience Kermarvel despite having to kill you at the same time, or why Jacob thought Rein needed to die, or else the entirety of GateTail would disappear. While Elijah "explains" to the player why he'd let them experience Kermarvel, it is very vague and doesn't make much sense. As for Jacob, waiting for Rein to arrive at the Codarium while fully knowing they killed several people seems silly, and the fact he just lets you go if you spare him, ignoring the "If the human is alive, we all face the opposite" thing he's been repeating for the entire latter half of the game just seems... silly. I will say, I do not have great reading comprehension and I am very forgetful, but I am still of the opinion that this was just poorly thought out.
Next I will go over all the possible "routes" the player can take. Like in another certain RPG, the player can call the shots on whether they want to kill or spare bosses. I'll go over all of them, starting from the one I liked the least and climbing all the way to my favorite one.
4. Fred route/FRED
Fred the Frog is the main antagonist and villain of the game. He is essentially a malevolent god that wants to take advantage of the humans' capacities of gaining EXP. In this run, Fred achieves a new form and serves as a final boss, likely the hardest one in the entire game.
This route is, in my opinion, not great. While this should be a route dedicated to Fred, he is entirely absent in the latter half of the game, and in the first half he is nowhere near as present as he should be, seeing as, again, this route is dedicated to him (the trophy you get for completing this run is literally a golden Fred statue.) This route somehow ends up being the same as the neutral one up until the ending, which leaves the player confused, as they start wondering if they're even on the Fred route anymore. While all the humans settled in GateTail fear Fred, nobody of them even finds out you're working for him, which is, in my opinion, a very tragically missed opportunity. Cool final boss though!
3. Neutral route/Forever ending
From here on out, I like all of these routes. In my opinion, the neutral route provides you with the classic GateTail experience and is, overall, the most balanced route gameplay-wise.
The Forever ending is tragic, as you find out Ira never existed, and are sentenced to spend an internity in the endless cosmos of the CODE (I think?). Or at least, I THINK that Ira doesn't exist, because 1. that is what the game tells you and 2. it's also what Fred tells you at the end. However, after the ending, a shadow of Rein that was present in a flashback of her entering the game speaks to Rein/the player, addressing them with the name [...], telling them that they will achieve their true potential in the end. Potential is a common theme in this game and comes up many times.
Overall great route! Love it!
2. Pacifist route/ New Beginning
While this run is quite similar to the neutral one as well, the lategame part of it makes up for it in the first place. As all the characters get to love you, both you and Rein become attached to the denizens of GateTail as they start seeing you as a blessing, and not a curse. Of course, Fred takes it all away, but in a final battle where Rein reveals her REAL name (not the one you gave her!) she and Ashlyn, possibly one of my favorite characters in the game, manage to damage Fred for the first time using their Potential. The ending is heartwarming, as, from what I understood, Rein returns to her world safely and receives a message from all the GateTail humans.
You can also interact with each human. Unfortunately, for most of them, the choices of what to ask them are about the same, as it is always either the CODE, other humans, or the War of Gaining. This was a missed opportunity as I think many of these characters could have had more interesting interactions (for example, Elijah could've unlocked a new WIP minigame for you!). And with chatting, (>comments
