Spoiler free part //
My boyfriend and I played this together, its story is rich, its voice acting is spectacular (especially Iro, shoutout Rachael Messer, and not just for the 5th secret scene, but it can't be understated how good the voice acting is across the board), and the art is okay (as a woman, it bothered me how their boobs hung from so, so high up. Like, from their collarbones). I 100% recommend this game, it's worth the money and the time spent. Every story is a lesson. ALSO! Don't be afraid to go back to an old save, and SAVE OFTEN. They give you 120 slots for a reason. On my first playthrough, I filled in more than 100 of them.
Spoiler FULL part, and a love letter to the development team //
The writers evidently worked very hard, I loved the story progression and every twist. God! Bella! At the party, I was gagged. Every "most tragic" death scene was phenomenal, at Mio's my boyfriend and I just gasped and when the line about her not being tall enough to fit hit me, I got goosebumps. Ough!!!!! I checked the linkedin for sad panda studios after this because I was so sure at LEAST one woman/non-man had worked on it, and I was pleased to see so many. I hope that's up to date. Also I'm going to go over specifically what I loved about each girl's themes quickly!!
Mio's story not demonizing sex work, but rather sex work entrapment, was great. She was anxious and pressured and wanted to be desired without letting people down, an issue I know I and many other women have had irl, and that led to her career not being fulfilling, NOT just that showing your body for money is evil or something overly simplified and misogynistic. She had real concerns and experiences that made me like her, though was the most painfully millennial out of all of the girls. She was relatable, sweet, and a lesson to the usual type of guys who play dating sims to think harder about how they treat women online. Actually, while playing, it's pretty clear ALL of this was a lesson, mostly aimed at men.
Elle's entire story gagged me. I was under the impression she was going to be very similar to Crush Crush and y'all fed into that for approximately 3 minutes before pulling the rug out from under me. For a moment, I was exactly who Dorian and her parents wanted me to be, and that grossed me out--stellar!!!!!!! I liked that she wasn't too submissive, even early on. It's not like this was a "just break out of your shell!" character, she was up against EVERYTHING. Her abuse, both explicit and implied, made me nauseous in a good way, i was smiling with a death grip on the mouse. She was admirable, both the perfect victim (who her family crafted her to be) and the survivor who was a constant thorn in their side. One of my two favorite girls, for sure.
Iro interested me the least early on. Truly, it wasn't until the very end that I liked her, and then I loved her. It doesn't sell, but in retrospect I don't think that's wrong. She had a support system in Eli, she was haunted and angry but generally well adjusted, and she took care of herself (seemingly as a beautiful excuse to be reckless and hurt herself, I think she'd hate to scrutinize her own tendencies to self-harm through endangerment), which was a good break from the crazy for a while, until, like with her secret itself, it all came crashing down. I loved her dad, too. I never knew what to make with him, so I actively decided to not make my opinion. She (fictional character whatever, I like to immerse myself while I'm playing) can make her own opinion and decide what's good for her. (However, ACAB. Though, I totally loved Fumi. She was ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ and made fun of the idea of a cop itself so I found her character extremely entertaining.)
CASSIE OH CASSIE !!! She's just like me if I was worse, for real. How she lashed out, or put forward a character to protect herself, how she hated and craved to be vulnerable?? Wow I loved her. Next time please get some actual jersey girl to voice her, though. Or don't, I liked it, but it uh, kinda threw me off sometimes. Anyways, she's a sweetheart and a very good show that not everyone involved in criminal activity is either there willfully OR desires to cause some kind of harm (not necessarily physical). I wish we butted heads with her criminal ties more, but on a similar vein, I loved that encouraging her behavior was usually not the right answer. She was enticed by us shoplifting early on, but gentleness, making her know she could lower her walls, inviting her somehwere she didn't HAVE to be some tough ♥♥♥♥♥, where she didn't HAVE to prove herself, didn't HAVE to take care of herself, didn't HAVE to steal, was generally the right answer. A good lesson to not just pander to what you think a girl wants to hear, for dating sim players. Not me though, stay safe, me and my boyfriend played that game like we were walking those streets ourselves.
Quinn made me feel something. The scene of us putting on the cat ears and her allowing us time to be kitty was extremely special to me, and I cried multiple times across her story. It was personal and intimate, and a lesson in understanding. Regardless of if someone came into it thinking she was weird for the whole cat thing, I hope they came out of it with a more open mind to how people cope differently (a great theme explored across all these girls), and more specifically, pet regression and non-sexual roleplay. I have nothing more to say, the only issue i had with her at ALL was her not telling us we occasionally smelled like Dorian upon returning, which didn't seem like something she'd do at the time or now.
Other things:
- Eli's whole shebang early on. I was worried she'd just stay a caricature of some gay guy, but she charmed me, and I appreciated the pretty explicit lesson in gender and sexuality for people who were interested enough to meet with him but may not have been well educated or entirely there.
- Cops being made fun of over and over again did it for me, but a little taste of a good cop's efforts mattering did satisfy me. <- in reference to Kawase busting rich people and drug cartels, NOT Police Brutality Fumi. did love her though
- Dmitri's, Lotus', and officer Kawase's VA's having accents. WOOHOO!!!!!! I'm so sick of only evil characters or caricatures having present accents in media. God ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ bless this game.
- I don't know if I've ever been more disappointed than when the goddesses said most the girls' feelings were fake. No wonder I couldn't just leave them as friends! I really only wanted to romance Elle and Cassie.
- Not to be cringy, but art is meant to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable, this game achieved that. I wish I could donate another ten bucks or something. Maybe I'll buy SPS's soulmate game after this.
