You know what this game reminds me of, not so much a visual novel, but more like those text adventures from the 1980s where you have to navigate narrative death pits to find various endings - a text game with some nuances, such as having a proper item to progress. However, I am not exactly sure why you are allowed to keep items between the different runs, logically you would find and use them during the same playthrough, but it's not the case for whatever reason, and I am pretty sure some paths don't allow you to do that. I won't pretend that I read every page in this game, not that I didn't enjoy the writing, it just takes a lot for a game to get my attention, but at least it managed to keep me interested for 2 hours. I couldn't do the 100% completion, I found the main 6 endings or letters as they called, plus most of the optional deaths, and yet I am still missing something. The game does not have any voice acting aside from those specific endings, and I kinda wish that it did because I enjoyed those moments. I know the voice acting can also hurt the game, but it also adds to the atmosphere if done well, and those few letters that were voice-acted were my favorite parts of the narrative.
I thought the illustrations were nice, kind of a unique style I would say, were they made specifically for the game? The reason I ask is that I see a lot of games being made for the artwork, and not the other way around - which is weird to me (but I assume it's original to the game, more credit to you if it is). Good choice of music overall when it does not overlap the last scene, although it does overlap pretty often. I don't believe there is a save feature but you can use a bookmark as a shortcut.
[h1] Pros: [/h1]
(+) I just like the formatting of this game because text games can be pretty ***** dull, it reminds me of how they used to make text adventures in the past, giving the player a choice after every scene and just killing you constantly. You had some interesting ideas with the items, although the carryover is a strange mechanic, it can be confusing. Honestly, I did not read all of the pages, I read some, and I enjoyed the lighthearted endings, I wish you had more voice acting, even if it was not professional. I liked the choice of music, and I think the art was very nice as well.
(+) Now the game advertises a ton of endings, most of them are more like insta kills, but there are at least 6 main endings with an interesting conclusion.
[h1] Feedback: [/h1]
[u] Nitpicks [/u] - It's a bit unfortunate that you reused some of the pictures, and I kinda wish all scenes had a unique look. You keep the items between the runs which is confusing, I assumed those are only for one run, and you even need to replay with items to get some of the paths. Music would sometimes overlap the last theme. I don't have any issues with the writing, but I thought the paths looped in a very unpredictable way, if at all, sometimes it just made no sense.
Almost forgot, some of the death choices do not have a red border in the UI, probably a mistake.
[b] Overall Thoughts: 7/10 [/b]
I mean for a $2 text game, you still managed to keep me playing, overall I like how you packaged a narrative game with choices and item mechanics, even if they are somewhat negligible. There were some fun moments in the story, but I was slightly falling asleep in between. Anyway. Good enough for me, if you make another one, maybe full voice acting, same format? Mmmmm.
[code]Review by: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/ [/code]
