Maelstrom: A Yaoi Visual Novel

It's a cute story. Jager is the best. I hope for more games like this in the future. Thanks :)

Good writing, great characters, great story.Definitely worth the read! Although, excluding the Helix route, all the other characters's routes's endings seem very rushed and unsatisfactory. ESPECIALLY Zheng-Li's and Sawyer's

The worldbuilding is really interesting,,, I'm fairly sure it's inspired by omegaverse, but I really enjoyed it! The setting that feels like the wild west and the social issues within the world. It's easy to understand and interesting, like I would still enjoy even without the romance. But the romance is definitely appreciated... hehehe Every romance possible is enjoyable in its own way. The path you take feels like it also makes an impact on the world around you, like the way you help to change the current conditions and how certain paths do not change anything about the world itself at all. I feel like the route with Helix is the most 'complete' in terms of handling every problem that could arise. If I had one thing to say,,,,,,, I would have liked the smutty scenes to be a tad more ellaborate HAHAHA

The routes are great and the bois are hot, big recommend from me.

I really enjoyed this game and played all the routes, it is a little rough around the edges though. Jader's route seems a little rushed, but I really liked Helix and Zheng-Li's, the characters are beautifully drawn too. I think it's well worth the money and it must have been tough working on getting this game funded and released in the middle of a pandemic.

In progress review; I'm playing this on a steamdeck. I think I recommend this but I have one minor issue; the love interests talk a lot about Alpha/Beta categories which seem to have 0 meaning; no social implications or hierarchy, no implication on top/bottom, no pregnancy (thank god). Just seems like another way to make the MC have a reason to be the straight lens in a BL game. He isn't homophobic thankfully but I had to remind myself at times that he was repressed bye homophobic upbringing and not sex repulsed. As an asexual, I would identify with him a lot as someone uncomfortable with sexual situations and being emotionally manipulated to put out. The fact characters kept saying he was selfish for having a slower pace and discomfort was creepy and upsetting. I get what they meant in universe, but... I dunno, probably could have written that with more empathetic lens for those with trauma or non-trauma related discomfort, if you're going to go and make a sexually awkward MC. The MC you're supposed to go for first, and like the most, I found was kinda rude and dismissive of anyone outside his group, which seemed inconsistent with his good guy vibe. Didn't really like him. The character I went for first, and liked the most, the ending indicated he would be everyones last route (rude). He's worse in other playthroughs but he's really cute in his own route... Also has gorgeous hair. Not keen on possessive behaviour, jealousy, or pushing roles on people in relationships. Sadly they feature pretty strongly in this game. However, there is no sexual assault, no one pushes anything physically onto you, they are horrified at the idea of ignoring consent (even if they're emotionally coersive, if you ask me). You can opt to not see the one graphic part of the game without losing content, you get a warning each time so you can pick to see or not see. Which is a lovely way to approach this part of the game, and I thank the devs so much for that (despite not having a problem with gore, it's such a good move)! Accessibility: +Self reading (Not sure how to enable it on Deck, but it's usually V or S on keyboard) +Warning and opt out of the one graphic segment of the game without losing content +Consent is respected, no SA (although I've not played any bad routes yet). +Dyslexic font and another sans font is available in settings. +No sexually graphic scenes -No opt out of sexual/sensual content, but it's very mild (no body sounds or visuals, moderate descriptions in one route) Feel free to share other accessibility features or corrections in the comments!

UwU

Very nice!

Is it the deepest and most thought provoking visual novel out there? No. Is it a good time? Yes. I found the story and characters very intriguing, though it is obvious which character the game sets up as the ideal romance (which likely stems from the novel the game is based on), it still makes the other storylines interesting and worth playing through. I do also live for the dumb humor that takes me by surprise every time.

Bought this for the art and romance and was surprised by how good the world-building is in this story. 100% recommend.