oki,
few things to clear up first
firstly, this vn is expensive, I know it, you know it
so what are you getting exactly if you buy it?
the answer isn't quality, its length, this vn is particularly long for what it is and whilst I have spent more time on other vns, most of the time, that is entirely because they are padded awfully, this game doesn't do padding, at least not in the typical sense.
it can take around 16 hours to finish this and that is 16 hours of actual content and not you repeating stuff to see a slightly different jpeg at the end of the game
secondly, this vn is kinetic, or at least mostly kinetic; you don't make any real decisions over the course of the story, you simply click through each line in a linear fashion.
there are bits where you can pick unique hangout scenes, and there are bits where you solve puzzles, but those are diversions.
you are here to sit and read; you won't do much in the way of interaction and need to be okay with that to enjoy this
thirdly, don't buy for the kink
transformation is a pretty common alternative fetish, regardless of whether you're a furry or if you're into anime or whatever and it goes without saying some of you are looking at this game for that reason.
I like this dumb game, but it won't satisfy your needs if that is the only thing you want from this; tf is a theme, and I wouldn't be surprised if the folks working on this were into it, but it is not touched on all that much outside of people occasionally having animal ears.
I recommend going to tfgames site instead and finding something free like exiles of aphrodisia, I have some friends who've released some games there and according to them, its totally a fine place to look for that sort of thing.
I'm not really into the fetish that much these days, but I can give recommendations if you need them
as for this game
I'm no great expert on VNs, I only really play whatever's available in english and have no frame of reference for what they were like years ago when they were a cancer on the ps2 and psp, or even what most of the ones on steam are like today, I have played a few though and this one is among the worst I have played...
but its also among the very few I have sincerely enjoyed...
here's a taster of some of the things I thought were bad about this
- the art is very bad
I actually have a foot to stand on with this critique, since I have at least some history of doing sprite work for games of this nature and can say with confidence that the art is horrendous! the rendering is totally fine but the proportions are all over the shop, expressions are wonky, I am really sure that most of the guys faces are just copy and pasted, some of the art looks completely out of sync with everything else and the characters have the most utterly bizarre idle poses I've seen :)
- the writing is bad:
you know that phenomena of 'guys writing girls?' (I'm gonna say horny teens writing girls for this actually since I don't know the gender situation for the writers and don't like to assume that stuff) most vns suffer from this but this vn takes it to another level; even with the excuse that some women were formerly male, it is still astounding how every character in this game comes across as a dumb horny school kid, add to that the fact that the characters are one dimensional and lacking in depth and you're left with an utterly mindless cast.
the plot is very slow and mundane:
typically VNs (or at least the ones I know) tend to be very to the point and do a lot to keep the pace flowing, this doesn't; this frequently has characters meandering about in circular conversations not doing much of anything
and my favourite issue:
- what the actual ♥♥♥♥ is this setting!?
the setting is amazingly not fleshed out; it leaves you asking all kinds of questions and gives you little to help you out, it also tosses you in the deep end too so expect to cringe hard :D
so yeah, it sucks, but I enjoy it:
here's why
- the art is hilarious:
no seriously, the art is so dumb that I can't help but laugh; the nonsensical font choices are a hoot, the characters breaking their limbs to gesticulate wildly, and the background art was all great
I'll go more into the background later
- the writing is surreal in a good way:
now I have no idea what the full intentions with this game were, but the writers never at any point hid that they were Australian (from queensland if I had to guess?) the setting is very open about that and the characters are not at all coy it.
this leads to absolutely ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ surreal conversations between fairly japanese looking anime characters discussing things like possums pissing on everything, or how they're drunk and could really go for a 'chicken shcnitty' and all sorts of other nonsensical stuff
this alone was the highlight of the game for me; I'm really used to anime and the like almost always being set in japan, or at least having a tone that is consistent with that country's culture even when it is set in russia or america, or some fantasy world.
To see that broken down so heavily here with out any kind class to it was amazing and I had no idea how much I needed it in my life
- the plot was slow and mundane:
believe it or not, I actually find most anime and manga to be very tiring, there's only so many times you can hear about a bunch of teenage school kids saving the world before you want to kill yourself.
so more often than not, what I tend to lean towards in anime is actually slice of life stuff, so to just see the characters randomly milling about, interacting with stuff, complaining about things that are of no relevance was a lot more compelling to me than a vn where everything is just an open invitation for either adventure or horny hijinks.
I absolutely love that the characters in this do things like interrupting a chase to complain about how the food at a street vendor is overpriced and that they should go eat out up the road instead.
-the setting is weird, but I like it
so, I will admit that the game does a poor job of introducing it (if i had the option of changing one thing this game, it would be those opening scenes), but this game has a fun setting, it makes absolutely no sense why you have magic marbles, magic, transformative furry surgeries, gas based tf serums that make the former thing irrelevant, a thriving sex change industry and a deeply ingrained otaku culture all on the gold coast (Australia's low rent tourist trap), but somehow after a while it all sort of begins to work out and I can't tell you why.
I think it really is just that the game is un-apologetically australian, but not aggravatingly patriotic about it. somehow just seeing the all this weird stuff take place, not at the generic anime canal, but out on boardwalks and in familiar shopping streets does a lot to make it feel...not natural, but homely and comfortable in a nice way
the backgrounds help a lot with this (I am really fricking certain that they're various shots of cairns, I'm sure of it) I think I do still have issues with the setting, I kind of wish it would clear up how certain things work and not introduce so many elements that undermine the core 'oh no, am girl' aspect of the plot, but hey it works out.
also they fricking nailed the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ nature of some cops, that sold me a bunch on this :)
so anyway.
I can't really say that this is a *good* game.
I think its more of an acquired taste, one that you'll enjoy if you like that taste, but definitely not something for everyone.
I do like it enough to recommend it to folks who feel adventurous though,
give it a go
