Message in a Melody

Disclaimer: while I DO recommend this game, I also recommend reading the review first and waiting for a sale to get it. This is a weird one and I have conflicting emotions about it. First things first... this may be the single most unique premise I've read in any IF (aside from that unfinished salmon one). A game about an alien invasion, but where not only the invasion is basically done when the game starts, but you also actually play as one of the invaders... AND then the whole thing revolves around the discovery of music and the role of music in diplomacy and the relationships between the two species? Yeah, I don't think I've ever seen anything like that. And on that premise alone, I think it's an interesting read. I also really appreciate the fact that while it does have stat checks and some of them are pretty high, it's extremely easy to build up the stats you want, and you can also toggle indicators for what is enhanced, weakened or tested for each choice option. My build was a leadership-charisma one, with a strong focus on music too, and there was not a single skill check I couldn't manage in my entire playthrough + I got a nice special thing happen at the end thanks to my extremely high leadership stat, despite picking charisma as my main one at the start of the game. So basically, it's a pretty easy game that allows you to mostly focus on roleplaying, though you still have to be somewhat mindful of what you pick over the course of the story. One story choice that left me a bit confused was the structure of the endings. Or, rather than the endings themselves, the leadup to them. You have 4 ROs/LIs in this game, and each of them works on a different project (the meaning of this is pretty obvious once you start playing so I won't be explaining). And by the end, once you enter the climax of the story, you get to pick which ROs to inform about the situation, and then which one will you get into the climax with, independently of if you actually started a romantic relationship with them or not (it's based on how high your relationship stat with them is, not on romance). So far so good, but... my gripe comes from the fact each RO who knows about the situation opens a new climax branch with its own ending options. I'm sure some of them end un joining back in their results, but the ways you can go through with it are pretty varied. I was lucky because the branch of my chosen RO was actually the branch I was interested in to begin with and I loved the ending related to it, but it would have been easy to miss it, especially considering this was the RO that was closely linked to my MC's weak stat, and I could have easily overlooked him. With that being said, that wasn't a full on negative point to me, just a weird one. The true downside of this game is it's length, actually. While some short games are excellent, this one would have really benefitted from being longer. Not so much when it comes to the time that goes back in the story itself, but by adding bulk to the events you get to see, the duration of the scenes and so on. The premise is fascinating, and it would have deserved more exposition, if it makes sense. Besides, we're talking about a plot focusing on bringing peace or definitely subduing to a planet the MC's people basically conquerred by force. You're all humans (right...?), so you know how humans are. Having them stop fight with the invaders either by song or by weapons would be a feat. Of course, this game isn't meant to be realistic - and that's fine too! But some more details, some more drama, some more events... it would have made the experience more immersive. Not to mention, at the end of the day, we don't get to spend enough time with the ROs and the actual romance content is minimal and barely changes anything compared to the regular relationships you can have with these characters, which is also a shame because I genuinely like them all. And that's also an issue related to the length of the game more than anything else. The only time we actually "get to go on an adventure" with a RO is the climax of the game. Prior to that, it's just short snippets of scenes, brief conversations and working together. So yeah, all in all, a game with an amazing premise and fairly cool characters, but that suffers greatly when it comes to execution, mainly due to its length. Far from a bad game - I still recommend it. But it's clearly better to wait for a sale.

不是传统的Text-base Cog，非常音乐中心，里面插入了很多YouTube音乐链接。可做选择比较少，剧情也可以差不多猜出来，中规中矩罢了

Good