Pinewood Island

If you really want something new to sink your teeth in to get it on sale. I love any game that allows me to customise my character. Self-insert all the way. However, what grinds my gears is the lack of - anything else really. Characters are bland and after the "big moment" not a whole lot happens. It's mostly being told you are doing things in a few sentences rather than actually doing those things. Romance is thin and the endings are extremely unsatisfying. Most of the time nothing is resolved even though it's really obvious from the get go what really went down. Still interested in newer projects but PI is lacking.

A fun mystery, romance VN. This VN has very good branching with 24 endings, I felt my choices had an effect on the path and the relationships with the characters. I really enjoyed the game (:

No matter which route you decide to pick, the story more or less feels very repetitive. Characters seem extremely shallow and it almost feels like there is no time to build a proper relationship with them. Everything feels like it's happening too fast. It was difficult for me to even start caring about the characters the game introduced me to. The story in itself is very... monotonous and uninteresting. I love otome games with a horror twist on them, but it's definitely not what I was looking for. Get it on sale if possible.

This is a good little visual novel, it's towards the shorter side but is still enjoyable. The plot itself isn't anything very exciting but does make the game a bit more unique than other dating games. I liked that there were plenty of endings to explore, and that endings and achievements are tracked in game. I also liked the character art, it's always nice to see a distinct art style in games like these and I think it adds to the overall charm of the game.

Otome horror-themed visual novel. Bit strange but it works well enough. The worst part of the game by far is the lack of CGs for your handful of horrific deaths. I want to see my character's leg getting bitten off by a shark! It's a pretty short VN but to their credit the devs did a good bit of work making variations of the endings dependent on your choices. Take your pick of three romance options or none, solve the murder or not, potentially get imprisoned for murder, maybe save the extras from horrific death. Very little actually changes from your choices up until the final stretch, but I'm willing to be forgiving just this once. I can feel the passion the devs had for the project seeping through and being strangled by budgetary concerns. Yet they still managed to make a pretty good little game, if a little disappointing in some ways (lack of CG's, length). Pinewood Island won't blow you away or be incredibly memorable, but it was an important first step for an indie dev. I'm glad to see that they've continued making games (at a good clip too, one every two years since this release) and look forward to seeing what they can do when they fully realize their vision.

There's a stunning number of endings to this, with many varied outcomes. Very fun and very interesting. It also does a very useful thing if you want to try different options - you can skip and it will jump to the next decision point, or it will stop if there's a new scene you haven't had before. Means you can very quickly go through looking for different endings, very convenient. I rarely finish visual novels but this one is intelligent, well written, has a ton of endings and can get impressively intense. An excellent mystery.

this game has a very compelling story at its centre and advises you to spend your time wisely. The killer is the same every time you play but there is a lot of replay value as you can learn different aspects and mysteries around the murder. There are themes of unhealthy relationship dynamics and obsessive/abusive behaviour but it is acknowledged within the narrative to be wrong. If you are an enjoyer of dark romance and mysteries, this game is for you.