Rainswept

Finished! A decent murder mystery adventure, though a bit buggy (some problems with gamepad controls and blank notebook pages). Also, while there is no graphic violence, the game does feature some intense scenes and difficult topics. Be warned!

A short visual novel detective game featuring a very unique art style. The game ran well and I enjoyed the writing.

Gorgeous graphics. Lovely soundtracks. Both of them work wonderfully to create a cozy atmosphere. And that's about it. This is a visual novel, so it makes sense that it is centered around its story and that's what I start with. And the story... is a big MEH. 1- It kicks off great and hooks you right off the bat, then declines steadily as you progress. I had to force myself to read all the uninteresting dialogues in the second half of the game. Overall, the plot is repetitive and meaningless. You encounter "suspects" that have been put in between the start and the end of the story randomly, who have little to no impact on the plot anyway and serve only to prolong the story. 2- The characters' arcs are nonsense. Their relationship towards each other is counterintuitive. For example, you find your BFF on the first day of meeting them... for real. And when a character has a big realization, they become a completely different person rather than having second thoughts about themselves like a normal human being. 3- Even the ending and the resolving of the mystery happen so suddenly and randomly, feeling horribly unearned. 4- Not to mention all the plot holes, contrivances, dramatic dialogues, etc. 5- I was personally befuddled in the scene, where one of the major characters harasses his wife, and the wife starts apologizing to them!!! 6- What was that notebook anyway? It promises of a cool game mechanic (think Return of the Obra Dinn), and serves zero purpose. It has nothing to do with the game or solving the case, it has no "artworks" inside to feel interesting. Seriously, you can finish this game without even noticing there is a button that opens your notebook! 7- The level design is boring and you have next to no agency. A good example would be Night in the Woods, in which you are free to roam anywhere and explore on your own terms. And in NitW, you are not stuck in the city level forever. There are other levels, like the interior of houses, rooftops, the forest, the party scene, etc. that genuinely add their own flavor to the game and make the world vibrant. Whereas here, in any level, you just walk left to right and sometimes click on the same characters to hear the same dialogues. Except when the game needs to continue the plot and forces you to take some really specific actions. 3/10 for the good atmosphere.

[h1]事件を解決したかっただけなのですが・・・[/h1] 田舎の小さな町。 しばらく前に移住してきた若いカップルが死んだ。 現場の状況からは、男が女を射殺した後に 自殺したように思えた。 街から派遣された刑事が事件の調査を開始する・・・ という導入で始まるポイントクリック型のゲーム。 ストアの説明文では " murder mystery game "と称していますが、 サスペンスの二時間ドラマのような感じです。 推理するという感じではありません。 （たとえば、作中の描写だと、 　「付着していたかもしれない他人の指紋が消えた」 　理由とするには苦しいかと） 「カップルの出会いから死に至るまで」と 「刑事の過去」というふたつの物語が 事件の捜査の進展とともに語られます。 カップルの物語は、典型的な流れではありますが、 その時々での二人の関係性の描写は良いなと感じました。 一方、刑事の物語は・・・ 何度も出てくる刑事の心的描写は邪魔に感じるほどでした。 私は事件を解決したくてプレイしているのであって、 トラウマを共体験したいわけではなかったので・・・ ストアのタグで「超現実的」と付されているのを もっと重要なことだと受け取ればよかったと思いました。 その他、気になったこととしては、 プレイ中にフリーズが発生し ゲームを強制終了しなければならないことが何度かありました。 このため、シーンの演出で同じ画面が数秒続くと、 またフリーズか？と不安を感じてしまいました。

The story was moderately interesting and this is what kept me interest going to the end. But it was technically inept with poor production quality and several bugs. For instance, tasks menu could not be closed again unless you went to map first and once I got stuck and had to reload last save. To improve the experience, I think voice overs would have helped a lot.

I liked what I played so far! Looking forward to playing the full game.