＜/reality＞

(Spoiler-Free Review) To be honest, I'm a little disappointed. The game was a lot shorter than I thought it would be, and leaves a lot of questions unanswered. The conclusion feels pretty rushed - I was shocked when I had already stumbled upon the epilogue. Not only that, but there were a lot less real choices than I believed there would be. The most impactful decisions come at the end, but even then, it doesn't change the narrative so much as it does the short and (in my opinion) lackluster epilogue. It's a shame because the story is well-written, it's just so short and rushed that it doesn't give enough time to be really invested in Vitalia's plight and the characters, or resolve anything in a satisfactory manner. Most of the development happens in the last 5 to 10 minutes of the game and that's unforunate considering that I found the lore interesting and was looking forward to what extent the creators endeavored to explore it. Many of the imaginative concepts introduced are not adequately explored (especially when some of them are made to seem important) or are simply just mentioned again in the epilogue. In addition, when it comes down to it, the main character doesn't get to do much of anything. There's a lot of contemplating of choices but not a lot of actually...making them, much less acting upon them since the game doesn't even give that many opportunities for climactic decisions.

First of all, the game is shorter than I had expected. My 7.7 hours includes finishing the game + all achievements but must games be 50+ hours in order to be positively recognised? No! I really enjoyed it and here's why: * Well-defined characters that I could also relate to. * Amusing (in my opinion!) references to MMORPGs. * A decent amount of choices to be made, some choices building upon others or unlocking other choices later on. * Genuinely sweet moments when characters bonded and guilt-factor moments when making enemies. * Beautiful art - I could only ask for even MORE shown of Vitalia. There is a character who experiences a lot that is described in text and left to the imagination rather than shown. Any issues? Not exactly. I did notice "information" spelled incorrectly one time, but didn't notice any other typos and certainly no bugs. Unlike other VNs I'm used to playing, the user interface was quite streamlined, e.g. there was no obvious "skip" button (useful during replays) << not really a complaint either, it just took me a moment to work out Ctrl was the button I needed :) Recommended to both seasoned players of VNs and newbies.

Disclaimer: I've only finished book one of three so far. So this is a cool visual novel, unsurprisingly about VR and the nature of reality. It definitely has strong .hack vibes, but it has its own spin on the VR angle and explores some interesting themes, like the allure of escapism for people whose lives might not be all that great. The plot is a little slow to start off with, but once it builds steam, it's good at maintaining a sense of tension and intrigue. The characters are also interesting, especially the protagonist, who struggles with social anxiety that's written in a believable and relatable way. As for presentation, I'm impressed by the attention to detail. It seems like there's no narration of actions, but the graphics and sound effects do such a good job of conveying what's going on that it took me a while to notice. There are tons of CGs and little animations that add a lot of polish. There are also a ton of character sprites that are very expressive, and the environments are colorful and imaginative. I also think the electronic soundtrack does a good job of setting a sci-fi mood. The game works well and seems bug-free. There are a few features I liked, like seeing the protagonist's thoughts when you hover over choices and seeing how common your choices were and what the impact of them is at the end of a chapter. Overall, I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who's interested in character-driven fiction and virtual reality.

What I thought would be a simple and fun story-driven game became so much more. Absolutely in love with all the themes it represents and variety/impact of all choices made!

DISCLAIMER: As of right now I haven't seen all possible epilogues, but this could still be kinda spoilery. Also I kinda know the devs so yay for bias. --- If there's one thing </reality> is good at, it's making us question things. Is life actually real? Just what are we? Do I want a Penta for myself? I don't know about the first two questions, but the third's answer is a big yes. The art is very beautiful. With varied characters and breathtaking backgrounds, it makes me wish real life was as beautiful. The way each protag is depicted next to the text box is a feature I wish more VNs had, since it lets us actually see the protag's emotions in his expressions, instead of inferring from the dialogue. The story is really good, even if it's a bit on the short side. Both protagonists help bring different perspectives into view, while still leaving space for character development between both protags and other characters. My only problem with it, to be honest, is that it was unvoiced. Although I understand it, my first experience was during a Let's Read with other people, and so their voices got stuck with me for each character. But the lack of voice acting didn't affect at all how much I enjoyed the parts we hadn't read before. After one run through it, I have it at 7.5, and I have high hopes that as I unlock more endings, it'll only go higher.

It's a neat short VN with various outcomes. While there are 3 main characters you can only make decisions and see from the prespective of 2 characters. A nice feature of each choice that there is an explanation on what your choice entails to make sure you know how you're actually answering like "Lie" equals "I might have to lie to them in order to make this work." so there's less room for error in interperting what choices mean. Honestly I was kind of disappointed to know the VR aspect wasn't as realistic as I thought but it was still a cool story even if it is overly outlandish. It was nice to have a possible BxB epilouge :3

I really wish steam had a "meh" rating. The story just isn't very compelling, with lots of un-necessary dialog. Sort of like they had a goal for "number of words" or something. The only big problem is the super-whiny main character. Some people like MC's that are indecisive, passive agressive, and whiny though. That sounds like sarchasim, but it's my sincere opinion. I've encountered LOTS of this type of main character in books and visual novels :). I do hope the author(s) tries again though.

Приятная визуальная новелла на два-три часа. Неплохо написана, неплохо нарисована. Иногда грешит наличием надоедающей музыки на заднем плане, но это не слишком заметно. Обладает, по моим меркам, большим объёмом анимации, чем среднестатистические представители жанра. Я лично не часто встречал анимацию (возможно, это вообще видео) в играх на движке Ren'Py.

Disclaimer: I'm only half way through Book 2 At the time of writing this. ---- This visual novel is particularly enjoyable, and I am delighted by how well it is programmed. For a Ren'Py game the coding is remarkably solid. I've spoken with the developers before and can tell that they really put a lot of thought and care into this game. As a fellow developer I can really appreciate their efforts. The story is solid and the programming is well done. I relate to both of the main characters. The art isn't cookiecutter standard anime, so it's a fresh change. This is the only media I've encountered that has filled the .hack-shaped hole in my hear, which has been empty for many years. I've bought copies for all of my friends who are into .hack, Sword Art Online, Overlord, and Log Horizon.

First of all, I just wanted to say that the title is so amazing and unique and I spent a lot of time just admiring how clever it is. To be honest, I never really finished the demo. Even though I found the premise interesting, everything just seemed to be advancing so slowly. I thought Book 1 did a good job of picking up the pace though and introducing the characters, though I have to admit that I spent the majority of time getting frusterated at Ben for his actions, probably because I ended up developing a huge bias for Jacob. Speaking of the characters, I really enjoyed how Lilya grew over time and thought that her dynamic with Ben and Jacob was really interesting. How they all liked Vitalia, but due to their different backgrounds and the varying amount of human support they each had, they acted in different ways. I thought that was very well written. I ended up liking all three of the main characters (to varying degrees) and want them to be friends, though sadly I keep trying and failing to get those achievements. Books 2 and 3 were mainly about the plot and I thought that the plot twists were written and paced well. It kept you engaged and wasn't very repetitive either. I really liked the choice mechanic system of the game where sometimes just one choice could completely change the ending. I also really appreciated seeing how many people chose the same choices as I did and thought that that was a really cool thing to include. I ended up enjoying the game more than I thought I would. There are still a couple of loose ends that I'm not sure if they're answered in other endings, so maybe I'll go back and try to get everything. But overall, it was great writing and a cool story and I'd recommend it. Keep up the good work! :) (Also Lilya's family is the real MVP)