[i]Snips & Snails[/i] is an otome visual novel developed and published by Lacydigital. You take on the role of Lacy Snailes (whose name is customizable - otherwise, the game takes on the default, Lacy), a university student who runs an Arcane magic shop with her dad. The Arcane are supernatural beings, such as werewolves and vampires, and until the Reveal Act was passed, the Arcane had to hide in secrecy. However, now they are free to be out in public without being feared from humans. After Lacy has her dream/nightmare about her mom, who passed away years ago, Lacy goes to her classes as usual. As she's in the library in the afternoon, a student in her math class, Sullivan, approaches her, with the excuse of returning her notebook that she lost. He wants her to tutor him in the class, and Lacy agrees, despite her insistence that she isn't great at the subject. Once she arrives at Sullivan's house, Lacy meets Sullivan's two brothers as well as their ghost friend. As Lacy is encouraged to be more social by her dad and Arabella, her best friend, Lacy figures that this is a good opportunity to become friends with the guys and perhaps, even romance may blossom. I'll end my story synopsis here to avoid spoilers and all that.
As for the gameplay, there are multiple choices presented throughout the story. The choices in the prologue will determine whose route you go on: Yuuto (the incubus), Quinn (the vampire), Sullivan (the caster), or Eryck (the ghost). Once you're on a route, then you'll go through chapters one through five. The choices you make determine whether you get the romance, happy ending plus the epilogue or the friendship/sad ending. In addition, there are bonus stories for all four guys that can be accessed as free DLC. There are Steam achievements although at the time of this review, they won't count towards a user's global total until the game is out of "profile features limited". Also, there are a few CGs (mainly, of Lacy kissing the guys) although no CG gallery. (Well, there are only four CGs in total, so that is understandable.) There are a few tracks although no voice acting.
Now that I've gone over the story and gameplay, I'll move onto my critique. [i]Snips & Snails[/i] is the developer's first commercial visual novel (I think), and as the store page described the presence of magic (which I always find to be interesting), I wanted the opportunity to try out this game. First, I enjoyed the story. It starts off a bit slow as we're introduced to Lacy and the four love interests. However, once you're on the chapters themselves, the pace starts to pick up. The love interests vary in personality, such as the hot-tempered Yuuto (who only seems that way initially because he and Lacy had a bad first encounter) to the mysterious Eryck (whose past is unknown). I like how Lacy interacts with the characters and how even once you're on a path, Lacy still interacts with the other characters. Back to the story itself, I enjoyed a certain part where [spoiler]Lacy's Magicka powers (because her mom had such powers, there was a chance that Lacy could, too) awaken and how, depending on which route Lacy was on, she would have a specific power[/spoiler]. Also, as this visual novel is labeled as "adult only", there is 18+ content. It's mostly confined to optional [spoiler]described consensual sex between Lacy and the guy she chooses[/spoiler] although this can be skipped. While I found some routes to be on the sweeter, slower side (such as Quinn's), others were more exciting (such as Sullivan's). Again, it depends on what happens at a specific point in the story.
As for the writing, I felt that it had some pacing issues. For example, an event would happen and then either, it would be the next day or a couple of weeks after. It's not too big of a deal, though, since the story would go a little too slowly if it were to detail day-by-day. Also, I didn't notice any typos although it could have used some commas in certain places. (This might be the editor/proofreader in me being a little nitpicky, but it doesn't distract from enjoying the story itself.)
As for the gameplay, I encountered a couple of issues. First, in regards to getting the romance ending for the guys, despite that I would follow a walkthrough for getting it and I would get that ending in-game, the corresponding Steam achievement wouldn't unlock. However, if I followed the walkthrough but simply went with alternative options for the last two or three choices (for the most part), I would then get that ending. I don't know if this is a problem exclusive to me since I haven't heard about anyone else encountering this, but I thought I should mention it. Also, when I played Eryck's bonus story, I encountered a Ren'Py exception error issue. However, I simply clicked on the "Ignore" button and then I could continue to play the story. It's a minor thing, but again, I thought I should mention it.
As for the art, I liked the design of the sprites. They're well done, and I liked the use of colors. The backgrounds are pretty basic, but they fit well with the story's location. As for the CGs, they are beautiful. I like looking at kissing CGs and only wish I had taken those screenshots. However, they're very sweet and they show how close Lacy becomes to her guy.
Finally, as for the soundtrack, there are only a few tracks, so there's not a lot of variety. However, there wasn't a point where the music suddenly stopped. (Some visual novels have that issue, so it's good that this one didn't.) I wish there had been one or two more tracks, but for the developer's first visual novel, I feel that the tracks present were sufficient and placed well with the mood of the story.
Would I recommend [i]Snips & Snails[/i]? For the developer's first commercial visual novel, I feel that it is well done, overall. It could use a bit of fixing with the above issues that I mentioned, but otherwise, I enjoyed the story a lot. The romances were wonderful and sweet, and I just have to say this. I'm glad I saved Eryck's route for last because his route has the most emotional feels. XD For the asking price, I'd say it's worth getting, as it took me over 8 hours to 100% complete the game. (That's with using the skip feature and playing through the epilogues and side stories.) Of course, you can wait to get it on a sale. Finally, I want to thank the developer for this review copy and hope to have the opportunity to play future visual novels from them. ^^
[quote]Flying free and writing reviews solely for [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44702020/]The Introverted Gamer[/url].[/quote]
