The Good People (Na Daoine Maithe)

I'm really loving this game so far! It feels like there is an immense amount of care put into the whole product. The plot and the characters are engaging and interesting, and the whole artistic style is very beautiful. I'm excited to see where the whole story goes when the game eventually comes out fully!

Went in for the lore, came out absolutely smitten with Maeve. 1000 out of 10.

This game is an ABSOLUTE GEM that comes straight from the heart. You feel the team’s passion throughout the (available) novellas - all powerful choice driven stories that allow you to develop and represent yourself, explore Celtic mythology, and understand the culture and everyday lives of Irish folks who lived through different times. The Good People has a brilliant UI that makes Irish language easy and accessible with one click translations, definitions, and audio examples available as you read and separately in the index. All (available) paths are wonderfully complex and romantic as hell. They intertwine and intersect, meaning that you’ll want to play them all just to understand the world more deeply. Ultimately I recommend The Good People (Na Daoine Maithe) regardless of your interest in mythology/Ireland as it is a damn good read with awesome visual components and music. EARLY ACCESS I know a lot of folks worry about getting a game in early access, but getting it now is not a drawback (imo) with a solid user experience and accessible content, clear communication from the developers, and a history of consistent updates. AUTISM/ADHD Disclaimer I only speak for myself, not all neurodivergent people!! As someone of Irish descent, I was apprehensive about a ‘fae’ theme because of how often those cultural elements have been used to other or harm nd people specifically. Growing up I heard all sorts of wild stuff, and I’m happy to say that this game was a breath of fresh air. Honestly, it moved me to see how magical and freeing our Irish mythology can be. I have great respect for the care and honour this team has for our culture without perpetuating stereotypes. I’d give it a rec for nd peeps worried about the content.

I love love the game so far, very excited to explore all of the choices!

I loved this game ever since I played the demo a year ago. You can really tell how much love was poured into this game, and I love seeing every bit of it. The UI is beautiful, the character designs, their personalities, the art, the world building, and storytelling are all incredible. I also really love that they added a glossary; it's not only helpful, but also another example of how much love the developers have for the game. I can't wait to see how the story develops, and I truly wish this game and the devs get all the support and recognition they deserve <3

While not complete yet, what's there (most of the intro and the first half of Shae and Maeve's stories) is quite enjoyable. It's about 4½ hours worth of material so far, and introduces you to the main characters. I personally really liked Maeve's story so far, great twist. The artwork is wonderful, sound and music are pretty well done as well. Not all lines are voiced, but the ones that are voiced are really well done. I like all the voice actors that I've dealt with so far. A fair bit of the dialogue uses the Irish language (I'm unsure which particular dialect), you can mouse or D-pad navigate over the word or phrase to see the meaning. If you click on it, you will bring up an a pronunciation guide with the word or phrase voiced. I really like this aspect! I played on the SteamDeck, and it ran perfectly. That said there was a bit of controller jank that I would love to see improved in a future update. The default highlight color is hard to differentiate from the background, it can be changed but it's not super easy to do so (you need to enter a hex code, there's no selector) and some accessibility options to make it easier to read on a small screen are disabled. If I select a Gaelic phrase to see the pronunciation guide or listen to it spoken, I could go back to the dialogue but was unable to controller-navigate to progress the dialogue. I had to use the touchscreen for this which I don't particularly like doing (I have an early model LCD SteamDeck with very poor touchscreen controls). Finally, it's sometimes a little hard to know how to navigate between various clickable objects with the controller (especially the options screen and the book screen). If you are using mouse inputs, you'll probably have no issue, but the SteamDeck is my preferred platform for playing visual novels and good controller support is very important to me. Overall though, aside from some technical limitations (which may be due to early access), I really enjoy the story and am really looking forward to the continuation of those paths, along with the other paths that are not present yet.

super excited for this game! everything is very well written and the devs are clearly very caring and engaged so i'm not at all worried even though it's early access. i love the story and characters so far, and there's a high level of customization when it comes to your experience as well. the fun easter eggs and puzzles are great, and i feel like its really turning out to be an innovative take on visual novels. the representation is also a huge bonus.

I backed this game on Kickstarter and you can find my name in the credits as a beta tester :D I'm always a sucker for good writing and this game has that in spades. Mystery, intrigue, and love, occasionally. Having a platonic route option is so good, probably one of my favorite parts about this dating sim. I am actually married to one thing and one thing only and that is the plot -- but I can kiss Keagan on the side if he's okay with it <3 The choice leave such a lasting impact, it's not just a response to dialogue or character interaction but a real way of shaping your own experience of the narrative. There are so many scenes in the prologue/demo that I didn't get to see the first time because I didn't go down a specific set of choices. This game thrives on multiple playthroughs, which is why you'll find so many varied play times in the review section. There's also a lot of silliness outside of the writing, which I try to dig for instead of playing through the routes like I'm supposed to. I am currently in about a thousand horse coin of debt and I've never been happier. Unlock horse mode. It will not disappoint you.

The storylines are captivating, the writing is eloquent, and the characters are intriguing! I can’t think of a single bad thing to say, and I’m excited for more!! 😊

The storyline is compelling and the characters are delightful. I am a very big fan of Celtic fairies and this game is so much what I want it to be. The only bad thing is waiting for the updates lol.