The Last Birdling

8.5/10 This story presents cute characters with convincing portrayals, interesting relationships, and an appreciable use of lore within the setting to influence the plot (and the two main characters). It's only crime is that it's over so soon. Technical details: it's a VN. Nothing special going on in that department. Art is cute, music is nice. Gameplay - it's a VN. You get choices, not a whole lot (like 15-20), but they all feel meaningful--the characters will reference those choices in later sections, usually with reference to their own morality. There are 5 endings, with the necessary steps for each one laid out pretty clearly. Steam says I spent 4 hours in the game and I got all of the endings. Story: birdling is about a friendship between a human girl and a "birdling," basically a human with some bird-like attributes (such as wings, powerful bones, and more animalistic tastes (at one point she offers her human friend a spider to eat)). It's almost a coming-of-age story, set against the backdrop of their species' differences and the associated age-old enmities.Each girl has a clear personality that comes through in the way they act and think (the birdling's dialog tends to be more straightforward, while the human girl's is more flowery). Each has a mother, no father, and that relationship also plays a non-trivial part of the tale. There's an innocent beauty to the characters and their friendship that captured me immediately, such that I was emotionally invested all the way to the end. A number of events happen in the story that I was legitimately taken aback by, and the endings genuinely pulled at my heartstrings. On that note: while the story starts out cute, don't expect it to stay that way. The endings all hurt in some way or another. Coming off of muv-luv photonflowers, it'd be easy to scoff at the lack of scale and detail, but I enjoyed every minute of this story. It's definitely worth the asking price.

Well-written visual novel with a beautiful and heartbreaking story about two little girls becoming friends, but the big problem is that their species hate each other. The story and different endings ripped my heart out, i recommend.

The Last Birdling is the penultimate VN from InvertMouse (so far). A story of unlikely friendship sprouting despite perennial animosity overshadowing it. Does it sound intriguing, or just cliche? Let's check. To start with, I want to mention that I finished every VN from InvertMouse, except for Bermuda, but left this one as last even though the Vinty's adventure part 3 came out later. Equipped with that, I can tell tell you that in general you can expect either light comedy or full on drama from this creator. Well, we get a little bit of both here, but mostly the latter. I can more or less classify the story as utsuge, since no matter what choices you make, it ain't ending pretty. Still, don't let it hold you back from checking it as it is possibly the best work from this author (have to yet play Clea 1 & 2). You get two protagonists, two perspectives, passage of time, and interspecies conflict. All competently written, and with five possible outcomes. The outcomes which are easy to reach, since all choices you are presented with either increase the progression bars or not. The criteria for reaching particular ending are clearly explained so you won't waste time guessing which choice to make. A very nice addition indeed. I won't go into details of the relatively short story itself, as I hate spoilers, and stand by opinion that the fewer details you know the better the experience. All you need to know is that I enjoyed it and fully recommend. At this price it is hard to find better. Accompanying you is a decent anime art. Considering western standards, this one stands above average. Amount of details and variety of poses/emotions character sprites have is satisfactory. Additional effects like the intentional mosaics add to the charm of characters. Backgrounds are also pretty and come in several variants. No complaints here. Music is pleasant and fitting as well. Variety of tracks allow to highlight emotional moments pretty well. Nothing truly memorable but definitely good enough to buy and play separately. Good job here. No bugs encountered. To conclude, a decently written emotional story of unlikely friendship. Relatively short but several endings extend the experience nicely. Also, good art and OST. Possibly the best VN from this developer. Well done InvertMouse: 7.2/10

The story really touched, teared, ripped, bit and trampled my heart I love it Thank you for this piece InvertMouse

很好的故事

描写的细致是好事，但内容常常重复，渲染过度，略显罗嗦。