The Way We All Go (2015)

Yes.

I enjoyed the story thoroughly. While the music seems generic (as some have noted on the OST posted on youtube), the game itself gave a good feeling for the songs so I enjoy those now that I've played this game, as well.

I'd probably personally prefer the ratio of creeping dread to slice of life to be balanced rather more towards the former, but the slice of life stuff does help you invest in the characters. It's been remade now, but I has a soft spot for the original.

This game is an absolute gem. There are a wide multitude of endings, many of which include some form of character death. I love when the stakes in a visual novel are high enough for death to be on the table for one or more characters. Not every ending is available at the start. You have to complete the earlier ones to gain access to the later ones. It's always fun to go back into a game for a new playthrough and see brand new branches that didn't exist before. It adds massive replayability. The characters are fantastic. They're introduced as standard stereotypes, but they're so much deeper than that. You learn so much about them and their upbringings through the various routes, making you want to go back in and complete all the routes so you can learn as much as you can. Definitely recommend!

Too much text and the story was kinda dumb. Though the game has its charm overall. I'm very split on this one, but I'm giving it a negative review, because it feels like it was made by someone who doesn't understand Japan at all.

relatable

this game lowkey fire, can't wait for the remaster

While there isn't much horror to this VN, with only a handful of the 21 endings leading to our MC's unfortunate demise. And for the most part the horror doesn't happen until the later part of those routes. But behind all that is a touching, and sometimes depressing, story about friendship with all the complicated feeling intertwined all stemming from a few miscommunications. There is quite a lot of padding and build up, but for me it didn't feel like it took away too much from the story. It kept me engaged throughout and had me immersed until the very end! Overall it was an enjoyable read and loved going trough all the endings, even if it destroyed my heart in the end!

Amazing, I have completed every ending and I love how each of them reveal more about these characters and the story. The story is amazing and I would 100% recommend, 10/10

First of all, special thanks to my girlfriend who gifted me this game <3 Now for the actual review. This visual novel explores heavy topics concerning anxiety, relationships and self-imagery. This visual novel seems to lean less in the horror aspect but more on the romance and slice of life aspect. The plot revolves around our main character, a twink rizzler named "Atcchan" who finds himself in various dilemmas revisiting the village he had to forcefully say goodbye to for a long time. His character all-throughout the game seems consistent and his traits are used decently to make up the story. His synergy and interactions with other characters such as Amu and Noelle stayed natural to his character. Quite frankly, I enjoyed his interactions with all of the characters. They were written consistently and were unique from one another. Though without spoiling anything, I like how Noelle was written as we explore each character's backstory. The exposition was supplementary and did not ruin the flow of the route you're going on. Another thing I would love to mention is how different things connect throughout different endings like a certain white rabbit. And as unavoidable as it is, the romance in this visual novel eviscerated my heart (I'm not too stoic to romance) like from all the time Atcchan is denser than a black hole. Finally, I would like to mention its art and music. Without a doubt a product of its time. But it gives it this homebrew feel. I have no problems with the art and the background but the music for when tense arguments that doesn't involve us happen... Yeah it's the old Skydoesminecraft intro... yikes... Anyways, this game is a great time to sink some hours in if you're looking for a laid back visual novel with hints of horror, portions of romance and a healthy dose of mental fudgery.