With Eyes of Ice

PSA: First time meeting Steina may cause weak knees. Originally I said this was a lovely VN, but I'm amending this to "well written dark VN by ebi-hime" instead. As someone with cPTSD, I really connected with Steina. Flawless execution of covering some dark stuff, just make sure you do some self care after this one.

A masterfully written tragedy. From the first moments, the tension builds and builds, and you can see the crash coming but struggle to look away, until it all spills over in one horrible climax. My only specific criticism would be that the age gap in relationship with the doctor is a bit wide, but it is explained in a way that makes sense for it to exist; also, Greta's fascination with him makes sense for her age and even moreso in the time period in which the story takes place. Also, the soundtrack does feel a bit limited, and is frequently used even when the tone of a song doesn't exactly match the tone of a scene, it just happens to be the best fit from the small soundtrack. I would have preferred to just let the scenes breathe without music in those instances. However, those complaints I have really are minor in the grand scheme of things. I would like to say many more positive things about the story, but it's hard to do so without giving some of the excitement of reading it yourself away. Overall, With Eyes of Ice is a great visual novel, and the best work I've experienced from ebihime thus far (although, sample size of 2). 8/10

Local girl moves in with married guy she obviously has feelings for. Everything goes well.

Ebi-hime is one of the most riveting writers I've ever had the pleasure to read. Her stories always, without fail, either make me smile, despair, or think, and "With Eyes of Ice" had me doing all three. [spoiler] Though mostly I was staring aghast at the screen and feeling Greta's fear of Steina...and absolutely mourning for Kai, who deserved none of this [/spoiler] I can't say much for the gameplay--it's a linear VN. I do think it could have benefited from choices and routes [spoiler] where maybe you could avoid the grim ending [/spoiler] but I think such a thing would be better as a separate release, an alternate version of the story. I wanted more, but I'm happy with what I got. Still...I wish there had been more to the final scene. [spoiler] An after-credits scene would have been exquisite. But there is something called "Fragments" that unlocks after completing the story, so I'll have to see what that's all about. [/spoiler] I own every one of Ebi's Steam releases, and each game is usually better than the last. I look forward to the rest of the year's releases, and any that may catch me by surprise. Keep up the fantastic work, Ebi-hime!

With Eyes Of Ice is a superbly well-written visual novel set in 19th Century Iceland. It focuses on the life of Greta and cleverly incorporates her interactions with a host of characters; Grandma Ragna, Petur, Nataniel, Steina and Kai as well as cameo appearances of several additional and important characters. As mentioned, the story is brilliantly written, though it can get rather brutal and even upsetting at times - a reflection of the author's key theme, pointing out that life is by no means all wine and roses. The UI, artwork and music are excellent, though may I place special emphasis on the music - beautiful, aptly-selected pieces. Assuming the reader can handle some nasty developments, I highly recommend this VN as a great read.

Greta and Steina are cute. [spoiler]I can't believe I was bamboozled into thinking ebi wouldn't bully her characters in this one though.[/spoiler]

An interesting story with complex characters, which goes in a number of unexpected directions and deals with uncommon themes. It was a bit slow in places, and I sometimes wish the emphasis was shifted more towards our main trio but overall I would recommend giving this VN a try to anyone interested in the premise. ---vague spoilers beyond this point--- Greta is a character who is very different from me as a person, and after a certain point in the narrative I found myself getting almost annoyed with her passivity and the way she reacted to things, especially to Steina. Steina was the more relatable character, and it felt more like she was the protagonist. I found myself infuriated with her, but more infuriated with the people around her. I could understand her feelings because in my worst moments I have felt some of them. If either Greta or Nataniel had called Steina out, had just treated her like a human being instead of tiptoeing around her like she was simultaneously fragile and infectious then I believe things would never have gone the way they did. If this game had choices I would have loved to see an ending where Greta actually talks to Steina, sharing her kind thoughts but also her frustrated thoughts, where the two may have actually been able to bond. Maybe that is wishful thinking. Because Nataniel and Greta were so similar, both of them were the exact opposite of what Steina needed. Justice for Steina!!!!!!

This is my first time playing a kinetic visual novel. The main reason I love playing visual novels is due to having the choice to control the story and seeing the different branches of how the story could turn out but this has none of that nor any gameplay of any sort and so I picked this up out of curiosity Music: was ok but its was really repetitive to the point I had to lower the BGM volume as it got annoying at some point since the same bgm would be replayed for a majority of the game. Art: was decent, I liked how many CGs we got. Some of the backgrounds were gifs/slighlty animated (like the snow for example) but they ended up being glitchy so was not a fan. Characters: I dont think any of these characters are strictly black or white they all had their likeable and unlikeable aspects at the same time (with the exception of Kai who is an absolue cinammon roll!) Even the 'villain' of this story in my opinion is just a victim and while I sympathised with her I also did not approve of her actions. Story/plot: I liked the story setting and it taking place in Iceland. I ended up learning all sorts of stuff such as badstofas, skyr, carroway herbs and so on which I ending up googling since I was unfamilar with them (its a shame there was no glossary in the game as most visual novels do). The actual plot was also well written so even with no gameplay actually involved, I wasnt bored. When the climax of the story hit, I was clutching my pearls in shock. I was shook at the turn of events this story took. [spoiler] idk if this counts as a spoiler but I'm sad there was no romance in the game [/spoiler] I just really wish this turned into non-linear game so I could choose to end up with best boi Kai :( [spoiler] I was devastated how dirty they did him, my boy did not deserve to die like that :( I just want him to have a happy ending ugh [/spoiler] Overall I'd rate this a 6/10 I do recommend playing this if you dont mind some slighlty dark themes.

The author’s sympathy for Steina resonates deeply, as the story is rich enough to be viewed from various perspectives. Although this vn contrasts light with darkness, the nuance of other shades is palpable, truly revealing the full depth of the plot