So, I thought I'd post a little something of myself, albeit a bit later than intended, about what's becoming the most interesting topic of the week (or even the month). To be honest, it was my very first time experiencing that type of.. entertainment (I can't bring myself to call it a game). It caught my eye and I decided to download it on Friday 8/5.
The first thing that comes to mind is that it can really hook up the user (reader? player?). I spent about 2-3 hours during the first night, trying to get accustomed at the very begining and because I just couldn't stop after that. It really keeps the interest at peak, even though the main event seems to take place in the start (the hero's situation). Still, I couldn't find more than 2 or 3 times I might thought of it being a little bit boring (basicaly, when the hero was pondering his issues alone or describing places).
The characters are very well built and have their distinctive personalities nicely revealed little by little and according to your choices. The story's smoothly progressing, even if it's just a demo. I'd also like to point out at the dialogs. Being, of course, the basic axis of the "game", they had to be very attended. And at that the designers have done, in my opinion, an amazing job. They are all really lively, informative without becoming a boring list of data to assimilate, with the occassional "lol, wth" moment.
My personal favourite character would be Hanako (surprise, surprise). And from what I read on the posts above I'm not the only one. However, what's more interesting, would be to try and find out why is that. As Zathael mentioned in the 4th page of the thread, shortly describing each girl,
Zathael wrote...
I have to say that Hanako is the most interesting of the bunch to me, because she is so shy and self conscious about her scars, you can't help but want to try and convince her how *cute* she can be and to get her to come out of her shell, even if it is only a little bit at a time. Shizune and Misha were fun to hang out with at first, but Shizune seems to be pushing the "I am the strict disciplinarian!" theme too much. Lilly is obviously a blond beauty, but because of her prim and proper attitude, seems sort of "out of my league". Emi has lots of energy, and seems to not only accept her disability but actually considers it an *advantage* when running track, but you don't see her much because she is *always* running at the track. As for Rin, she is rather... interesting. She sometimes doesn't seem to be dealing with the same version of reality as everyone else. Plus, in my opinion, she is the one with the biggest handicap.
The question that strikes me is why people would pick her. Is it purely because of her appearance (tall, with long dark hair [which I personaly adore])? Maybe because of her character (what's best than have her open herself only to you, see a part of her not known to anyone)? Or, perhaps, that her disability is less pronounced that, let's say, Rin's or Emi's, and more "tolerable"?
The only negative aspect I could possibly find is that it seems somewhat away from reality. Truly, people with disabilities that have, over time, found a way to come around them and even feel positive towards their life is not unseen of. But it takes a lot of mental effort, a naturaly positive character and the passage of a certain amount of time. Having so many in a single place and, moreover, at such young age, might not be possible, more like an utopia. Then again, if it subconsiously wants to make the users create a better view towards such people, I suppose the overly optimistic environment would be justified.
To sum it up, if all programs of the same genre are that interesting and carefuly done, I'm really sorry that I've been missing the fun. Or, if it's a small part of exceptions, I'm glad my first was this one. If you're still thinking about downloading and trying it out then I vote you go for it.
Can't wait till the full version is released.