Story – 10/10
+ Amazing story, hooks you in fairly early. The characters are notable and Date is an extremely engaging protagonist.
+ Twists are done in a way where you can guess what happens, however do not detract from the experience as the twists are performed excellently.
+ Non-linear format for blind playthroughs, so every player will get a different experience on a first run.
+ Usage of the Uchikoshi gimmick was consistent throughout and well weaved into the story (Psyncing)
Visuals – 9/10
+ Visually appealing, the character models are great to look at and the settings and backgrounds fit the atmosphere. Specifically, the Psync settings set the tone and atmosphere extremely well for the story. Very nice to see Uchikoshi get some better models after Zero Time Dilemma.
Music – 9/10
+ Great motifs all around, good detective based ambience themes as well. kokkAI 2’s leitmotif hits like a truck at the right time, and everything adds up to sell the current mood of the game.
+ -kokkAI 2-, -tenkAI-, Absolute Isolation, Arcane Incantation, -monzAI- were my favorite tracks in this game.
Presentation – 9/10
+ The game itself is quite linear, but proceeds at a good rate. The most dull section is the beginning where it has to info dump a bit, but the game does a good job of reminding players of the circumstances that the characters are in if you miss anything.
– Psync puzzles are pretty troll though, they’re pretty hit or miss with the clues and puzzles in my opinion. The final Psync is pretty much unlike everything else in the game in terms of challenge, so I think most players wouldn’t be ready for it.
Final Score: 37/40
Silverae Notes
- Date is certainly one of the goated protagonists.
- Mizuki End is probably my favorite, really hammers down the idea of found family.
- Uchikoshi goating as usual.
- Themes of family are very prevalent in this game and executed well with all of the dynamics (Mizuki/birth family, Mizuki/Date, Ota and his family, Iris/Hitomi/Falco, So’s situation) and more importantly they all hit different parts of family dynamics.
Silverae 