Gamplay: 4/5 the movement system is so pretty unique afaik so it has a slight learning curve, but once you get it your only limited by the transition speed and engine limitations. The NG+ in the game is well done, however, it does force you to go through hours of content over and over that even with skip is unbearable.
I used a cheat tool about 3 hours in since some plot lines can take in game months, real time hours to slog through the first time if you are reading the dialogue. Highly recommend doing one blind playthrough to learn the game and after that use the Time Freeze Mod + wiki to make it more bearable.
Story: 6/5, No special powers, dark undertones, no grammatical errors that I saw. Includes NTR for those into that, all avoidable in the patch I played with liberal wiki usage. With such a huge roster of characters each one remains feeling unique in their own way. Highly recommend avoiding skip usage since the dialogue is also voiced usually, making each character feel even more unique.
Art: 3/5, when the art is good, it's
really good. When it's bad, it's goes from mediocre to straight up terrible. Excluding the grind, this is the biggest flaw so far, a lack of consistency that will have you forgetting which character is which. Some scene opportunities were also missed, but I can't fault the developer for this.
Overall: A great game being bumped down to good by inconsistent art, a lackluster time skip function (corrected by mods) and an ungodly amount of wiki usage to the point I was playing wiki simulator more than the game itself.
TIPS:
- The game is extremely well paced once you get a decent stat build up, if like me you hate overly excessive grind to reach the well paced parts, Time Freeze Mod, makes everything much easier and includes a UI Cheat.
- Use and abuse the wiki to ensure you are on the path you want and that you get the best starting skills.
- Don't Cassidy Route/Office Route last, it is one of the longest routes and if done last you will have nothing to do for a long while.
- The hypnotize skill is not in the wiki and only has a few mentions in forum search, it's super useful to develop certain characters Dom/Sub/Gender stats quickly. Maybe NG+ exclusive but I located it in the bookstore on my first NG+ loop.
Version: 23.7.0c