I should probably begin with a warning : visual novels, especially those of the RenPy persuasion, tend to be "novels" much more than "visual", and few are games in any sense except the broadest. This being said, it's far from being an uninteresting medium : the combination of timed text, music and some visuals can achieve great things in terms of atmosphere, and the occasional involvement of the reader in a choice can enhance his experience in interesting ways. After all, this is basically what cutscenes were made of before 3D became the norm, and there is no reason why it couldn't work on its own.

If you come to this game with the correct expectations, I can see no reason not to like it, except maybe the fact that it's unfinished. It isn't even too long (it didn't count but it took me something like an hour or more), so there's nothing to lose in trying it !

Writing 4.5/5

The writing is just right, in every possible respect. The style is perfectly suited to what we know of the main character, casual and not too literate, yet well-written enough to convey emotion and subtle meanings. The protagonist's thoughts are described in a very convincing way, and all the aspects of the medium are put to good use (including the pacing of the text, the way it is cut and so on).

Most importantly, the atmosphere is really, really well crafted. It sent shivers down my spine quite a few times, and the sense of being utterly lost and out of place was perfectly rendered. Thankfully, it alternates with much calmer moments and quite a lot of tongue-in-cheek or acerbic humour, so that the reader isn't kept too tense during the whole experience, which would be quite tiring ; both aspects are well balanced.

Music 4.5/5

The choice and use of music is also excellent. It is perfectly synchronized with the mood changes in the text, and it greatly helps convey them, especially the more ominous ones. I didn't feel like the music was becoming too repetitive, which is a risk when you have lots of text to read to the same tune, so I'll have to say the choice was very appropriate.

Visuals 3.5/5

I may be a bit rough with the score here : the visuals are quite nice and well used, although of course they act mostly in a supporting role so you shouldn't expect a kind of sequential comic book. It's only that I feel there's still room for much improvement on the author's part, who definitely shows a good potential, so I want to be able to raise this score accordingly when the complete version comes out.

Story 4/5

The story is promising, although I'm not too sure what to make of it at the end of the demo, since we're left with much uncertainty (a main plot point has been uncovered, though). I felt as though the atmosphere was central to the construction of the plot, yet I'm quite convinced that the author has something interesting to say and I'd really like to know where it is headed.

I would have given the story a score around 3 or 3.5 since we don't know much about it yet, but I have to give it a Renpy-specific bonus point because there were some branchings where, even though I didn't try the alternate path, I'm quite convinced the story must change in some interesting respect. Even if this isn't the case, the fact that it seems to be is a good testimony to the author's ability. There is even a simple, harmless Yes/No question which is made very ominous by some previous revelation, and I think that the ability to convey the weight or meaning of a plot point through the choices presented to the reader is one of the more interesting aspects of this specific medium.

Overall 4/5

Though I have some interest in the medium, I'm usually not that fond of RenPy visual novels, even those involving neither relationships nor ecchi. Mostly because they have to be really well written for me to bear reading huge amounts of text on a screen. Also, I just keep wondering what would have happened if I had made some other choice, yet I don't have the patience to explore every possible path, so they tend to be quite frustrating (unless there is so much choice, or the illusion thereof, that I just have to accept that I won't see everything).

Yet I found The World Is Made of Paper to be truly atmospheric and engrossing, and I would recommend it to anyone, even people who have never read a visual novel before. It might be my favourite visual novel for now (although I admit knowing only a handful of them), and I find it strange that it appears to have been completely overlooked here, even with the lack of local interest in the engine. I will be very pleased to see it completed !