For some reason every time I tried to submit my review I get an error. The error says the admins know about it already but since I don't really care about my makerscore I guess I can just post the review here.

Summary: Great CGs, character designs and some impressive technical achievements haunted by a horribly-told story and some other small problems.

Score: 2.5

I'll start by saying that I love escape stories. I've played so many of those Flash room escape games and read so many manga with an escape premise and I can never seem to get enough.

Following the standard amnesiac awakening in a dark room opening we get a glimpse of the good and the bad in the very first room. It contains standard exploration puzzles, item use and a smart puzzle. Not difficult by any means but not exactly a-bear-could-do-it levels of easy. It's a puzzle that sets the bar for what the player can expect from the game. Unlimited retries, check the clues whenever you like and save anytime. Also the custom sprites for the characters are nice even if their not aligned perfectly to the flashlight beam.

Walking around I noticed that the walking sound still plays if you're pressing a direction into an object but the character isn't moving. He's not even stepping in place but you hear footsteps. Also the RTP has much better sounds for locked doors. The one used is clearly for a door closing.

The next problem came in the hall. The RM standard of holding SHIFT to run is there, which is greatly appreciated because nobody likes to walk if they can run. However it's also used to skip text. What happens sometimes is that you're running along and a cutscene starts but because you were holding SHIFT it skipped a chunk of the dialogue.

Also of note is that the character designs are very good with really good art. Aria's design is right up my alley (my favourite hair/eye combination). There are lots of pretty CGs and a gallery you unlock as you progress and see more of the game's illustrations. You'll need all three endings to complete your gallery. The only problem with the art is that mugshots sometimes show a more severe emotion than the dialogue seems to intend. This is less due to a lack of face art and more due to poor art selection for the dialogue given, as you sometimes see a more fitting mugshot elsewhere.

The 2nd puzzle is also good and it's randomly generated but still easily manageable.

The other puzzles are nonograms and this was my first time encountering such a thing. I really kind of like them. And you'll be seeing them several times here. Also of note is that they're very impressive examples of RPGmaker eventing. That must've been a fair chunk of work to set up. I can tell right now that if I wouldn't have gotten it correct on the first try.

I did have a problem with how the rules for the nonogram are given but the dev says he'll fix that so bonus point given. Of course if you're already familiar with nonograms this wouldn't even be an issue for you.

I got two out of three endings. They don't seem to be named so I'll just call them "Leon" and "Ouch". Due to revelations in these endings it can seem some of my further points are invalid but I record my thoughts on a game as I'm playing for when I make my reviews so although an ending may have made the problem moot, it was a problem at the time and would only be excused if I already had end-game knowledge, which nobody will.

The writing does have a fair bit of awkward sentences, typos, bad grammar, cut-off words and double letters or words peppered throughout. Not as bad as other games I've played lately but still bad enough to ruin the feel of a scene. For example in one of the endings a line concludes with "alway". The opening and ending are the worst places for such problems. Even if English isn't the dev's native language this is terribly lazy as there's many ways to get around it. Scripts, volunteer proofreaders, using a word processor in conjunction with Notepad... there's just no excuse nowadays.

But the terrible monster of language goes a lot deeper this time. It strikes at the creative level. There's no easy way to put this but the narrative is just outright bad. It's poorly thought out like the entirety of the dialogue was written in a single pass. Some apparent plot holes turn out to not be plot holes but only so once you know the ending. Up until then they're not mysteries, they're simply holes that make the player wonder why characters are doing certain things. It's the difference between intriguing and off-putting.

Another strange writing choice is to fill the entire line with "........." instead of just the usual "..."

That's not the only odd writing choice. Here's some more:
-Leon tries to evade suspicion by saying he stubbed his baby toe on the wall. Stubbing your baby toe on a wall is only remotely possible if you're barefoot and approaching the wall at a corner or from a really weird walking position.

-Game: "You can solve these puzzles whenever you like." Player: *tries to solve puzzle* Aria: "Now isn't the time!"
-At one point there's an earthquake and one of the characters says to rush for the stairs. In an actual earthquake NEVER DO THIS! YOU WILL DIE! Also a funny flub for that scene is that me standing by a desk makes loud footstep sounds but a bloody earthquake is completely silent.


Although there were puzzles asides from the two first ones and the nonograms they were either solved automatically or were very inconsequential, like a short maze primarily divided in two halves. There's also a fairly pointless one that requires menu selection and seems to be for character development except the dialogue therein isn't really engaging and the menu-based searching is unrewarding and annoying.

Then we get to the climax. I'll try to keep this short but it's hands-down the game's biggest problem. Up until here it was at least passable but the climax and endings force me to actively dissuade others from playing it.



What I really want to see come from this game is for the artist and whoever evented the puzzles to team up with a skilled writer and make a truly great game. "Now with a new ally, from the ashes rose a bird of shimmering gold" and all that.

There's a good fluke. I don't have the game anymore but I see I do still have the example screenshot I was going to attach to my review. I remember there being more but this was the example mentioned.



I always advocate writing all the game text into a word processor for first-pass error checking. Devs can also copy/paste lines into a notepad window with a guide at the top for however many characters your message window will hold on one line. It keeps over-run from happening because notepad defaults to plain text monospace. There are also scripts to do it (a Yanfly, for example).

Anyway, I'll be of next to no help now that I no longer have the game. Best wishes on future projects, guys. Keep at it.

I did a video walkthrough for the game on my youtube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIVbsvLfpGw
It includes all 3 endings.
It was my first time playing but the puzzles were easy enough since I played a lot of picross.
It certainly was an interesting story id give it a 2.5/5
The length is fine, the endings are easy to get. I dont like that you have to play through the game 3 times to unlock all CGs in the menu, since it overwrites your completion if you just load a save file and get another ending, so in the end you only keep the CGs for that ending.

I love the game so far ^^ I just have this puzzle where I solved it using a different method from your walk through but it didn't work. Here's what I did: C:\Users\julie\Downloads\IMG_0252 (2).JPG

Oh I see XD Oops thank you Ell1e here's the pic again:
http://imgur.com/CL5zUUG
I didn't know that, it's quite a shame though cause that puzzle was really enjoyable XD

I'm at the puzzle where you guess if the number is greater or less than. I don't get it no matter what I do. What is the best way to figure this out?