I bought a lot of visual novels back when I was trying to convince myself I enjoyed them- despite not ever really playing them (and certainly not playing any of the ones I bought). This one is especially baffling to me as a person who typically has no interest in dating boys. Thankfully the premise is actually quite interesting- a fact I did not know when I purchased it.
Protagonist-Chan unintentionally gets possessed by a wandering fairy called Orion, who accidentally knocks all the memories out of her brain and has to help her piece her life back together. To do so, she must date one of five horrendous fashion disasters and figure out where exactly in her life they fit.
The decision is made before you’ve met any of them, simply by choosing one of the suits from a deck of cards at the start of the game. By choosing Spades, I ended up with narcissistic playboy Ikki, who (in the hour I’ve spent with him) has primarily flirted with 5 other girls and told me he has magical eyes that make girls swoon for him- every girl except me, which he enjoys as a challenge.
Yeah. Bell-end.
The amnesia angle is played well, although unfortunately Orion needs to comment on every single action I or another person takes in reference to it. Hearing his theories on what exactly it means when Ikki says he walks me home from work drags. Protag-chan is silent so all of her thoughts are communicated via Orion and honestly I could happily do without him. The game would also be 80% shorter without his constant theorycrafting about my life- stuff which as the player I’m already going to be thinking about.
Fin or Bin:
Argh. I’m sort of invested by now, but I’ve looked into how long the game is and each story takes about 6-8 hours. I feel like there’s got to be a lot of hooks and stuff to come so if I’m gonna bail out I should do it now rather than later. I genuinely can’t decide if I should bin it or just finish Ikki’s story and call it done there. So I’m turning it over to you guys! Fin or Bin?
Edit:
Having slept on it, I’m now less invested than I was in the moment. midgi also had a good point about playing games I actively enjoy is a better use of my time, so I’m now feeling comfortable enough to Bin this one.