I know I'm in the minority, and I'll probably get roasted for it, but I really did not enjoy this. The protagonist is an annoying loser; it's one thing to have a few character flaws, but he goes way beyond that. I wanted to smack him every time he did that stupid voice and laugh (which is about every other sentence). His pack of weirdo friends isn't much better, just a collection of shallow archetypes. The story itself is quite boring, I actually fell asleep a few times while reading it. And right when it finally looked like it was going somewhere interesting, it swerved hard into super-depressing and then simply ended - no resolution to any of the major threads, just "maybe things will work out." Suzuha's ending, btw

On the plus side, I did like the "Tips" thing (which would be better labeled a glossary), especially all the various bits of Japanese culture. And it was kinda fun listening for the handful of Japanese words I learned in karate class as they're used in normal conversation.

I do intend to give it another go eventually, and I'll update this review if I can find a better route. But after one pass I can't recommend it. Go read Fate/Stay Night instead.

Review part 2:

So here's my update after playing the other endings. That first non-ending is roughly the midpoint of the story. Still bugs me that it's the worst ending and also the default - in other games the default ending is generally ok, and it takes some work to get a really bad one. Anyway, I made it to four of the endings on my own; it's pretty obvious how to do that once you see the pattern. But to get the True Ending (and one other that's closely related) you'll most likely need a walkthrough, since you have to make very specific choices in a dozen or so places going back all the way to chapter 4.

Regarding the other endings, it kinda reminds me of high school English class - every one of them, except the True Ending, is somewhere between bittersweet and downright tragic. At least they're handled better than the first one and have some sort of conclusion, even if it's not a happy one.

The story itself gets better in the second half, but it's still kinda meh. As far as time-travel stories go, I've seen better. The protagonist mostly drops the annoying mad scientist bit after a while, but he's still an idiot. There's so much foreshadowing that's about as subtle as an anvil on the head like the CRT, or Suzuha's nature, or the time machine on the Beta worldline but no one in the story seems to pick up on what should be obvious. It's like, even though they've accidentally invented an actual time machine, they're completely ignorant of the most basic time-travel concepts. It's irritating enough to break suspension of disbelief. There are a few genuinely surprising twists, though. (And certain people might appreciate that Beta comes before Alpha... ;) )

In the end, I'll swap my grade to a reluctant thumbs-up. I won't give it gushing praise, but it's decent enough if you like sad stories about clueless teenagers or don't mind using a guide to see the one good ending.

I know I'm in the minority, and I'll probably get roasted for it, but I really did not enjoy this. The protagonist is an annoying loser; it's one thing to have a few character flaws, but he goes way beyond that. I wanted to smack him every time he did that stupid voice and laugh (which is about every other sentence). His pack of weirdo friends isn't much better, just a collection of shallow archetypes. The story itself is quite boring, I actually fell asleep a few times while reading it. And right when it finally looked like it was going somewhere interesting, it swerved hard into super-depressing and then simply ended - no resolution to any of the major threads, just "maybe things will work out." [spoiler]Suzuha's ending, btw[/spoiler] On the plus side, I did like the "Tips" thing (which would be better labeled a glossary), especially all the various bits of Japanese culture. And it was kinda fun listening for the handful of Japanese words I learned in karate class as they're used in normal conversation. I do intend to give it another go eventually, and I'll update this review if I can find a better route. But after one pass I can't recommend it. Go read Fate/Stay Night instead. Review part 2: So here's my update after playing the other endings. That first non-ending is roughly the midpoint of the story. Still bugs me that it's the worst ending and also the default - in other games the default ending is generally ok, and it takes some work to get a really bad one. Anyway, I made it to four of the endings on my own; it's pretty obvious how to do that once you see the pattern. But to get the True Ending (and one other that's closely related) you'll most likely need a walkthrough, since you have to make very specific choices in a dozen or so places going back all the way to chapter 4. Regarding the other endings, it kinda reminds me of high school English class - every one of them, except the True Ending, is somewhere between bittersweet and downright tragic. At least they're handled better than the first one and have some sort of conclusion, even if it's not a happy one. The story itself gets better in the second half, but it's still kinda meh. As far as time-travel stories go, I've seen better. The protagonist mostly drops the annoying mad scientist bit after a while, but he's still an idiot. There's so much foreshadowing that's about as subtle as an anvil on the head [spoiler]like the CRT, or Suzuha's nature, or the time machine on the Beta worldline[/spoiler] but no one in the story seems to pick up on what should be obvious. It's like, even though they've accidentally invented an actual time machine, they're completely ignorant of the most basic time-travel concepts. It's irritating enough to break suspension of disbelief. There are a few genuinely surprising twists, though. (And certain people might appreciate that Beta comes before Alpha... ;) ) In the end, I'll swap my grade to a reluctant thumbs-up. I won't give it gushing praise, but it's decent enough if you like sad stories about clueless teenagers or don't mind using a guide to see the one good ending.