[Final Update: October 25, 2023]
I have now finished all the routes to the Best Ending (Passionate), having just read Yuu's route.
I enjoyed the final two routes very much (Reuben and Yuu), but to my surprise, I found Yuu's to be my favourite of the two. The only small quibble I had with Yuu's route (aside from being the end of Gilded Shadows (sniff)), was that it had less of a dramatic "learning backstory / connections to Earth Faerie lore / tying up loose ends" feel than I would have liked for the final chapter in this wonderful visual novel / otome game. The route feels more like it belongs with the main Endgame routes, even though we do get to find out more about the reclusive New Terra. That said, it's a sweet, entertaining, and otherwise satisfying read.
I highly recommend this game to anyone looking for great characters, stories, and world-building.

[Update May 23, 2022]
I have now finished all availabe main routes to the Best Ending (Passionate). I have 13/15 achievements. I have greatly enjoyed this game, and can recommend it to anyone who wants to read about a well-imagined game world with complex problems involving both fantastical (psi / ESP) and mundane (wealth, political, weapon) powers.

PROS:
- even the fairly substantial common route has a lot of branches depending on dialogue (or action) choices; the individual routes have some similar themes and underlying issues in common, but are otherwise unique to the individual characters being followed
- the world remains coherent throughout the different routes
- the main character is a pleasure to play / read about
- the interface is well-designed and the skip function is fast enough to reduce the annoyance that can come from a repeated common route
- game loading and saving was very fast for me; I barely used the QSave / QLoad
- I prefer to play without a guide, and had no difficulty achieving best endings as long as I paid attention to the "relationship" graph; I played the first time through completely blind and still got to a Good ending (not best)
- the characters embody some common tropes, but in a good way (for me); the balance between familiar characteristics and unique traits was generally good
- I had a really hard time with Magnus' route... if you don't like bad endings, maybe use a guide for this one?
- nice attention to detail on many fronts, including likeable, annoying, charming, and complicated LGBT+ characters as part of the strong supporting cast
- the overall "archaeology" mystery still intrigues me, as questions remain unanswered!
- most of the romances felt like there was enough romance

CONS:
- I enjoyed some of the routes a lot and wanted there to be MORE to them... not sure if this is truly a con or just perception
- while the writing is good throughout, I felt as though some routes, one in particular, lacked the romantic and/or sexual tension necessary to support the Best (Passionate) ending... but that could just be me
- I would have liked to use hot keys for QSave and Qload, though it wasn't a big problem

OVERALL: I was originally going to support the game on Kickstarter(as I had the dev's first game), but through oversight didn't contribute enough to get a game key; so I bought this game at regular price (something I almost never do because, well, Steam Sales). For me, the game was well worth my full-price entertainment dollar. It is definitely worth getting on sale, at the very least, if you are a fan of GxB otome games, or even if you just enjoy a good story with "choose your path" elements.

[Update May 19, 2022]
Still enjoying the dialogue and variety of characters very much. My total play time is shorter than what's shown, due to idle time. I've now completed 3 endings: 1 Sweet (Caleb) and 2 Passionate (Caleb, Ari). **The SKIP function has been working well for me, so that's a plus.** I am playing without a guide (for now). On the whole, it's not too difficult to navigate a path to the "best" (passionate) ending, but I enjoy tinkering with choices just to get new dialogue and results (grin).]

[Original Review]
While I have yet to come anywhere near finishing this game, I wanted to post an early review with first impressions, because so far this game is as good as I'd hoped.
First things first: I love the protagonist. Morgan (or whatever you call her) is smart, and she has the right level of sassy - on point, but realistic. She's customizable! Skin tones, eye colour, hair... I'm a fan of that stuff, so a thank to the wonderful devs for slogging through the challenge of making that happen. And - AND - you can give her personality some nuance (cautious / confident and analytical / emotional) that will affect later dialogue options.
Second: Other characters are likeable. I'm so relieved, because I'm tired of games where every single character is a borderline (or not so borderline) jerk. So far, I've seen a nice range from friendly, to cranky, to aloof, to clearly-has-issues, to mischievous, to arrogant-but-probably-has-reasons. There are tropes. Tropes are fine, right now I could use some tropes in my life - and fewer of the unpleasant ones.
Third: The story has drawn me right in. And you don't spend the first hour or so wandering around wondering what option you missed to access the next part of the story. Nope. It's the good old classic - "you were just having another stress-filled day of higher education and then you were kidnapped." It's done well, the protagonist behaves like the smart woman that she is (and also a normal person), and the kidnappers are clearly going to be Characters in the story. It quickly becomes a tough choice between the Cool Blue Haired Dude with sub-optimal connections to BadPeople, and the KidnapGuys who are obviously having a BadDay, and are more or less law enforcement types working for an organization that you just KNOW has to have a shady side, right?
Fourth: The writing is good; the story is good so far. No surprises there. If you enjoyed the dev's first game, you'll probably enjoy the style of this one. Oh, and of course the allusions to an ancient race of scary powerful beings with tech so advanced that it might as well be magic? And the protagonist is hooked into it somehow? Yes, bring it on.

Welp, that's more than enough for now. I'll update as I finish more of the routes. My first several hours say this one is a keeper. ~ Imp

[Final Update: October 25, 2023] I have now finished all the routes to the Best Ending (Passionate), having just read Yuu's route. I enjoyed the final two routes very much (Reuben and Yuu), but to my surprise, I found Yuu's to be my favourite of the two. The only small quibble I had with Yuu's route (aside from being the end of Gilded Shadows (sniff)), was that it had less of a dramatic "learning backstory / connections to Earth Faerie lore / tying up loose ends" feel than I would have liked for the final chapter in this wonderful visual novel / otome game. The route feels more like it belongs with the main Endgame routes, even though we do get to find out more about the reclusive New Terra. That said, it's a sweet, entertaining, and otherwise satisfying read. [b]I highly recommend this game to anyone looking for great characters, stories, and world-building.[/b] [Update May 23, 2022] I have now finished all availabe main routes to the Best Ending (Passionate). I have 13/15 achievements. I have greatly enjoyed this game, and can recommend it to anyone who wants to read about a well-imagined game world with complex problems involving both fantastical (psi / ESP) and mundane (wealth, political, weapon) powers. PROS: - even the fairly substantial common route has a lot of branches depending on dialogue (or action) choices; the individual routes have some similar themes and underlying issues in common, but are otherwise unique to the individual characters being followed - the world remains coherent throughout the different routes - the main character is a pleasure to play / read about - the interface is well-designed and the skip function is fast enough to reduce the annoyance that can come from a repeated common route - game loading and saving was very fast for me; I barely used the QSave / QLoad - I prefer to play without a guide, and had no difficulty achieving best endings as long as I paid attention to the "relationship" graph; I played the first time through completely blind and still got to a Good ending (not best) - the characters embody some common tropes, but in a good way (for me); the balance between familiar characteristics and unique traits was generally good - I had a really hard time with Magnus' route... if you don't like bad endings, maybe use a guide for this one? - nice attention to detail on many fronts, including likeable, annoying, charming, and complicated LGBT+ characters as part of the strong supporting cast - the overall "archaeology" mystery still intrigues me, as questions remain unanswered! - most of the romances felt like there was enough romance CONS: - I enjoyed some of the routes a lot and wanted there to be MORE to them... not sure if this is truly a con or just perception - while the writing is good throughout, I felt as though some routes, one in particular, lacked the romantic and/or sexual tension necessary to support the Best (Passionate) ending... but that could just be me - I would have liked to use hot keys for QSave and Qload, though it wasn't a big problem OVERALL: I was originally going to support the game on Kickstarter(as I had the dev's first game), but through oversight didn't contribute enough to get a game key; so I bought this game at regular price (something I almost never do because, well, Steam Sales). For me, the game was well worth my full-price entertainment dollar. It is definitely worth getting on sale, at the very least, if you are a fan of GxB otome games, or even if you just enjoy a good story with "choose your path" elements. [Update May 19, 2022] Still enjoying the dialogue and variety of characters very much. My total play time is shorter than what's shown, due to idle time. I've now completed 3 endings: 1 Sweet (Caleb) and 2 Passionate (Caleb, Ari). **The SKIP function has been working well for me, so that's a plus.** I am playing without a guide (for now). On the whole, it's not too difficult to navigate a path to the "best" (passionate) ending, but I enjoy tinkering with choices just to get new dialogue and results (grin).] [Original Review] While I have yet to come anywhere near finishing this game, I wanted to post an early review with first impressions, because so far this game is as good as I'd hoped. [b]First things first:[/b] I love the protagonist. Morgan (or whatever you call her) is smart, and she has the right level of sassy - on point, but realistic. She's customizable! Skin tones, eye colour, hair... I'm a fan of that stuff, so a thank to the wonderful devs for slogging through the challenge of making that happen. And - AND - you can give her personality some nuance (cautious / confident and analytical / emotional) that will affect later dialogue options. [b]Second:[/b] Other characters are likeable. I'm so relieved, because I'm tired of games where every single character is a borderline (or not so borderline) jerk. So far, I've seen a nice range from friendly, to cranky, to aloof, to clearly-has-issues, to mischievous, to arrogant-but-probably-has-reasons. There are tropes. Tropes are fine, right now I could use some tropes in my life - and fewer of the unpleasant ones. [b]Third:[/b] The story has drawn me right in. And you don't spend the first hour or so wandering around wondering what option you missed to access the next part of the story. Nope. It's the good old classic - "you were just having another stress-filled day of higher education and then you were kidnapped." It's done well, the protagonist behaves like the smart woman that she is (and also a normal person), and the kidnappers are clearly going to be Characters in the story. It quickly becomes a tough choice between the Cool Blue Haired Dude with sub-optimal connections to BadPeople, and the KidnapGuys who are obviously having a BadDay, and are more or less law enforcement types working for an organization that you just KNOW has to have a shady side, right? [b]Fourth:[/b] The writing is good; the story is good so far. No surprises there. If you enjoyed the dev's first game, you'll probably enjoy the style of this one. Oh, and of course the allusions to an ancient race of scary powerful beings with tech so advanced that it might as well be magic? And the protagonist is hooked into it somehow? Yes, bring it on. Welp, that's more than enough for now. I'll update as I finish more of the routes. My first several hours say this one is a keeper. ~ Imp