Thoughts on the game

[Define Brackish Water]

I really enjoyed this game and I've been trying to piece together what I think of it. There's a lot here.

Mondealy was captivating. I always really wanted to come back to it and finish it. I ended up putting eight and a half hours into one playthrough over four days. One of the surest signs of a good book is one that you want to come back to. Those stories are always so far and few between. The English translation is bumpy in at least 100 places, mostly verb tenses, but it never gets bad enough to fumble the meaning.

I love the style and art of the game. The trees that wave in the wind were lovely. I've been waiting forever to see games with windy trees after the Witcher 3 had them. The little bushes rustling as you walk through them.

The music was fantastic. "Wel(Don't)come to Water District" is definitely my favorite. There were plenty of good tracks and the ones that were so-so still held their own. I appreciate the use of motifs which help tie things together. The fade outs instead of harsh cuts. The variety in general was great.

There's a lot of connections and small touches that help the world feel more alive. Having a minor consequence or having someone remember a specific detail made the game feel more lively. I've only noticed just now that the lakeside view transitions slowly to as time passes.

[Define Brackish Water]

The sound design is nice. Gives things heft.

There's some questions I still have. Can I get to the house on the island? Can I jump over those big rocks? What is the mask "from another world" a reference to? What on earth was with those two white castle wall dreams? Did the conversation with Corsic and Rufus really happen in the second dream? Is Riley in some kind of danger now? Or is that Micheal having a nightmare? Is Corsic's magic ability to appear in different rooms related to Melemo? Is the world really ending in a grand fashion, or was that more about how all life eventually dies? Is there a specific spot I'm supposed to put the Moai statue? What's the most obnoxious spot I can put it in?

I figure I'll have to replay the game to find out if these questions have real answers.

The idea that there's a parallel universe where everyone is about to go all Final Fantasy VII on some company, has taken captives, is in a conspiracy with the local police, and has a rocket launcher is really concerning. That really gets to me even though I know it's a one-off gag. Parallel universes really bum me out. It makes the things that you do in one not feel like enough when another parallel universe is still suffering.

The philosophy of the god(s) feels both lacking and thought provoking. Really liked the unique transparent dialogue box and the imposing figure.

The story feels like it has bridges across holes at points. The cutscenes in the middle of the story that tell you that something happened instead of showing what happened are definitely a weak point. Some more than others. I was always kind of disappointed that my t-shirt and hair choice (I stuck with the original) but I get that it's more work. I don't mind Micheal preferring it, but I do wish that his decision to switch into it was intentional instead of something that happened magically.

The story's ending and carefree questioning about what the story was about has put the most interesting spin on the faint bitterness I feel when a good story fully concludes. It's probably my own changing outlook on life, but it's gotten me to reflect on my own life and what I want to do.

[uglycoal]

Thanks a lot for the kind words and for sharing your thoughts!

I'm glad that English translation is fine enough to understand everything. I guess *professional* game text translation was too expensive to afford by the publishers, so in the end it's an amalgamation of my own translation, help from English speaking community members and a very bad contracted translation (that was revised to be palatable).

Game doesn't necessarily answer all of the questions you asked, it leaves room for speculation.
Also, Moai statue has no specific spot as of now, it's just a silly item for occasional giggles.

Parallel universes can be a bit frustrating, I understand, but they do not affect main lore of the game. It's not that I really wanted to dive into parallel universes, but it was one way to show some cool stuff near the finale. Maybe they will be explored more in the future.

If I remember correctly, Melemo gallery entries explain the finale a bit, but either way, as I always say - game did have some rushed and stitched together parts. Time was not the only problem though.

Hope you enjoyed your time through the game though. Hopeful to deliver more of these characters sometime.