overall i'd say i liked it. the art direction is very unique, the soundtrack is very beautiful and the themes were all interesting. however, i could feel my patience getting tested especially during the mid section of door 8 and that definitely hampered my enjoyment quite a bit. the dialogue was long and the characters were reiterating a lot of things that didn't add a whole lot to the table. still, the finale ties everything up in mostly a pretty nice bow. i'm not very keen on romance focused story-telling so while i could recognize that the characters shared a very deep and touching bond i don't think it emotionally resonated with me as much as it did for some people. still, it has a unique narrative and i'd recommend it to anyone who loves thematically rich storytelling.

Teared up more times than I can count, cried more than once. I don't even cry to media that often. I tried to recount the story to someone that doesn't even play games and started to cry thinking about the protagonist. It got that sad. Reading t his ♥♥♥♥ reminded me I have emotions and process them like normal people, because I got emotional. I will say the game does have a bit of a slow start though, to the point that I took a small break from it. But I kept thinking about the mysteries that were unanswered, and I am so glad I went back to finish the game because the game increases in quality the more you read it. It's awesome, and scary. But not only is it awesome and scary, it's probably every positive adjective under the sun. I am not bullshitting you I am a massive hater of games when they are overhyped, this is NOT that. If you like reading in any capacity I swear to you, you will NOT regret reading this. Take heed of the maturity content because it can get super dark at times.

best story I've ever read in my life
read the main story, requiem, short stories, reincarnation, manga, light novel, seventh lair, all side games, and honestly still want more of it
even the reread experience is amazing. 10/10