I'm going to first talk about facts, then get into my personal thoughts on the game. Spoiler-tags are used liberally, and I'm not going to bring any big spoilers into the review whatsoever--I want you to experience the game on your own!

Really, just try it.

Nukige being defined as a game where the plot only exists as a vehicle for sex. If you're looking for graphic content, this is probably not the game for you.
Spoiler includes the length of time before reaching the first 'erotic' scene:15 hours

How partial? Well... about a fifth. From my estimation (not looking at raw files, but simply from my experience playing the game...) it seems to be somewhere around five to six hours of voice acting. That's more than any single season of anime will have, anyway. All of the funniest, most exciting, or most painful moments are acted--it is a slight disappointment that it all isn't, but, they made sure they got the most out of the performances, and they are well-done.

They're somewhat modest about mentioning it, but there are over a dozen tracks, not including the opening and ending. Their usage and application in each and every scene are great and help reinforce the writing and bring it to it's fullest emotional potential. Some of the tracks you WILL connect to emotionally by the end.

There's more details about this throughout my review, but, putting it here as well. After getting the 100% completion, I had spent 26 hours myself.

There are some choices to be made, and some alternate scenes and dialogues to be had, but you're mostly along for the ride. There is some non-linear experience, and plenty of perspective changes, but the story is pretty much set. There might be an alternate ending--I don't know yet though, and its definitely something you should experience for yourself! Gameplay is mostly just taking the story at your own pace, and choosing what parts you want to see first.




I played the demo before playing this game--it's available from the developer's website and is roughly 2 hours in length (at least, for my reading/emotional engagement speed)

I played the game immediately upon release from the developer's website, some many hours before the official Steam release. I slept around 4 hours after making it through a decent bit, and then finished it. I imported my save into the Steam version by simply copy+pasting the save directory.

I spent 19 hours playing through the main scenario after speeding through the identical demo scenes, leaving me with a 21 hour playtime. After completing the main scenario, extra scenes were interspersed throughout--a large amount, actually. I would estimate at roughly a quarter of the main scenario in length--you're getting closer to 30 hours than 20 with this game, at my speed.

EDIT2: I finished all of the extra scenarios. They are VERY numerous (78 in all!) and well written and fill in every gap. It took me an additional 5 hours to read them all, so that raises my time spent to 26 hours before full clearing the game. And even if the main scenario is over, the extra scenes are VERY much worth your time.


!!NOTE!! This review is a work in progress. This concludes my fact-based guide. I will be updating this review with my full thoughts on the game shortly. It'll be pretty long, so I'm writing a TL;DR (even though you can't read it yet...)

TL;DR: This game is an amazing piece of media, of fiction, of art. Of love, of what love is, and the hardships that come with love... well-written characters that are engaging, genuinely funny jokes and seamless localization. Kindred Spirits on the Roof is a bittersweet treasure.

Let me start off by saying that I’m a gay girl and that I’ve been eyeing this game ever since it got released in Japan, which was back in 2012.

Was the wait worth it?

Hell yes.

As another reviewer has mentioned, this story does have a very porny premise. Two ghosts rope MC into playing yuri cupid for various couples in the school so that the ghosts can spy on them and learn how to make love to each other, as girls—yes, this is morally questionable no matter how you word it—but despite this, the story is not centered around sex at all. Really. It took me around 12 hours to reach the first nsfw scene, and all the way up those 12 hours, the story focuses on developing relationships, emotional connections, friendship. Rather than sex being the focal point of the game, it feels very much like a beautiful culmination to everything that couple has experienced together up to that point—from the confessions, to the trials and tribulations of trying get their love reciprocated, their sense of stability after ironing out misunderstandings.

Also, while the whole “b-but we’re both girls!” may seem excessive at some points, homosexuality in Japan is still very much condemned. But that’s one of the most refreshing things about this game: not only does the story touch upon real issues like social stigma and family expectations, but it also doesn’t write off the girl/girl romances as just a phase, like so many other works in yuri genre do. One couple in particular discusses and plans their future together in the face of a homophobic society, and that really resonated with me.

As someone who has also tried out the Sono Hanabira series, which oversexualizes girls (and even glosses over the fact that one of them is a huge age gap student/teacher lol), I am very happy that this game doesn’t treat homosexuality as a joke or something just to fetishize. I really felt like the story was reaching out to girls in similar situations, living in fear of condemnation yet still brave enough to face their feelings and look forward to a brighter future.

Setting aside my accolades for the story, the voice acting, art, and music are also superb. The nsfw scenes are very tasteful, and despite the fact that the OST is about 12/13 tracks, the songs are catchy enough that I never felt bothered by it.

Conclusion: if you love girls, love girls loving girls, love a good story, please get this game. It’s $30, yes, but there’s around 30 hours of gameplay, so it’s well worth the money. You won’t regret it.

Help girls realise they are gay.
If they are not gay, make them gay.

Surprisingly well-written, despite its porny premise (two dead lesbians want to bang so that they may ascend to the afterlife). I enjoyed the pacing and the changing POVs. There is very little sexual content; it took me roughly 10 hours of reading before I saw any, and none of it is explicit. Notably, there is absolutely zero fanservice or gratuitous sexualization of the exclusively female cast in this game. Instead, the characters are interesting, well-designed, and thoughtfully written. "Kindred Spirits on the Roof" is a bright, warm, funny exploration of first love, treated with gentleness and authenticity. I'm grateful for the opportunity to have played it.

Amato questo gioco sin da quando l'ho iniziato (credo 3 anni fa) e senza considerare che, da quando poi hanno inserito anche l'estensione con le voci di tutte, anche fuori campo, la mia voglia di rigiocare ogni volta è sempre presente. Sia per poter snocciolare meglio le storie di ogni coppia, come per il singolo personaggio di cui si parla, con quello sprint in più se riesci anche a udire la sua voce.
Se consiglio questo gioco? Assolutamente, soprattutto a coloro che amano questo determinato genere e vogliono provare sia l'emozione pura ed eterea, come quella invece passionale che ti fa palpitare il cuore.

Very gay.

Would recommend.

This VN made me realise the only reason why I am alive is for fictional lesbians, dear lord save me from this empty feeling

The first uncut 18+ visual novel is released on Steam. Welcome to the future.

Don't buy this game without the CD Dramas. You'll regret it when you're at the end of the game bawling your eyes out at the finale. "That's it? No more?" you'll say to yourself. But there is more. There are the drama CDs that you told yourself were too expensive to justify buying without knowing how you'll like the game. You liked the game. You liked the game so much that you need more. You need more yuritopia. You need more all of it.

I initially purchased Kindred Spirits out of curiosity regarding both its style (yuri without the usual exaggerated/cartoony art direction) as well as a novelty ("first uncensored game"). Being a complete noob to Visual Novels, I had expected something that would keep me entertained for 10, maybe 15 hours -- but as you, dear reader, can see above, this game has kept me occupied far beyond what I had dared to assume.

In my opinion, the charm of this game lies in the attention to detail that went into fleshing out all its quirky characters. Some of them may fall into well-known cliches, but they do so in a manner that is endearing rather than grating, and thanks to the way their personalities interact with one another, all of them are deeper than just a collection of shallow categories.

I also really like the art style of this game, for the soft colors and realistic proportions are a nice change from the ubercute semi-chibis you see in other VNs, and together with the game's setting and the characters' inexperience in matters of love, it weaves a realistic environment where it becomes easy to feel with and root for those poor girls who are understandably overwhelmed by these blooming feelings.

Kindred Spirits is NOT a "porn game", and whilst this may come as a disappointment to some, I'd say it is actually one of its greatest strengths. "Fan"service such as pantyshots or ridiculously exaggerated breasts are thankfully absent here. Make no mistake: in spite of its spicy yuri scenes (tasteful nudity, in the words of the developer), this is ultimately a game about emotions, and you may find yourself laughing or crying with the characters as the story progresses. The writer as well as the translator deserve appreciation for what they have crafted here, and it seems to show in how popular the game has already become -- so much so that it seems to develop into its own franchise, already with 4 Drama CDs soon to be released on Steam.

It took me a little bit to get used to the calendar you use to select and play/unlock the game's scenes, but I've quickly discovered its value in how it makes it easier to assume the role of different characters experiencing the same scene. I'm not one of those players who hunt down every single "route" they unlock with different choices (I play through a story once, and that's my headcanon), but even so I was amazed by the sheer amount of content. Even after the main story is over, there's a ton of "extra" scenes that provide additional insight into the side characters, answering questions that may have been left unanswered so far.

PROs:
+ *very* likeable characters with realistic teenage worries
+ amazing artwork (including the chibis!)
+ (mostly) superb voice acting, in particular for some of the more emotional scenes
+ lots of content (extra scenes, song lyrics)
+ DEM FEELS (slice-of-life, slapstick, romantic comedy, drama)

CONs:
- few choices (I'd almost classify KSotR as a "Kinetic Novel", though this did not detract from it being crazy fun)
- not consistently voiced (a few additional scenes may have benefited from voiceovers)

[edit] the 2nd CON is now half-resolved, as the release of Full Chorus greatly expands the amount of voiced content. it costs a few bucks extra, but I would deem this upgrade a worthy investment. [/edit]

YouTuber Nixxi is hosting an incredibly funny LetsPlay here, though I greatly recommend only watching it after actually having played the game yourself so that you benefit from fully developed attachments to the characters that are being made fun of: https://www.youtube.com/user/VnixxiR/videos

There is also a petition to turn Kindred Spirits into an anime: https://www.change.org/p/liar-soft-make-kindred-spirits-on-the-roof-into-an-anime

Finishing thoughts: I'm glad I purchased this game, and I'm glad to see it expand into a full franchise. This is the 2nd game I've ever reviewed on Steam, which should show how much it means to me right now. If the studio ever does a prequel or sequel, it will be pretty much an automatic purchase from me.