NOTE: IF YOU THINK YOU BEAT THE GAME, YOU PROBABLY HAVEN'T.

I really didn't expect this to become one of my favorite games.

Despite being a tester, the narrative left me with stars in my eyes (and a bit of an empty feeling, but like, in a good way). It got under my skin so much more than I ever expected, and despite playing it a month ago, I've been thinking about it daily. I never ever draw fanart anymore, but the first thing I did after finishing was open up Clip Studio and doodle the characters. I wanted to change my pfp to a certain someone who loves plants. Orb is a kick-ass writer who knows how to make you feel the intended emotions. There was never a point where the dialogue felt unnatural or distracting.

The gameplay is a total slam dunk too, the minigame sections were genuinely fun and I find myself replaying them often. Everything is incredibly well designed. Nothing felt awkward or tedious- which is insane to me considering that this is the dev's first big game. It's so tight knit and has a perfect balance between visual novel elements, point and click gameplay, and minigames. There are about a million secrets, and despite playing for nearly fifteen hours, I still haven't seen everything.

The art is SO GOOD. LIKE, SOSOSO GOOD. It's so polished and pleasant to look at. You probably clicked on this game because the style caught your eye. It delivers fully, and the imagery, designs, rooms, etc are incredibly memorable and addicting. Not much else I can say here, because the screenshots sell themselves.

The soundtrack. God. I left the game open at certain points for the purpose of listening to it. It builds so much atmosphere and elevates of the moments where it's used.

If you read this far into the review, PLAY THIS GAME because it's THAT good. And then tell your friends to play it. If this doesn't become the next big thing I'll be deeply annoyed. I genuinely can't think of any negatives. It's so inspiring to my own works and I'm sure many others will feel the same way.

That one animation of Mesmer spinning in a circle was enough to convince me this is a good game.

A game that starts with a silly note, but then slowly spirals into bittersweet melancholy. The story is mesmerizing and the music is gratifying, but don't let the cute art style trick you - things can get very, very serious. All of that fits so well into the short playtime.

In conclusion, I'd like to say that Mesmer is a wonderful girl and she deserves a lot of love!!