Brilliant Shadows - Part One of the Book of Gray Magic

I started and finished this in one go. It had been sitting in my library for quite a long time and I regret not playing it sooner. The voice acting is one of if not the best I've ever encountered in a VN! There's only two things I found frustrating: the lack of an auto mode, and the inconsistency of the art. Don't get me wrong, almost all pieces are really well done, but the face of Ash changes so much over and over again it prevented me from fully immersing myself.

Bought it on sale, finished reading in about 4 hours for the 'Balanced' ending of the three claimed endings. I took this visual novel because of the living in diversity vibe, stories with magics, and the artworks. I was not disappointed :) The voice actings were enjoyable - I only skip the spoken words in lines with few words on them and listen to the rest. And the OST, those were great picks. No weird notes for my taste. There were also environment ambiences. (For example sounds of chatters, clocks, people reading a book when Ash was in the library.) I recommend to use head/earphones to hear sound details :) The story continues to Part II of the same 'The Book of Gray Magic' title.

I was really surprised by how much I loved this VN! it looked kinda cheesy and home-made. but it was like delicious and home-made. idk i'm doing this review lazy-style. soundtrack: gud VA: okay except for a really bad australian accent and another really bad french accent, the casting and acting were exceptional. but like every half hour the sound would glitch out badly and sound like a horror game making me wonder if they were doing some DDLC deal (but no it was just a minor glitch). art: i loved the sprites and the backgrounds, they were absolutely stunning. but i think the CGAs got too cartoonish at times. writing/plot: i loved it lol i was hooked. only reason i haven't finished it in one sitting is cuz i have work tmr. unforgettable characters. other: this VN gets diversity points.

1.4 hours in (haven't completed the game yet) and I find myself unexpectedly enjoying the game. I've found one typo/ grammatical error (both as written and spoken, though it may just be a lore thing that I didn't understand regarding "... in ability (or was it power?) in skill...". I beieve it was supposed to be "and") Anyways, a part of the beginning had me worried that the quality of the writing would be quite poor, but it's been turning out fine enough. Based on what I've heard of the length of the game, I think exploring some of the moments that are summarized over in an entertaining way might add to the value of the game. Additionally adding more "inconsequential" options could give the player more feeling of control (and therefore easier to self-insert or empathize) while only adding a few more lines. The game's good at growing the audience's interest over time while also developing the characters to be more interesting.

1.游戏的画风我非常喜欢，一身绿的的女主角，金色丰满的女圣骑士，一身肌肉的异域男圣骑士，软绵绵的蓝衣女亡灵法师，还有英俊的女圣骑士她妈，都让人印象深刻。 2.故事的剧情是挺有张力的，始终围绕着女主角结对失败、找不到他的另一半这个谜团展开的，夹杂着让人恐惧的灰法师，一段让人毫不反感的三角恋，以及一个超级阴谋。人物的性格都非常突出让人难忘，男亡灵被视作怪胎，叛逆、神秘，冷漠不共情，但逐渐展示出了难能可贵的真诚、执着、聪慧；女主角看似高挑冷漠，实则感情丰富，一点点波动就能让她心绪澎湃；女生其实天真、热情，善良得让人心痛；蓝衣亡灵女骄傲又娇气，什么都无所谓，喜欢肌肉男圣骑士结果对方是gay... 人物不多，个个都难忘。 3.古怪的三角恋挺有意思，女女男三角恋，多情的女主角和三好青年男亡灵法师同时爱上了天真善良的女圣骑士，结果女主角和三好青年根本打不起来，因为夹在中间的女二只会喜欢一个性别，二人不可能出现什么感情上的误会，后来就出现了三好青年不忍心伤害情敌的感情，女主去坦然亲吻情敌这种事情，总之是很有意思，一点也不婆婆妈妈你死我活今天误会明天绝交的。 4.游戏看似一堆法师，其实在我看来是低魔世界，什么法师啊，真打起来都是废物一样。最后一战，（不知道怎么隐藏剧透部分，此处删除214个字）我都看呆了.... 总体上来说，当小说看是非常好看的。

the characters are so charming and the voice acting is well done <3