Fine Work: Act I

I'm absolutely hooked! The artwork is gorgeous and I ADORE the designs of the characters. The music is kind of relaxing and helps sell that dreamlike quality it's going for. The Rhythm game for the sendshaping parts is fun as well. Overall it's just a really chill experience and I highly recommend it! Also I'd die for Marr.

This is a visual, aural and mental treat. I came in expecting a rhythm game (Which I am definitely not great at, more of a "shoot it if it moves" guy) - but got a beautiful and weird world that is incredibly well written and animated, paired with a fantastic soundtrack. The characters are fantastic, the writing is fantastic, the gameplay is fantastic... across the board I'd highly recommend it. I typically game in an attempt to escape my mental for a bit - and if you're like me and attempting the same - you couldn't escape to a better world. Side note - Danaee can put me in a headlock any time.

This game is really strange, and I mean that in a positive way. You get dropped in to the story with little introduction, and learn about the world almost entirely through dialogue with other characters. Even after finishing the game I don't really have a fully formed opinion on the story and the characters (who each seem to be based around a specific vibe) which I'm sure is partly due to this being act 1. The rhythm gameplay is fun, and visually distinct from other rhythm gameplay I've seen. There was a pretty big difficulty spike for me near the end, but the game progresses regardless of your score (which I don't think impacted the story). Overall a good time, and I can't say I've played anything else that really felt like this does.

[h2]Fine Work: Act I is a dreamlike, intoxicating blend of visual novel storytelling and rhythm gameplay, wrapped up in some of the best music and character writing I've seen in years.[/h2] If you like surreal worlds, standout characters, unforgettable vibes, secrets, and games with highly replayable branching storylines: [b]play this.[/b] I already wrote a rather glowing review for the demo, so you can think of this as a bit of a "sequel review." And as a heads-up: I am a HUGE fan of this project and have been for quite some time :) 🎨 [b]Art — 10/10[/b] [b]TL;DR:[/b] [i]Hand-painted surrealism bursting with creativity.[/i] Straight away, I was struck by the gorgeous hand-painted aesthetic of the scenes and backgrounds, the creativity, that has gone into the character designs, the variance of color palettes and design cues, all while maintaining this cohesive dream-like feel. The characters and locales are all radically different from one another, lovingly crafted to an incredible degree of fidelity. And that's to say nothing of the absolutely gorgeous (at time distractingly so) art of the rhythm game tracks. In my demo review I mentioned that assets seemed to scale poorly past 1080p (bumping art from 10 to 9). [b]they fixed that![/b] The game looks INCREDIBLE on my 2K monitor. 🎵 [b]Music — 10/10[/b] [b]TL;DR:[/b] [i] One of the best indie soundtracks I've ever heard. [b]period.[/b][/i] The soundtrack is one of the single most incredible aspects of the game. It's the glue that holds it all together! In this game you're set in this sort of dream-realm and while the characters are vivid and surreal, the locales are gorgeous and ethereal, and the dialogue is meandering (as if in a dream-like state): It's the music that really sells it and ties everything together. The Rhythm game's tracks are incredible, the stars of the show, and you [b]owe it to yourself[/b] to experience them. But, for me, the real stand out was the background music. It often builds slowly, creeps in out of silence into the scene, and as it goes on it gives you a sense of being inebriated or in a dreamlike state yourself. At other times it can be sudden or jarring, but with intention. It's peak "Ludonarrative harmony." It's phenomenal, I haven't personally experienced background music this well crafted in literal decades. 💬 [b]Characters & Dialogue — 10/10[/b] [b]TL;DR:[/b] [i]No archetypes. Fully realized and memorable personalities[/i] I'm a rambling writer, so I did touch on this a bit before, so forgive a bit of overlap. But, from the place of character writing what has stood out to me the most, and what has always stood out, is that everyone has [b]so much character[/b], SO quickly. Main characters, side characters, incidental characters, it doesn't matter. They all feel fully realized to me. There are no archetypes, no shortcuts, no reliance on tropes. And even if a character can initially feel simple or one-note you will find incredible depth in each of them, building into wonderfully strange and unique individuals. Every character has their own voice, there are no throwaway lines, no out of place dialogue, no out of character moments. They also speak in the dialect of the game, using words exclusive to the world, in a way that challenges (and encourages) you to learn more about the world and its inhabitants. Conversations are dream-like, with obfuscations, double entendre, and allusion. And every conversation reveals more to you about the characters and Gleamhold itself, in a way that as you play you begin to stop thinking of them as characters in a game, and more as people you know. 🌐 [b]Worldbuilding & Story — 9.5/10[/b] [b]TL;DR:[/b] [i]Joyful eldritch surrealism that feels strangely welcoming.[/i] Look, the only thing keeping this from being a 10 is an arbitrary and petulant frustration that [i]It's only act I and I want more, and I want more now!!![/i] Actually y'know what... 🌐 [b]Worldbuilding & Story — 10/10[/b] Who am I kidding, it's incredible, to me it's perfect. The world feels alien, familiar, bright, eldritch, and whimsical all at once. A place that maybe [i]should[/i] be unsettling or frightening, but isn't. It's like a lucid dream. When you first start, everything is a puzzling oddity, some unfamiliar thing, or a bizarre twist on the familiar. But as you play, Fine Work teaches you the Dream-Logic of its world. It comes to make sense, and eventually have some comfort, and you find satisfaction in the consistency of the absurd and strange. And it stays true to it's own rules, alien as they are to our own, in a way that is realistic in its unreality. 🎮 [b]Gameplay — 9.5/10[/b] [b]TL;DR:[/b] [i]VN x Rhythm hybrid that works shockingly well.[/i] A Visual Novel is a Visual Novel is a Visual Novel. You read, you choose dialogue options, and follow branches. But what's here is absolutely golden, even for those who don't go for VNs often (like myself) for these reasons: • a [b]FANTASTIC[/b] rhythm game system that fits neatly into the narrative of the game. • a world-specific [b]glossary[/b] full of vibrant neologisms (something way too many fantasy and sci-fi games skip), that you build out as you discover new terms. • a beautiful system of puppetted sprites and scene structure that flows together in a dream-like way, driving the story forward through the various branches. Actually, I want to speak a bit more on the "puppetting" (this is how the devs have described the way that sprites are moved and changed the space of the scenes, matching the character's expression and stance with the dialogue and BGM). This is REALLY the standout element on the VN side of the game. Most VNs have a single plrite next to a dialogue box when you're speaking. The expression on that sprite may change here and there, but that's about it. Not so with Fine Work! The character sprites physically exist in the space the scene is taking place in! They move around the scene, and their expressions and poses shift and change dynamically with the dialogue and mood of the scene. It really helps boost the VISUAL aspect of a Visual Novel, and sets it apart from other offerings in the genre. Back in the demo I had some minor gripes about camera angles on some rhythm game maps that have since been [b]greatly[/b] improved. ⭐ [b]Overall —9.5/10 [/b] [b]TL;DR:[/b] [i] This game revived my love for visual novels and is one of the most refreshing rhythm games I've played.[/i] I've yapped a lot, I don't know what else to say really. Fine Work: Act I is one of the finest Visual Novels I've played, and is one of the most exciting and original indie releases I've seen in [b]years.[/b] Play it. You deserve it and owe it to yourself to experience this work of art.

What an absolutely delightful thing. Gorgeous art, incredible worldbuilding, fascinating characters. I've never played anything quite like it, and this will live in my brain for quite some time. I can't wait for the next Act!

Deeply memorable characters, an incredible soundtrack, and a rich mythology that defies the conventional structure of most modern fantasy. The world feels alien and beautiful in ways that complement the eccentric cast and leave you with more questions than answers. Very excited for the next installment!

I would like to disclose I was invited to test the game after falling in love with an early build at an event, but this review relates to the release build! A lovely experience with an outstanding soundtrack to match, We need more rhythm games with original soundtracks! The VN half of the game is engaging and meaningful, characters feel well realized and the use of unique dialogue and environments make for some deceptively deep writing, usually I find "unique universe relevant slang" to be kinda grating, but its all delivered slowly and integrated into the writing in a very natural way, one or two words tripped me up ("Send" for example) but again, a lil more time and you forget the difference is even there. On the rhythm game half of things: not a HUGE selection of songs, but what is there is a blast, for ten dollars you could argue you're paying about $1.42 per song, which isn't far above what is standard for free rhythm games ($1-1.20) but you're also getting a fully fledged VN to support the tracks! did I mention the characters? I promise I'm not in love but I might just be in love... TL;DR: As a rhythm game its above average but small, as a VN its incredibly strong, by their powers combined its an easy recommend!