Irrational

I suddenly feel the urge to make french toast...

Content warning: Pet Death There’s a scene where [spoiler]the protagonist’s pet cat walks into the room with blood around it’s mouth, then coughs up blood on the floor.[/spoiler] and then, later, [spoiler]you learn it needs to be euthanized. There’s a scene you can choose to see where the protagonist goes to the vet to hold the cat as it dies.[/spoiler] Also, warning to headphones users to maybe turn down sound effects, considering there are two segments where you’ll hear very loud breathing, and scream crying. As for the rest of the game: it’s painfully bland. The characters don’t have much of a personality of their own. Firky and Lucy talk in an almost identical way, like I’m reading the author talk to themself. There’s some cute interactions here and there, but not enough to make me care about the characters. There’s also alot of dialogue that feels like a first draft or placeholder. Like it was put in just so the characters can get from point A. to point B. It makes reading through certain sections a slog, especially on a second playthrough. And anytime there’s dialogue around mental illness, it feels especially clunky. The way anxiety is handled is questionable. The game beats you over the head with “it’s generalized anxiety” when it’s pretty obvious Lucy is also depressed and seems to generally have other issues considering how Firky talks about needing to walk on eggshells around her. And it also implies Firky is going through things too, but we never see that in any meaningful way. They just vaguely mention it during a fight. The game never really delves deep enough into either of their issues to where I understand or care much. It glosses over Lucy’s recovery (which only begins after Firky leaves and her pet cat is dead.) and the clarity she expresses to a friend afterwards about how to live with anxiety feels completely unearned. What did she do? How did she learn this? Was it just after all that happened, she decided she needed to get better? Could we maybe have SEEN this thought process? For a game ABOUT Anxiety, it tends to gloss over the finer details. It just doesn’t feel right. Maybe it’s just me, though. One of the few gameplay decisions you get is during the emotional climax where you’re given control of Lucy to walk to where you want to go. There are zero interactable objects which, in my opinion, is a huge missed opportunity for characterization and more insight into Lucy’s thoughts. I also don’t like the decision you’re forced to make (it’s pointless either way, but it’s still questionable) Spoiler: [spoiler]You have to choose between two scenes:[/spoiler] [spoiler]A. going to the train station to tell Firky you love them. Note: they’re just moving out to be closer to work and get some space. They dont wanna stop being friends. They said they’ll visit, and this takes place in modern day, so she could just text them. I assume Lucy thinks the confession will keep her from leaving? Which feels manipulative but ok go off I guess. [/spoiler] [spoiler]B.going to the vet to hold your pet for the last time. The vet even says “It’s good chirp won’t die afraid and alone”. You then get to hold him a final time as he dies after getting the injection.[/spoiler] [spoiler]And frankly, these choices are not equal. Is Lucy’s priorities that ♥♥♥♥♥♥ she sees this as equal? In the end it’s pointless because Lucy is just imagining it,but it’s still gross to me. Maybe that’s just me.[/spoiler] TL;DR: bland writing in a visual novel that has mediocre visuals is a slog to get through. There’s potential there if the game was given more time and didn’t gloss over some things as much and let us see more into these two’s heads. It wants to be a conversation about mental health, but it’s painfully surface level and not engaging at all. I haven’t played the developer's other game, but I am hoping that this time was just a fluke and with their bigger project they put more effort into the writing and characterization.

The character designs are cute, the dialogue is often great, the emotional beats are impactful, and there's plenty of charm. I especially enjoyed the part where Lucy is playing fetch with Chirp in the backyard. The animation-work and soundtrack are just alright, but the minimal voice acting is kinda awkward. At this price, though, I'd absolutely recommend this game to fans of visual novels.