100% completion -- CGs, routes, endings, etc.

This game was more like the VNs that I love than the two Psychedelica games were, meaning that the common route is really just in the beginning and for various scenes throughout, which are tweaked for each route. You make choices from the beginning, which determine the route you'll take. That being said, it still doesn't really compare to Code: Realize and Hakuoki, butttt here we go.

Gameplay:

Gameplay is pretty standard. Read, make choices, fast forward through stuff you've already read when you start a new route. The later routes that unlock as you go drop you in a little further into the story, so you don't have to go through the first day or two again.

Many familiar voices from Hakuoki, Code: Realize, and the Psychedelica games. Miki Shinichiro (Yuzuki's VA--and Hijikata from Hakuoki) is truly fantastic. I was always really impressed with his role as Hijikata, and it was nice to hear him again. His voice is incredibly expressive, and the mannerisms and speech patterns are spot on. Perfect pauses, sighs, pitch. I can pick up on familiar/likable voices fairly well, but he just flat out impresses me.

Characters:

Favorites were definitely Toa and Yuzuki, then Sosuke, Hanate, Hino, and Isora. I don't dislike Isora, but he's the player/flirt and that typically ends up being my least favorite. He had a good story, and he's an interesting character, but again, just isn't as preferred as the others. There's also some wonkiness in his route that didn't sit too well with me. Pretty typical of me to like the glasses boys, though (Toa and Sosuke).

All of the characters show some sort of growth and have vastly different personalities. The supporting characters were all pretty great as well. I loved Yuki, and Yasu is terrible but well-voiced.

The main character, Ichiko, is okay. First impression, when she's talking to Hino, she seems like kind of an asshole. But then that fades and she gets a little more damsel-y, and then gets stronger. Won't say she's the strongest MC though, at all. But I didn't hate her.

Routes and Endings:

I definitely recommend the play order that the guide I used suggested: Hino, Isora, Toa, Sosuke, Yuzuki (unlocks after you've completed the first four), True ending (extension of Toa's route; unlocks after competing Yuzuki's route), and then Hanate (which unlocks after everything else is completed).

Hino is the standard first choice as he's the first character you're introduced to, and the one who takes the MC to the town where the game takes place. The other routes build on this first one, and a little more is revealed with each one. I guess you could do the first four in any order that you chose, but...I still recommend the order listed above. [Looking back, though, as you go through each route, that character is added to the title screen. When you first start it up, Hino and Isora are already there, and I feel like you might not be able to pick some of the Toa/Sosuke geared choices the first time.] Toa and Sosuke's routes reveal many more answers than Hino and Isora's, and would honestly make those two routes less meaningful.

My personal favorite routes were Yuzuki's, the True Ending, and Hanate's. Yes, I loved Toa, but his general route, before doing the True one, wasn't my favorite story-wise. The True ending was an extension of his route, answered more questions, warmed and broke my heart, and was just a better conclusion to his story.

Story:

Intriguing plot, and I felt like all of my questions were answered once I finished Hanate's route. The routes did truly build upon each other, so there was a steady rhythm in the revelations and new questions.

The entire premise itself was pretty cool. Seems standard at first with the whole brother-went-missing thing, but then we get into the dead coming back to life and shady people running the town.

The one thing that bothered me throughout was the fact that the MC and Hino work at the hotel. They come to the town to search for clues about her brother, and end up being hired on at the only hotel in town in order to stay longer and cover their rooms. This means that half of each day is them working when they're telling most people that they're on vacation, and should be spending as much time as possible searching for her brother. It serves its purpose, for sure, but it was just a weird way of keeping all of the characters in close proximity. There's also the fact that every route except Hino's has the MC spending all of her time searching and doing other main events with other dudes and not the one she came to the town with, and he doesn't really ever say much about it, other than look sad. Not enough to ruin the enjoyment of the game, but it's definitely something that kept standing out to me.

Overall, this one was short(er) and sweet, and I thought that the story was cool. Had memorable characters, and tugged the heartstrings the appropriate amount. It just didn't blow me away.

Edit: One thing I wanted to add! There were some animated scenes in this game that were super neat. That's not something I've seen in a VN before. Also, each character had a different ending song, and the two openings (one you unlock at the end) were both really, really cool.