Preliminary: Not only is this absolutely wild and absurd and surreal, but also it's just been a decently fun adventure game. The puzzles are... a bit ridiculous so far (I've only solved Rin's puzzle and started on Tou's), but hopefully it can keep my interest without getting too convoluted. Just let me enjoy the excellent Sound and Look and Feel, plz! Final Fantasy VI was released April 2 1994, and this was released some time in April 1994. I kept debating which to do first, since I am so excited for FF VI but I wound up deciding to "get this one over with" and it's seeming like I will actually play it through >.<

Day 2

I had to work the Homecoming football game tonight but I was eager to get back to this and FFVI is next! Too bad I wont finish this tonight cuz it's so late. But I am really oddly enjoying this, not just for its trippiness but for its mechancis and classic adventure elements. For all its absurdity, navigation oddly makes sense.... to me.

Part of me feels like this is a definite 4 star. I'm still playing it, I've finished 2 "lives" successfully and have continuoulsy enjoyed the Look and Sound. But the other part of me thinks it's a 3 star and move on since some of the aspects are tacky, sometimes getting out of an area is just silly (the Candle thing was tacky to me). All I know is, these Thieves who randomly appear better not be able to take a Character Card.

The way each of the rooms in the Palace of Dreaming has so many different teleports but also so many different rooms with different vibes and the charactesr I have stujmbled upon in the Forest of Life and so on. This really is earning its way to a 4 star if not maybe even a 5 star. It somehow made me being lost feel not frustrating, because of the surreal characters and settings, and the nice Look and Sound. However, hopefully the getting lost/absurdity/classic adventure game elements don't prove too frustrating. Cuz I'm currently lost lol and gotta wrap up for the night

Day 3

I pull up the game and immediately in love again, with this screen pulled up. The tune sounds straight out of Dolphins into the future - day three, the conversation... wait a second. i think dolphins into the future must've sampled this? It's uncanny

The Look, Sound, and Feel are undeniable. Time to try to finish this up today. And even tho that's the only screenshot I've provided here, almost every screen is mesmerizing, filled with love and intention and you can tell this was a product of love, and so much variety.

The navigation is getting annoying with all the backtracking, I wish there were more of teh teleports/shortcuts (maybe there are?). The Computer Room and Palace of Dreaming are frequent return-to spots yet are a chore to get to, like with the steps to the Computer Room.

Weird, I've fulfilled all 9 lives... but it's not progressing. Hmmm. (Turns out I had missed one.)

Well tonight was supposed to be a gaming night but I went to a bowling event with my husband and now I might not finish this and definitely wont start FFVI tonight! Agh! I did just find out that this was actually released May 21, 1994, so I should have done FFVI first anyway. Also, there is a sequel that was only released in Japan hmmm. But anyway, I liked this quote/information (I had to look up the alphabet cuz apparently my Glasses had been stolen or something?)

The game was originally released for Macintosh in Japan on May 21, 1994. This release came with a double-sided insert containing a map of Tong-Nou and a message written in the Tong-Nou Alphabet

Endgame is literally just more backtracking to the same places you've been.

But it was worth it in the end. It continued to have cute features, like if I stumbled upon an entity and they said something I liked ("don't bother me, I'm busy jumping" etc), and the ending had great ambient music (before the beat came in.. tho it was still good after the beat came in) and these colors were so vivid

Look: 9.5/10 Extra boost for being exactly the start of the era I so love, but also just being perfect regardless

Sound: 9.5/10 So uniquely fitting for me.

Play: 7.5/10 I can't claim I loved the gameplay, but it was the best of the Myst/7th Guest style games so far, and delivered far more in the Look/Sound/Feel department than those did for me.

Feel: 9/10 It felt truly like another world/multiverse. With so many little extra characters and subplots and optional sidequests (which were quite convoluted to stumble upon let alone finish)

Attachment: 8.5/10 I certainly wont be forgetting this one! And my brothers asked about it. It really should be a 4 star in terms of overall quality but it might average out to a 5 star, despite being unlikely I will replay this regularly, but it has the highest likelihood so far of art games for me to actually replay.

Overall: 8.8/10

Completion: Main Story

Playtime: ~3h 45m