Review Jeslie 3/5 · Jul 22, 2024
Having played all three routes now, I find that the initial observations I made pretty much hold. This game has a really interesting concept: as you find out immediately, the player character has psychic powers of foreseeing, and when they look into their future they see their future spouse. They go in search of this person, and depending on the …
Having played all three routes now, I find that the initial observations I made pretty much hold. This game has a really interesting concept: as you find out immediately, the player character has psychic powers of foreseeing, and when they look into their future they see their future spouse. They go in search of this person, and depending on the route you pick they're either excited, uneasy, or horrified by the news you bring. In terms of character interaction I enjoyed seeing how the "destined" trope is approached and deconstructed through each character's unique lens, and how the PC is forced to grow and change as a result.
In terms of overall story, though...you can definitely see where GB Patch's storytelling has become stronger over the last seven years. Which isn't to say that the story is bad, just that the general plot across all three routes feels like it involves a lot of backtracking and repetition, and I didn't feel the main plot was tied up in a particularly satisfying way. The big focus is definitely on the character interaction, and I think that particular writing strength translated much more successfully to "Our Life", which could focus on slice of life scenes in a low-stakes environment instead of also trying to write a compelling external story. (In that vein, I'm also a little disappointed that this interesting setting wasn't really drawn on.)
AFA is definitely not going to be a game for everyone. If you like visual novels and you're in it just to watch characters grow and change, I enjoyed this and think it is worth giving a shot. If you want something faster paced, with more of an external conflict to approach and resolve, you will probably be disappointed. Three out of my customary four.