Together We Live

Referring to a single person as "they" nope. Sign me off. Begone with your modern audience translation. There is a scene where it happens a stupendous amount of times. Turns out Im not your demographic.

i’m sitting here in the dark at 4am completely hollowed out. what the actual hell did i just put myself through. this vn isn’t a game. it’s pure, calculated emotional sadism. there are no choices. no routes. no saving her. you just sit there, staring at your monitor, helplessly forced to watch this girl Asagiri get put through a literal meat grinder over and over and over. she has to die thousands of times to "atone for humanity's sins." and the game takes this disgusting, clinical pleasure in describing it. gunshots tearing her open, skin melting off as she burns alive, bones fracturing beneath crushing weight. i felt sick reading it. but the weirdest, most twisted part? i couldn't stop clicking. the developers are actual sociopaths for how they hook you. they make her so genuinely sweet and innocent. you watch her learn what happiness and love even mean in a dead world. you build this fragile little bond with her. and right when you think *maybe* things will be okay, they drag her back to the chopping block. every ounce of joy you give her just acts as a sick seasoning to make her next gruesome death taste even more bitter. i feel like i have a physical ache in my chest r…

Shockingly good. Didn't have high hopes yet this was beautiful.

This is a strange one, and despite being short, I can’t really recommend it. Overall a workable story, with atmospheric music and a stunning art style. It's also a philosophical title, although the philosophical parts are too blatant. Actually the whole plot is way too straightforward. The English translation is readable but not enjoyable. The Japanese text is not difficult. If you really want to read the story, read that instead. The story is more or less the story of Jesus Christ, transplanted onto a little girl, but with humanity already far gone. Then it is made into a Japanese visual novel where the hero saves the princess. It even follows the standard romance formula, complete with a melodramatic third-act breakup and inconsistent character arcs. The deeper worldbuilding is interesting though, and is done in more subtle ways than the philosophical bits. Sadly, the sci-fi worldbuilding is rarely put to use by the plot. Also, the sense of deep time does not really land emotionally, albeit being a pretty promising premise.

Did not cry

Meh