Shikkoku no Sharnoth

⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠿⣟⣛⣻⡿⠿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⢟⣽⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⣶⣿⣭⣽⣟⣛⡿⠿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⣳⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣟⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣾⡽⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⢳⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⢟⣻⣛⣻⠿⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡞⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⢻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⣶⡏⣻⣭⣽⡻⣿⡿⢟⣵⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣼⣿⣿⣿⣿⢙⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡽⣿⣿⣿⣟⣼⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⠿⠿⣫⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣏⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣶⣿⣷⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⡟⣵⣿⢿⣷⡝⣿⣿⣿⣟⣼⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⡿⣿⣿⣸⣿⡇⣿⡿⣻⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣽⣛⣛⣋⣮⣵⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿

This game is a steampunk fantasy visual novel by the "liar company" Liar-soft. It takes place in a fictional version of the British Empire's Golden Age, where the industrial revolution has covered London in dark clouds and fog. You play as a student named Mary who accidentally gets the "Golden Eye" that lets her see through reality. To save her friend Charlotte, who is in a coma, Mary makes a contract with a man named "M" to act as bait to lure and kill monsters. The story has a strong "dark fairy tale"/Lovecraftian atmosphere and the characters are all fully voiced, but the way the story is written uses a lot of repetitive sentences and circular talk that can feel like a brainwashing advertisement. This game has a gameplay mechanism that is very outdated for today. You have to play a hide-and-seek game on a map where you move 1, 3, or 5 steps at a time to collect "memory fragments." This is supposed to make you feel the "tension" of being chased by monsters, but the movement is so slow and limited that it just feels a bit redundant. You cannot save your progress during these parts, and there is no backtrack function if you make a mistake. The UI is very simple and inconvenient, …

Aside art&music, r merely mid. 桜井光's writing is a bloated mess packed with typical jpVN fluff, endless cryptic riddles, and blatant copy-pasting. It feels like she's just flexing her prose rather than writing something readable. Chs.1-2 set up the worldview nicely, but everything from ch.3 onwards is completely hollow. Repetitive structure, combined with her obsession with parallelisms drags the story out incredibly. The rushed finale reveals the whole thing is essentially just a yandere yuri story. And, character execution is terrible, u can't even distinguish the main cast from siders cuz they only get fragmented, superficial slice-of-life scenes completely disconnected from the core plot. The male MC, [b]M[/b], feels like a random NPC who only appears for combat. メアリnever shuts up about シャーリー, they really should've just made it a pure yuri game. Forcing sex between M andメアリjust alienates both target audiences. Copy-pasted riddles [b]-1[/b], baffling H-scenes [b]-1[/b], no EN dub/subs [b]-1[/b], masked clown drop a さて every act [b]-1[/b], ♥♥♥♥♥♥ grid-walking gameplay [b]-1[/b] Leaving a positive only I'm a sucker for steampunk. [hr][/hr] [h3]Reviews: 5/10[/h3]