Carpe Diem: Reboot

[h1]"What am I doing with my life.."[/h1] The first part after all these years remains one of my favorite games. Short, beautiful and memorable for a long time, like fireworks, it stays in my memory as a bright trace. After such a storm of emotions, I incredibly wanted to play the second part, but I was able to get to it only now. And, my impressions were mixed. [h3][i]>REBOOT. PLOT[/i][/h3] The actions continue the first part. Our hero tries to create an ideal girl, but the program fails again and again. So he gave up and decided to spend the last days with her until the code finally disappeared and deleted itself from the computer. However, the smartest AI has its own plans, having received control over the 3D printer and mechanical hand, she closes herself behind the curtain and begins to prepare a gift for us. Day and night she creates something, receives a bunch of boxes with unknown contents, and categorically forbids us to watch. From lack of communication, we begin to get bored and sad. And we don't want this gift at such a price. However, on the birthday, we find that the program is completely erased from the hard drive and there are no more traces of AI. In tears, we …

Carpe Diem: Reboot is an emotionally driven indie visual novel that places intimacy, loss, and personal reflection at the forefront of its experience. Developed and published by Moonlit Works, the game serves both as a continuation and a reimagining of the original Carpe Diem, expanding its ideas into a more fully realized narrative while remaining approachable for newcomers. Rather than focusing on spectacle or mechanical complexity, it centers its entire design around a single, fragile relationship and the quiet but devastating implications of its impermanence. The story follows Jung, a young programmer whose life is deeply intertwined with Ai, an artificial intelligence companion who exists not merely as software, but as a presence that offers comfort, affection, and emotional grounding. From the beginning, the narrative makes it clear that this bond is temporary, and that knowledge hangs over every interaction. The tension between cherishing the present and dreading the inevitable future forms the emotional spine of the game, shaping both Jung’s internal struggles and the player’s perception of each moment they share together. Gameplay adheres closely to traditional visual no…

Carpe Diem is a really fun read. I really enjoyed the characters and how the story progressed. Even with how short this novel was I think the dev did a good job with the overall pace of the story and I did not notice any random plot holes. Even though some side characters only get enough screen time to finish a bowl of ramen they all left enough of an impact without intruding on the story. The soundtrack and the art style are both really nice and elevated the overall experience for me. The endings while not the greatest did leave a large impression on me, especially the True Ending that really flipped the story upside down for me. Based on how the previous parts of the story were written I was expecting some completely different endings so that bait and switch was a great way to conclude this novel. I fully recommend Carpe DIem: Reboot it was a great read and I do hope to see the dev continue making more fun stories like this one.

The original was an interesting take on people avoiding reality, with a made up one. This "reboot" instead is completely in it's own reality. Where the first one was a short game that had the ultimate message of "Go touch grass.", this one's message is... Don't be a super genius that creates the most advanced AI ever known? Not directly comparing this to the previous one, it's a okay visual novel. Not amazing, not awful, but not above the tier of anything you could find free online. The only things that make this stand out are the voice acting and, admittedly, pretty good art. The writing isn't good and they would have benefited from having a proofreader involved in the project, because there were hundreds of errors in the script. If it was free, maybe I'd recommend it, but for a product that costs actual money, no this isn't worth it. Just play the original one.

I played the first one which was short and I liked it, so I got Reboot as well. Ai is amazing and it would be an amazing visual novel if it didn't had the most boring and unlikable protagonist ever... Seriously, Ai is finally with him and he has the excitement of a gravestone. Ai is an artificial intelligence and it has more personality from Yung. I let it run many times, leaving it open and forgetting about it and could not bear to play it for more than a few minutes at a time, but I wanted to see what would happen only to have a true ending which is tragic and a "Good" ending... Ai was amazing, but Yung is literally the epitome of boredom. I would prefer if the protagonist was just the player and we got to act as we want. I hope for a 3rd instalment regardless and I either hope to see Yung more enthusiastic and not like a npc or as I said above for us to be the protagonist. Very good story, but bad protagonist.

Ai... my beloved