『LACKGIRL I - "Astra inclinant, sed non obligant."』

Lackgirl seems to be tentatively titled after the main character who seems to be lacking in any sort of original story. This is the first release of a planned multipart series by Dontsugel, a new company in the visual novel sphere, who should start rethinking any further entries in this series. The story stars a young girl, Satsuki, who just wants to have a normal life with her normal friends going to a normal university. Then, reality hits, and she is now a magical girl in a magical school surrounded by (anime tropes) magical people. If you haven't played this game, then don't worry you already know all the characters. Since when did visual novels start putting anime on a pedestal? We are seeing more and more visual novels that can be fully explained by stating an anime name and calling it a day. Lackgirl seems to have an identity crisis. It starts off signaling Madoka, having traces of Little Witch Academia, but ends up beckoning My Hero Academia. The story feels like a Frankenstein of a plot sewn together from various parts of the aforementioned anime plots. The new kid that somehow has a power they shouldn't, characters pushing the kid to see how far till they break but stil…

Highly recommended if you like girls, magic powers, and battles. Lackgirl is slow to start, but by the end when everything finally pops off with drama and magic battles, it gets so, so good. It ends on a big cliffhanger, but I'm still really excited for when part 2 comes out. It even has gay vibes, especially between the main character Satsuki and her best friend Subaru. I can't say I have faith it will get gayer in part 2 or part 3, but I can hope. I also think with how witches and magic works in this world, there can be neuro divergent (it even says this in the codex) and queer readings of the game. However, I feel conflicted about that, since that gets really weird and messy considering they basically have superpowers.

Lackgirl's amusing one-two punch banter is the meat on its bones and it relies heavily on the power of the VA's to deliver the humour in a way that makes up for the small scope of the world. Thankfully, I think they accomplished that, and though Lackgirl's world is a bit claustrophobic, it feels intentional; like we are slowly getting our bearings alongside Satsuki, with the introspective focus allowing for an interesting light to be shone on all the players we are introduced to so far. A few of the story beats are pretty good, but could've used more buildup. Tsumugi's story in particular felt like money cashed in just a touch too early, enjoyable for sure, but her dynamic with Kana and the Valiant squad deserved just a bit more imo. Similarly, the game cuts off super abruptly and right in the middle of a really intense part. This doesn't bother me too much as I'm invested enough to buy more, but players looking for a well rounded experience won't find it here with this part 1. Overall I quite enjoyed the first step in Satsuki's story to understand herself and the world around her, and I think if you like character focused stories with colourful players forced to clash with one…

Just bought this game because I follow the artist.

i remember hearing about this cause aokana artist did this too and interesting start we will see how it goes and not too long hopefully its nice

It happened to stop at the climax, and after the second installment, it was changed to a positive review.