Love Begins With Goodbye

I was looking forward to this game after reading all the high praise here, but after playing it I'm now flabbergasted as to why that's the case. I don't usually write reviews, but I feel like I should in this case to counter some of the praise and possibly help someone in my situation. I get that this was an indie, low-budget production; but while that can excuse a poor product, it doesn't make it better or good — especially when you're selling it at the usual genre price. The writing, acting, directing, editing, and game design are all very poor for most of it. Yes, it is obvious that this is going for a more serious and emotional story than the usual fanservice-focused entries (like FHUOR), but at the same time, it is mindlessly copying the game design from those. Why are we having the branching and converging timeline, with plenty of "pick me" scenes where you have to choose a girl for the next scene(s), with every one of them wanting the MC for no reason and getting mad when they aren't the chosen one? That can work in a light-hearted comedy where the silliness of the situation isn't out of place, but that's not how people should act if you want a more realistic approach…

Love Begins with Goodbye I had to refund this game. For European players, this game is very difficult to play properly. To even get the dialogue and answer choices to appear, I had to change my system region. In my opinion, this is completely unnecessary and should not be required just to play the game normally. After I finally managed to get the game working, the next problem came up: the translation was not very good or pleasant to read. But the biggest problem for me was the achievements. I could unlock achievements inside the game, but they were not unlocked on Steam. The game tells me that I earned the achievement in its own achievement menu, but Steam does not register it. As someone who enjoys collecting achievements and getting 100% completion, this was extremely frustrating and completely ruined my motivation to continue playing. There seems to be some kind of communication problem between the game and Steam. Unfortunately, I don't know if this will ever be fixed. The game was last updated in August 2025, which also makes me question whether we can expect any future fixes or support from the developers. I really wanted to enjoy this game, but the technical problem…

I'm a fan of FMV games, and this is one of the better ones. Great actors, great setting, good story, overall fun.

Peak

With a little bit of polish and improvement, Love Begins With Goodbye could absolutely stand out as one of the best dating-sims on the market. All the storylines AND the branching paths were creative and unique, some of them might really punch you in the gut (I demand compensation for the turmoil of that particular Luo Xue’er ending.) Really do hope the dev team continues making more. And whomever picked Når Snøen Smelter by Astrid S as an outro song??? Immaculate choice for an outro song. Bravo. 10/10 tattoo Luo Xue’er's smile on my inner eyelids.

The story is a bit weird if you put your efforts towards Leah, but it is time well spent. Personalities are distinct, though they keep interest in you long after you've abandoned them for someone else. It's a little weird, and makes the stakes feel a bit lower. Some beautiful scenery, and surprisingly plausible scenarios. Though most of the scenarios aren't. It's a mixed bag. In any case, I don't have a bunch to say. If you like FMV Dating Sims this is a nice change from the usual games you'll find floating around here on Steam.