Curate of Curiosities

One thing that I forgot to bring up: the controls. I have no idea how they managed it, but in this visual novel, it sometimes takes a few clicks for an input to register.

Plus, I'm sure you've noticed a fast-forward button on the screenshots. So clicking on it would fast forward through the text, right? Well, no. At least, not immediately. After clicking the button, you have to manually advance the text in order for the fast forward to work. And once you hit a dialog option, you're stopped dead and have to reactivate fast-forward again!

Before we move on to the next episode, let's check out our save menu. For some reason, this game has only three save slots, plus an autosave. It's not a major issue, but it's still more restrictive than I'm used to.

...Am I getting railroaded? I'm pretty sure it wasn't Abby that I was trying to date!

Not that it matters, since I'm stuck doing the second half of episode 2 all over again!

So I check the save screen again and...I'm still getting railroaded? What kind of port is this!? Meh, in the end, this romance stuff probably doesn't matter; we've got a mystery to solve.

Let's see if Nora's got anything to say.

Apparently, she's a bit unfamiliar with the concept of sleep.

Here's what we know so far: Hanniferjane wasn't responsible for Em leaving, and they claimed that Colin might know something about what actually caused her to disappear.

So what are we going to do? Well, I'll be honest and say that he doesn't look too bright, so tricking him into saying something he shouldn't should be easy.

But Colin's such a nice guy, you say. Yeah, this is setting up for a big reveal that he was responsible for the bullying or something.

But then again, I'm not sure why Sasse is so invested in this issue. Yeah, normally on the first day of school, your locker doesn't come with angsty lovel letters, but is that really a reason to antagonize the school bullies and get in trouble with the principal?

Speak of the devil, it's him. Say, can I bother you about that one kid who disappeared that I bothered you about a few days back?

He's on his phone this entire scene, which already makes him look suspicious, and after a bit of prodding from Sasse, he tells us what we already know he knows about Em, while trying to wriggle his way out of saying anything else. Yep, we've got him, looks like he does know something after all.

But that's not all he has in store for us...

It's a bit too early for us to have a prom episode, so this is the next best thing,

It's this point where I seriously start to question the game's motives. Is it really a tool to teach teens about healthy relationships, or is it just a chance for adult players to relive middle school? Of course, I probably don't have room to talk in that respect.

This seems like the opportuity to determine who this 13-year-old will make out with at the end of the game, so of course we get pushed into interacting with the rest of Sasse's romanceable classmates, starting with Abby. And in the meantime, let's press them for more info about the ongoing Em mystery.

Pff. Obviously, Colin's not the only one who knows about what's going on. I've never seen anyone this dismissive about this situation before, not even her...oh, wait...you...had something to do with this, didn't you. You're the one who forced Em to move, weren't you?

I do not like that facial expression.

You don't suppose there's anything you've been withholding about Em that you would like to reveal right this instant?

Well obviously not, but it's no matter. We're kind of already an item, anyways, and this dance is going to make it official.

We meet Colin again, and get a possible reason why he was so evasive earlier: Marcel let him cheat off of him, so . No wonder Sasse thought he was so easy to trick.

I've already made my decision, but I certainly won't share it with the likes of you.

Come to think of it, I'm not sure that a jukebox party was the best of ideas. Almost none of these guys even know what a jukebox is.

Off to bed, where Sasse is faced with a decision, who to take to the dance.

I feel this is the critical moment.

You know, now that I'm about to pick a route, I'm starting to feel a bit awkward about this. I realize that I probably shouldn't be all that invested in romancing a giant bird from a dating sim for tweens that so far has yet to impress me.

Plus, there's the whole issue with Em that Sasse seems weirdly invested in, but that will have to wait for now.

You really are the meme choice, aren't you. Though if the goal is making me regret choosing you, then you've still got a long way to go.

And here we are. For being a mascot in a rather heavy-looking outfit, they've got some moves! Check this out!

And with that, we've really made it official! That's...something.

I believe that I've given the three of them enough help. Let's check on Colin instead.

Colin storms off and now we have to go off and ask him some more questions! And they're not even about Em this time! Another mystery, are you serious?

Unlike the Em issue, this is resolved rather quickly. He's getting behind in grades, and is at risk of getting kicked off the rugby team.

Yeah, I guess Sasse should have never gotten himself involved with that locker business, because now he's managed to get roped into no less than two of his classmates' issues in the process.

But whatever, at least he had a fun time at the dance with his new date. Yaaaaay.

Well, there's still the matter of finding out what happened to that Em kid, which is our highest priority, and the consequences of Sasse dating the school mascot, which is slightly lower priority.