Curate of Curiosities

So, now that I've finished this game...how on earth do I evaluate it?

First, the positives. This is not the worst visual novel I've played. I've played some absolute stinkers, some of which I doubt I'll be able to showcase on this site. And I'll admit that it does manage to get across how annoying school workshops can be.

Yeah...it turns out, there was a reason that before I started playing this game again, there was very little that I could remember about the plot. Neither the characters nor the storyline manage to elicit anything other than indifference, which may be far more damning than if they inspired hatred (and believe me, a couple of characters did come close). Even Turkeyhawk, the character that I had Sasse date, was only chosen for the meme factor.

I looked up some playthroughs of the other routes on YouTube (specifically, Marcel's) and it looks like you break up with him as well, when he moves back to Dubai in the final episode. So it looks like no matter what, any relationship you end up in doesn't last. I can kind of see what they were going for, especially given the age of the target audience, but if you were expecting a relatively normal visual novel, then...

I guess every problem that I have with this game stems from the fact that, unlike with Class of '09, I'm not part of its target audience. But I guess that reflects just as poorly on my intent to play it in the first place: if visual novels set in high school tend to leave me cold, then how would one set in middle school fare much better?

One last thing, there are two bonus episodes that, although only accessible in a separate submenu to the main story episodes, come immediately after the main story's ending.

The first is called "Signs Of The Times." What you're seeing isn't a mistake, it uses the wrong title card.

Three guesses as to what this was made in response to, and the first two don't count.

For some reason, the dialogue eventually comes uncomfortably close to the subject of a 14-year-old's junk, obviously to impart a very important message on likely similarly aged players.

And then at the very end of the episode, Turkeyhawk speaks. Directly to the player about how they can resist against...this is what the game thinks they should use their words on? Not their breakup with Sasse, not anywhere that it would actually have impact on the main plot, but this?

Anyways, I didn't bother with the second bonus episode, which is actually about Marcel in Dubai (and naturally, uses the title card that was supposed to be for Signs Of The Times). So I guess that's it for the game.

With that, I leave you with the trailer for the game's sequel, because obviously it deserved one: