I want to like this game. I do. I love "choose your own adventure" games. This one falls short, for me at least. Ill tell you what I like, and what I dont.
I gave the game 3 stars because I know that it took a lot of work. I read a message on the game forum where the creators discussed the process and the time that it took them to get it right. I really want to give it 2. One star for creativity, and one star for length. Im on a 24 hour wait right now so I really cant say that it lacks length.
Now. On a choose your own adventure game, I would like to be able to make choices. It was very frustrating to be given a choice, to pick one, then have the main character do what he wanted to do, which was not what I picked. Why did you give me the choice then?
Also, Ash talks a lot. Its annoying. There is actually too much story, and in this format, its confusing.
Last thing. I understand that you want to make money on the game. And I happily pay a few dollars towards developers who go above and beyond in gaming. But this game is rather shameless in trying to push you to buy currency to speed things up. Ash goes on a monologue. Text pops up for a minute straight. I am given the option to choose to ask what is essentially the same question written in two different ways (Ash does what he wants, I just get to ask "what do you see?" or "what happened?" occasionally. Then suddenly Im waiting for 8 hours while he investigates or walks. Im on a 24 hour wait now. Last night I left off at a 9 hour wait. Really?
Its really a different game than Lifeline, but I appreciate that I pay once for that and other games in the series, then I dont have to pay again.
So, there you have it. Im interested in the story, but the actual gameplay isnt very good. Im sure the developers will make improvements or tweak their next endeavor. Theres potential here, just please work on it, guys.
**update** I came to the end today. It took about a month with daily playing and not paying a dime for time crystals. Im disappointed & lowering my review to 2/5 stars. Ash does what he wants - your choices dont seem to matter. He is extremely unlikeable as a main character. Theres a lot of whining & pouting. More dialogue than story. It just felt like a massive waste of time, literally (I spent the last 2 days on 4 hour waits between maybe 60 seconds of story progression).