Ratings and Reviews by ArloElm

This game is an exploration of long distance relationships in the modern age. The art is excellent, the writing thought-provoking, and the music moving. Everyone involved with the making of Spring Gothic was really pulling their weight.
 
I very much appreciated the game's depiction of neurodivergence (it's heavily implied (Spoiler - click to show)at least one of the main characters is autistic, although likely doesn't realize it herself yet). The way the story didn't shy away from showing some of the uglier sides of its characters—even as this related to neurodivergence—was refreshing. Nica and Chun are not idealized and sanitized romance protagonists. These are real people, flawed and compelling.
 
Their pasts, ideas, and desires are handled thoughtfully, their travels though London grounded in real locations depicted through photographs, their inner monologues filtered through past experiences and formative books, authors, and artists that influenced them as they grew into understanding themselves as queer women. (Frankly, the frequent name-dropping of books, queer theorists, and movies was one of my favorite parts—I've added several to my to read/watch lists.)

My one complaint was (Spoiler - click to show)the speed at which the relationship seemed to reach repair after the argument felt awfully rushed. Maybe that abruptness was the point, and the sudden jump to more or less "back to normal" when Nica returned home was part of continuing relationship dysfunction, but I couldn't quite parse if this was the intended reading. Whatever the case, it wasn't enough to detract from my overall enjoyment of what is a truly remarkable and layered game. I know I'll be thinking about it and its characters for a long time.