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Review
Perhaps my expectations were a little too high for this one. Everyone is always hyping about the CDLC games and the author is such a wellspring of helpful information and a pillar of the IF community, so I thought I'd have more of a reaction than just...meh.
But I can see why it does so well for CoG fans, as it nails the CoG style. It's certainly polished and has decent gameplay, with a wide range of goals and personality customization for the MC (though I found the stat checks a little too pervasive and punishing for a supposedly cozy game). Had I liked the game more, I could see it being highly replayable. It's also a good examplar of CoG's commitment to diversity and particularly LGBT inclusivity. Players can choose from three different genders for the MC and romance options and the game is filled with gay couples and non-binary characters, including an option to join in a polyamorous relationship, all in a world that's deliberately crafted to be basically gender neutral so that there's no drama over anyone's gender or orientation.
It's basically a queer, cozy, non-magical Hogwarts story, but without anything close to the level of characterization and enchanting worldbuilding that Harry Potter is famous for. In general I found the world, characters, and romances to be flat and uninspiring.
The thing is, there are just way too many characters with way too many options. I saw someone else say there are 10 romance options (I lost count myself), and each (or at least most) can be three different genders. That's 30 different possible variations, not to mention the other non-romanceable characters we can curry favor with.
There is no possible way to do each of these romance paths justice in a game of this length. Frankly I'm not convinced any of the romance paths feel fleshed out and real but certainly not the ones I toyed with (I flirted with Freddie, dated Hartmann, then married some aristocrat from a competing school and I just finished the game a few hours ago and already forgot his name because I cared so little about him in the end).
Not every game needs good romance, but in a genre that's kinda all about character interactions, I really expected better character development and to care about at least one of them before finishing.
