Crush Crush - Going on about the things I like ^_^;
So, I have collected about 47 hours on the game now, and I mentioned yesterday that I recently bought the DLC for the game, which means I have opened it up again and started playing again. I don't really have anything specific to say about the DLC (- and, more importantly, I'm not sure how much I want to post bad anime girl porn on my blog), but playing it again has really reminded me how much I like some aspects of this game, so I am going to talk about it here!
✰ My favourite girls (and other takes)
✰ Cassie
Cassie is the first girl you meet in the game! She is a tsundere-type girl with a sarcastic sense of humour and a hot-cold personality. I have always been very fond of her as a character. I may be biased towards her due to her nature as an early game character, as you will obviously be more inclined to pay attention to the things a character has to in the beginning, but I am a big fan of her character progression through the stages of your relationship. I am, generally speaking, a big sucker for characters like her, who really have to "let you in" to their life.
I recently went in and started completing the galleries for characters you don't naturally go on all of the dates with. Her sightseeing sprite is my favourite, both of her date sprites and also the sightseeing sprites I've seen thus far. So cute
Her design is sort of one of my favourites- though to say "sort of" isn't really what I mean. I think she is very very cute, and I have a massive soft spot for her character design- I love her hair style and clothes, but to be honest I am not the biggest fan of the art, especially in the last "Lover" stage of her relationship. I can only imagine I feel this way because it older. I think a lot of character designs and features really shine in the newer "Phone Fling" art- which I will talk about later.
✰ Mio
The second girl in the roster and the second on my list! Mio is the gamer girl. You meet her after reaching level one Techsavvy- wherein you absolutely crush her high score at a retro games arcade. From there, your relationship grows as you comfort her.
To be honest, I kind of don't know why I like her so much. Generally speaking, I am a big fan of the "weird girl" type character. I like her through that sort of lens- she is goofy and realistic and cute. However, am not really that in touch with the sort of things she talks about, my enjoyment of her comes much more from the perspective of her aesthetics above all else.
Speaking of aesthetics, I like her design a lot! I think for the same reason, though. I just like her gimmick... I love her gloves the most, I like how they're a matching set with her socks, and generally speaking I just enjoy them as accessories. I can't say I am the biggest fan of her tank top, if it were me, I would most likely have designed her to be wearing a tee- or something slightly less risqué- but that isn't out of a preference for modesty, or anything like that. I understand why the choice was made 
I don't have loads to say about her really, the TL;dr is "I like weird girls, but I think she is a bit ugly".
✰ Quill
The third girl you meet and the third girl on my list! I promise I am not just listing all of them. Quill is a timid and quirky cat girl that you meet- and take in as she was living in a box, like a cat.
She is one of my favourites for a plethora of reasons! For one, as I've said about a lot of the girls, I am a very big fan of her design. I love her dress and cardigan, and I love the way the dress comes across as almost having a lace trim- if I could draw lace, I'd love to draw her in some more detailed clothing. I love her hair and colour palette.. I just keep wanting to say "I Love" with a long list of all of her traits. I am a big fan of the way her design is balanced.
Trying to write about all of my favourites has encouraged me to actually look at their stats page, and looking at Quill's has really emphasised to me why I like her so much. I guess I just find all of her traits so cute- I love her as another example of a "weird girl" trope, much like how I described Mio. I love how her interests all tie into her cat girl theme (like birdwatching), or her general uniquity.
My favourite line of hers is one of her greeting lines, where she goes, "Oh, frabjous day!" I am not sure why it tickles me so much. I just like the Lewis Caroll quote I suppose.
✰ Elle
The profile/button I am trying to describe.
I wanted to write about Elle essentially just to say, that I love the art in her profile/button, but she is very ugly outside of it. I would love to like her, but her strange appearance on top of her borderline ableist caricature of Narcolepsy is very off-putting.
✰ Bonnibel
Unfortunately, I don't have very much to say on her either, but I wanted to list her because I have come around to her as a character a lot- I suppose as she has to me as I play through her story.
I was certainly put off a lot in the beginning. Bonnibel is a somewhat matronly or motherly character, with a gentle southern accident and a passion for baking. I certainly can't say that this is my favourite sort of archetype, but recently I have really learned to like her, at the very least from the perspective of her character design.
I think she is very cute (which is what I have said about every girl thus far). I like her soft features a lot, such as the wave in the hair that frames her face, and the round shapes that make up the outfit she wears, and the delicate shading on the ribbon on her waist. There is only one thing I thoroughly can't get behind.
Why is she so naked at work?!?! Where are your shoes!!!!!!!
✰ Fumi
Ohhhhhhhh..... ohhhhhh Fumi................. Fumi is one of my new found favourites. Her story revolves around you accidentally bringing her to the present from a future timeline, while she tries to research the way to get back home.
I imagine my love for her is in a similar vein to my love for Cassie- she is a hard shelled character that learns to get closer to you, as opposed to this sudden bloom of friendship that occurs with other girls. I am a big fan of tropes where a character learns to be intimate, and those sorts of things, and my playthrough with her is still incomplete- meaning I am still just now getting further through her relationship stages.
I have always thought Fumi was quite an interesting character as she is very intelligent- being from the future and all. I also appreciate her design a lot, though I may be biased as I am generally suddenly so invested in her character. I find with a lot of the designs, lots of their art reads to me as awkward or clunky in certain ways, though she doesn't seem to suffer from this so much. This may though be consistent with her naturally clunky or robotic personality; I may be less inclined to notice it if I feel it is in line with the character as is.
✰ Others
I unfortunately am not really far enough in the game to comment on other characters. I am looking forward to progressing with Alpha to learn more about her character, but I am only so far in; I also feel it becomes slightly harder to keep track of different girls the more you have to keep track of.
I also bought Explora!
Yes it was stupid yes it is very difficult yes it was a long time ago. But I can't help myself. I like a gijinka and I like a computer themed girl (see: last two characters mentioned).
When you talk to her, she pulls this quizzical face, and like the other girls, she stays that way. I just find her constantly puzzled face very funny. Bro is the thinker and all that.
✰ Phone Flings
This was the other thing I wanted to talk about!
I can't say I am the biggest fan of the phone flings, generally speaking. I'm not sure how much I enjoy the whole "texting a girl in a game for porn" thing, and I can't say I enjoy the response options you are given either.
Sigh.
What I did want to talk about though, was the art, which you may remember I mentioned at the beginning when I discussed Cassie.
Firstly, I am a very big fan of the profile portraits each girl has that you receive once you learn what they look like.
I have a lot of high praise for their designs- especially Peanut. It is almost sad to praise a game for this, but I love how safe for work she is- I love her colour palette and I love her outfit. You can read what sort of person she is and what her story may be, without the obvious undertone of an NSFW plot.
Continuing to use Peanut as an example, the improvement in the art is incredible. The artists at play have a clear understanding of how anatomy works (at least, to a much better degree), and each character- though obviously exaggerated for their purposes- has a very real and soft feel to the way they are drawn.
Obviously I can't show any of the more risqué pictures, but hopefully this gives a good idea as to what the more NSFW images are like.
✰ Cassie
Back to Cassie! Cassie is the first and only main game character I have unlocked the phone fling for- I'm not keen on spending my crystals on them just yet. For now, she serves as my best example of the difference in art.
Here is her game sprite next to her Phone Fling profile.
I am sure I mentioned it previously, but one thing I really appreciate about the new art is that it clarifies certain features in her design. These are things such as her hair clips and that general "C" shaped motif, and certain aspects of her colour palette that may have slightly blended together.
✰ Generica
Generica.... Ohhh.... Generica..... I gently pet my monitor in a slightly mournful manner and clutch one fist to my chest in emotion...
I didn't mention her in my "favourite girls" list as I wanted to keep her in the Phone Fling section, but if I had to make a real list, I would absolutely put her in my top three. Generica is the other half of Ayeka's story- the girl Ayeka kills at the beginning of hers.
She is one of my top favourites for just about every reason I could mention.
For one, like I have said for every girl so far, I am absolutely in love with her design- I just think she is so cute. I love the way her hair is interpreted from her original design (cough kokona cough) into this soft wispy style, that matches her ghost theme. I am also a very big fan of her purple colours, and the ways the navy and pink are used to compliment them. I am also a very big fan of the way she is drawn, again very similarly to things I have already mentioned; her features are very round and realistic, in a way that you could picture them on a real person.
I also enjoy her story a lot- in a very pathetic way I love her so much because she vaguely reminds me of myself. I think her writing is very sweet and I enjoy the way her text is stylised. I appreciate her interactions with Marshmallow and her personality as someone who is melancholic and sensitive in her death.
Her texts
✰ Fumi
I don't have anything to say about her, but I felt I should mention Fumi has an alternate timeline Phone Fling named Dr Fumi. She is a little dated- she plays this character that comes from the future to warm Marshmallow of The Plague........ The plague, that is, being COVID. I guess generally speaking I find topical subjects like that a little cringey- not COVID in particular, just generally those sorts of things that are only relevant for so long ... she makes jokes about running low on toilet paper and things. I can't say it's my thing.
That's all I have to say! I think! I am sure I could go on for a very long time about other functions of this game, but I have been going on for far too long given that this is a very mediocre clicker-style dating sim. Thanks for reading anyway!
