Recent reviews by ovum

Let’s be together, forever…

On the shorter side gameplay wise, but has gorgeous designs topped off with interesting characters and story. Puzzles are a little simple, and the clues could’ve been a bit more vague for my personal taste, but overall a truly wonderful experience.

At the time of writing this review I have put about 14 hours into gameplay and waited 4 IRL days to progress the main storyline. As it is currently priced, I cannot recommend this game right now. $40 is a hefty price tag for a mobile port of a diet animal crossing game, but to make matters worse, the player cannot progress the game at their own pace, but rather the pace the developers want you to progress. The warnings set into place by the devs and the views they have on time manipulation are baffling to witness when you directly compare it to Nintendo of all companies (that had 0 restrictions in place for that in NH). I understand if there is a personal risk associated with time traveling (I.E impacting save files and messing with events), but to completely remove multiplayer access for doing so is asinine.

Listen at the end of the day I love sanrio characters and casual games as much as the next guy, but I hate the absurd price and questionable dev choices even more.

On my own personal journey to play through every single (current) nitro+chiral vn, sweet pool marks itself as the final entry. Sweet pool is a curious addition to this company’s library simply from how it plays in the exact opposite of its predecessors. The usual N+C formula I’ve grown accustomed to usually includes multiple bachelors, routes that will flesh out those characters (that tie them into the main story), and conclusive endings that vary in quality and length specific to the individual characters. “Sweet pool” takes this approach and flips it on its head. Instead the multiple bachelors are nothing more than an extension of the story and main love interest “Tetsuo”. This can be a hit or miss depending on your own personal preference, but regardless the change in structure can still be appreciated for attempting something new. I can’t say outside of this character/route change that I am a huge fan of sweet pool’s larger story. I found the parasite “omegaverse” esque flesh demons to be a bit much for my own personal tatse at times, sometimes even detracting from the scenes or character development entirely. Although, this is nothing more than a preference, and thankfully the physical violence and body gore is overall less show-y and in your face than in “togainu no chi” or “slow damage”.

The other standout game elements to “sweet pool” includes the music and visuals. The art style is noticeably different than N+C’s other works, but nothing to really comment on or critique. Albeit, some minor criticism I do have with the art includes a few sprites of the main character “Youji” that I found to look a bit off, but overall nothing too distracting.

The UI is very unique compared to other N+C titles, but I can’t really decide if it’s something I found that added to the experience. The extras menu visually compliments the cultist elements and rundown/grotesque vibe of the game, but the other menu’s can feel sort of bare in comparison.

The OST this time felt very haphazard. Coming off of a playthrough of “lamento -beyond the void-“ left “sweet pool” feeling wholly inferior to that, instead only having a few standout tracks worth listening to on their own. Don’t get me wrong, I think the soundtrack can be very fitting for this game, but I wouldn’t say it’s anywhere close to being my favorite from this studio.

Finally let’s finish this off with a look at the endings. I won’t be spoiling them here, but I think it’s still important to talk about them in a broad sense. Three out of six of the endings are variations of more or less the same idea, and none of the endings are considered to be happy by any stretch of the imagination. This idea furthers the intent of “sweet pool” being an alluring albeit tragic romance tale. The endings can be bittersweet to watch and I think it ties into the larger themes of the story itself. There is beauty in watching Youji wish for nothing more than the happiness for Tetsuo, and clinging onto his humanity when given no other option. The ending that includes the monologue of Youji wishing to be together with Tetsuo for all of eternity, despite their circumstances, was my personal favorite to witness.

Overall I’m left conflicted on where to put “sweet pool” at on some arbitrary ranking or tier list. It suffers from a shorter run time than other N+C games, so I can’t say I’d necessarily recommend it at full price (at least compared to DMMD & TNC price points), but on a sale I think it’s extremely great at what it seeks out to do, despite its minor flaws.

i love my desktop girlfriend she is all mine just for me she is perfect and beautiful and i love this game because it has my (MY) desktop girlfriend do whatever i want for me heh dont you wish you also had my wonderful amazing desktop girlfriend but you dont! shes allllllllllll mine (PS SHOUTOUT SPIKYLEAF ON STEAM FOR THE GIFT)

I never played the earlier demo of "Psychopomp" so I can't comment on previous levels versus the new levels in "gold", but what I can say is that there is a lot to love here. The levels are all pretty similar in how they look, feel, and play, but that doesn't stop them from still being enjoyable in different ways. The only complaint I have is that I think health items were almost too plentiful at times and that the stamina bar was too low for how big the last level is. While the game does a good job of rewarding exploration, it can be annoying to have to redo a large area with how limited your sprinting is. Overall I really loved this & I can't wait to see more from this series in 2 !

it's pretty good

You gave it life, it took its own sentience, but it has been denied mobility. It can think, it can fume and scream, but it cannot dream or aspire to the stars or enjoy a sense of its own reality...... A thing trapped in its own skin.

PROS:
CHILDHOOD FRIEND WITH LOTS OF ANGST AND MISUNDERSTANDINGS
TWINK WITH A BROTHER COMPLEX
DILF INFORMANT WITH INSIDE GOVERNMENT KNOWLEDGE
MYSTERY GUY WITH CREEPY EYES THAT CRAVE LOVE

CONS:
CREEPY MASKED GUY WITH A SADISTIC FETISH FOR TURNING PPL INTO "ART"
CREEPY MASKED GUY'S BODYGUARDS
STRONGEST FIGHTER IN THE CITY WHO STRIKES FEAR INTO ALL

Like other reviewers have mentioned already this VN is VERY short. I leisurely took my time with it and still managed to finish it under 1.5 hrs. I would recommend picking it up on a good sale in the future, but other than that, I can't say I'd recommend it full price. The world building is interesting & the set up with the characters is too, but other than that there just isn't much here.

Just as insanely fun and fluid as the previous entry to the momodora series; topped off with charming visuals and beautiful music. This is a no brainer at price point too, just buy it already