Let's Not Stay Friends

Let's Not Stay Friends has been on my Steam wishlist for a while now. It came up in the sale, so I picked it up for £0.95 (normally £4.79). It's my first Russian otome game (translated, of course)...actually, I suppose it's my first non-Asian / English otome! I've tried Japanese, Korean, Chinese and English language ones. So, new territory!

In this one, you play Inske. You're attending a magical academy (I guess like upper high school / beginning Uni? as all the characters are aged 19) and are about to embark on your final exam. It involves being paired up with a partner and going into the deep dark woods/wilds and locating a portal to return safely back. 

The day starts with you being awakened by your friend-since-forever, Frenz, on the day of the exam. He's one of the three romanceable love interests and each one has (I think) four possible endings. There are a number of CGs to unlock, as well as "Items" (though there's no description of them or info, so other than the picture, dunno what they're for) and 14 Steam Achievements.

Besides Frenz (the rather tsundere childhood friend trope dude with the blonde good looks and ponytail---sigh, he reminds me just the tiniest bit of Zen from Mystic Messenger looks-wise), there's Taf (dark haired uber flirt with a fan club of girls and an ego the size of Texas) and Burain (the shyer smart dude with a probable complex and the in-between hair colour). They're all ridiculously attractive guys, maybe even a bit effeminate in a Fairy Prince type of way. Think Bowie in Labyrinth sans codpiece. For me, even though I don't normally like blondes, I'd probably rank them Frenz, Burain, and then Taf even though I normally like dark haired guys best. Not sure why -- either it's the smarmy slickness of Taf when you first meet him (I don't react well to being called "babe" in real life OR in game) or maybe just his hair cut. Honestly, the MC is pretty, but the boys are almost prettier.

As Frenz is already your planned partner for the exam and I found him the most attractive, I figured I'd start with him. I did the first play through without any walkthrough and got the "Paths Diverged" ending -- i.e. more or less the worst ending where things just get increasingly awkward and then you grow apart. So I was a bit WTF. I'd chosen the answers that seemed the "best" and most like what I would have chosen naturally. 

So I looked up a walkthrough and realised, perhaps, what the flaw in this game is. You've got to basically shove this poor dude into a corner by saying he's like a brother or a father-figure, which finally pushes him to make a move. I'm not sure how the other routes go as yet, but you definitely can't pick the "nicest" or most reasonable feeling options to get the best ending. Which makes you wonder what's up with the developers -- who hurt you? 

The other endings for Frenz are "Let's Stay Friends" which is, honestly, only slightly less awkward than the "Paths Diverged" one. Then there's the "Everything's Ahead" and "Sharing the Future" endings which are kinda similar in that you're both together forever (awwww) but one has a steamier date scene and the other has the approval of his grandfather (who happens to be a teacher at the school). Though weird thing about the steamy version...like, MC literally goes from "you're my friendzoned best guy friend" to serious shmexy-times dead quick, yo. Like, in an afternoon. I guess you'd have to say that's due to the nature of the game -- the time conceit ties it to this exam. But it'll be even weirder if each guy has a "steamy" route ending when the barely even talks to the other two before this.

I likely could have muddled through and figured out all the other endings without the walkthrough, but they definitely weren't the choices I would have chosen organically. BUT...it's quite a short game, route-wise (and you can skip between decision points), so in a bit over an hour, I unlocked all four of Frenz's endings and all his CGs (probably closer to an hour if you take out the bathroom break and search time). If I had to guess, you could get through everything within 4 hours unless you don't skip any of the repetitive bits.

Which actually leads me to the next point about this game -- the art is actually quite good. The backgrounds are really nice (especially the forest ones, with the magical trees). The sprites are reasonably animated and even blink and move (and not in a horrible way like that one mobile app where they *breathe* in a freaky, nightmarish fashion). It's made in Ren'py and I gotta say that it's one of the best looking ones I've seen made in that. Easy interface, good controls, good art. Some of the art actually reminds me a bit of Backstage Pass (the one picture of Frenz when he's about to go medieval on a forest monster is totally Matthew, down to the angle). I need to look up later if it's the same artist, though I doubt if it is. But maybe. 

The MC, Inske, isn't bad. I mean, she's clueless as to Frenz's feelings (and likely the feelings of the other boys too) and she's the classic klutz who needs to be looked after, not able to wake up on her own on exam day or remember a map and a terrible cook to boot. Sigh. Someday there will be an entirely competent MC... But Inske isn't horrible. You don't want to burn her with fire. Heh. I feel like I'm making excuses. It's just...I've seen so many that are far worse that her standard trope-y foibles don't feel that bad.

The writing is decent. It isn't earth shattering, but it isn't cludgy either. The translation seems to be of decent quality too (from reviews, seems like they revised it after the original translation was awful) -- I only caught one typo and it was a minor one. Dialogue is okay. The music was a little iffy as sometimes it just stopped, but I usually turn the music off anyway, so that doesn't bother me. If there were sound effects, I didn't really notice them.

I'll likely finish the other routes too, though I confess that I'm really not feeling the flirty dude AT ALL. He comes on super strong. But it's so short that I'll likely do it. However, given the structure of the game, it does feel like Frenz is the "True Route" even though he also feels to me to be the one you'd gravitate to first (which usually means he wouldn't be the "true" ending). But maybe my opinion will change after trying the others. 

Steaminess-wise, it's not R rated. The shmexy times are more implied than anything. I mean, I wouldn't give it to an under 13, but over 13 could likely handle it as it's pretty off-screen (especially if you didn't do the cave date for Frenz...though, given the character of Taf, that route might be more explicit). The game description said "mature" but so far it's really just a bit of kissing and anything else is implied. It's NOWHERE near the level of Fashioning Little Miss Lonesome, for instance. If people are buying it for that, they'll likely be disappointed, though it's at a level I like as I don't really want totally in your face stuff.

So, is it worth it? Yeah, for the price it definitely is. Shoot, even at the full price, it's still less than £5--cheaper than a movie ticket. Given the amount of probably game play, I think it is reasonably priced. Am I glad I bought it? Yeah. I don't think it's perfect as I get the feeling ALL the routes are likely to share that disconnect with what you FEEL the good choice should be and what the "correct" choice to get the good ending is. I'll update this after I've finished the other dudes though. Maybe the others are more organic. 

Edit: So, I was gonna do an experiment and answer every decision choice the opposite of what I would normally pick. I made it into Taf's route that way and then...eh, I couldn't do it. I couldn't flirt with the smarmy so-and-so. So I got the "Into Oblivion" ending where nothing happens between you other than him stealing a kiss and Inske being pissed about it. I think I'll have to try Burain instead. I just don't like Taf.