It is an absolutely boring visual novel that is not worth your time or money.

I was very engaged with this visual novel! The title should have warned me somewhat better about how horrific it was; and reading from the developers about the Joseon dynasty afterwards was super cool (the historical context answered a lot of the questions I had about the games theme, especially some of the burning ones that were at the core of the plot that I would have completely failed to have answered otherwise; I would recommend reading the short segment the author placed in the "bonus content" area at the end). The story's pacing was somewhat sporadic, and felt much more like a series of thought experiments and such than a cohesive plot. For me this was especially a problem because I had the attention span **** and couldn't remember the diverse cast of characters' names for the life of me. This is pretty overshadowed by the brilliant setting the story takes place in which is unlike anything I've ever seen before. While it's definitely not the most polished thing I've ever played, it will definitely stick with me for a long time to come, and I think I grew a little from the experience. Not a lot, granted, but pretty good considering the track record I have with reading.

An incredible visual novel that examines what it would be like if society went backwards instead of forwards. Fully, absolutely recommended. PROS: * Vast, in-depth, and skillful use of non-linear storytelling. Told through reading logs and diaries, and interacting with characters guiding you through them, the balance between the plot unraveling as it was designed to and the player leading it in a certain direction is pulled off really well. Discovering what happened on the ship has its fair share of juicy twists and turns. Good stuff. * A remarkable example of hard working developer research, put to great use. The fictional setting draws parallels to ancient Korean culture, in regards to the universe, characters, world view, and other details. (This wasn't localized! It was completely made by someone English. Both the obvious examples and subtle references to Korean dynasties of long ago are super impressive) * Three dimensional characters whose personalities, growth, emotions, and motives are explored. Well, technically they are two dimensional, but... you get the point. Don't be fooled by the "A.I." interface. This story is full of people who are undoubtedly human and their development is one of the main highlights of the experience. * Solid UI, artwork, and a wonderful soundtrack. The OST is on steam too! The aesthetics aren't just high quality, they also fit really well considering other aspects of the game. * Player interaction is a huge plus as well. Considering that the game definitely has some emotional impact too. I won't get too into it because of spoilers. There are also 5 different endings. You can save/restore at any point, so as long as you keep a save before any major decisions then 100%'ing is easy peasy. Don't worry, most of the endings don't require much backtracking. NEUTRAL / NOTES: * Make sure you go through the different endings. I'm thinking of two of them especially, due to the important plot resolutions that only occur during each individual one. * When it comes to VNs, this is definitely a bit less "visual" and a bit more "novel." There is a lot of reading, specifically logs. There isn't as much dialogue as you might expect, although there is certainly enough and it is very effective. Well, that being said... not only the player choice but also the open parts of player exploration are key to the overall experience. It wouldn't work as well if it were a literal novel either. Overall I'm glad the devs chose this format. VN players more fond of bright artsy types with lots of interacting may be a little thrown off though. * This is probably worth going through in one go. Getting one ending doesn't take too long, although it does depend on how fast you read I guess. My reasoning is that between the complex structure, Korean names, and overall captivity the story has, if you leave it for a long while some of the details may be lost when you return. I mean I went to grab lunch and came back fine, but don't get halfway and then forget about it for a month. CONS: * The setting could have been explored more. I talked about the cultural aspects a lot, because that's what Analogue focuses on. But it could have focused at least a little on the science fiction part of the setting. It takes place on a spaceship! Granted it's a big one designed to send an entire people to start a colony, but this doesn't come up as often as I'd hoped. For the most part you could really completely forget that this isn't actually an ancient society. Aside from an awkward puzzle bit, the game does not explore the futuristic concepts. This also leads to a plot hole regarding AI and humanity, but I got over that pretty quickly. * I wish the game had a bit more contrast in certain areas of the plot. Now, this one is a bit nitpicky, but I didn't want to include only one possible negative. That'd be kind of silly. Anyway, I found myself thinking as I played this, "Wow! That's so much different/worse than my own experiences..." While this effect is executed really well, it could have happened on a character vs. character basis a bit more. The cast includes primarily high-society upper class people. The majority in poverty is mentioned, but it isn't explored enough to draw a contrast between the two. Also, aside from one main character (that conflict was handled in an AMAZING way!), society is very similar minded. This is done for a good reason, and the characters are great, varying in personality and niceness and redeemability and all of that stuff, but I ended up hoping for a bit more direct conflict as opposed to the indirect conflicts of people under one worldview. Final score: 9/10. Sorry for metacritic's lack of formatting.