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• overall: B-. enjoyment: B-.
• songs and flowers is a simple VN with an unusual protagonist. jazz has made it her goal to be just like the "information characters" in dating sims, the non-dateable friend who tells you all the secret scoops. but as silly as this concept is her reasons, and the stories around her, are shockingly deep and poignant. the writing in this game is fantastic -- though it has a bit of a slow start. the art is very visibly amateur, but it's clear that a lot of heart was put into this game and i think it's worth a play.
• plot: B. the main character, jazz (jas or "miss info", by her insistence), has made it her mission to become just like the "friend characters" in dating sims who give the player information. i.e. she wants to be a spy. unfortunately, she's not very good at it. i love this premise, frankly. my only issue with it is how unprepared she seems at times. it brings the plot closer to a normal dating sim than it could have been. i dont mind it, its just a bit more average than i expected going in.
• characters: A. very well designed, very realistic (with a couple exceptions.) noct is fantastic. he's adorable, he's full of swerves and hidden depths, and him just casually wearing dresses without it being A Thing is cool. jas is a good character as well, but she comes off as annoying sometimes. and her constant swearing, while a fine character trait, isn't really integrated great into the dialogue and comes off as forced. carol is a bit less compelling than the others, but hes still very likable. the minor characters are not always a win, but there's clearly so much thought put into them, and the designs are nice.
• writing: S. the game starts off extremely casual. the majority of it is just extremely mundane conversations with the love interests, and they're honestly not great. but it hits its stride, and the developing friendship is realistic. it does a really good job of getting you emotionally invested. and when it finally hits you with your character's actual motivations, things get interesting. the love interests stories are grippingly emotional. the game is surprisingly deep, despite the simplicity it draws you in with, and i think it's very well done.
• routes: scrapped noct/jas/carol route >> noct >>> carol
• gameplay: D. it's pure visual novel with only a few choices, and the very first one sets your route with no indication of what will happen. i'm all for being in the right place at the right time, but i think it's a bad call to pull that before even meeting the characters.
• art: F. i feel a bit bad, because it's clear the artist put a lot of work into it, but it's not great. backgrounds are sketchy, the anatomy and grasp of the human form is very obviously beginner, and though the shading is soft and kind of cute, it cant really make up for the rest of it. the hair looks nice, though. composition of the CGs is often very well done. if they keep working at it, they'll likely do much better. UI uses the renpy defaults, which is always very unfortunate, but the menus have a really cute and simple background.

https://cowboy-starshine.itch.io/songs-and-flowers