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• overall: A-. enjoyment: S.
• wilting amaranth is a relatively short VN about a girl who finds herself trapped in a witches tower, along with a roguish prisoner. its cute, fun, and has some surprisingly deep moments tucked in, though at its core its still fairly simple. its definitely worth a play.
• plot: B. the premise is a bit obvious. a cute witch wanted a girlfriend, so she cast a spell to summon one. youre the girlfriend. oh, and youre magic too. its straightforward, but sometimes theres nothing wrong with that.
• characters: S. i found isolde a little mild for my tastes, but her meek nature being such a contrast from what youre expecting of "the witch keeping you prisoner" is very appealing, and shes sweet and lovable. a bit camilla from fates, but with a shyer appeal. amarante is a wonderfully fleshed out protagonist, and you cant help rooting for her to see through the bullshit her parents fed her. priya, oh man. priya. she can slaughter me and sell my head to rioting townfolk ANY day. i was in love with her design and roguish charm straight off the bat, but i was not prepared for what her route has in store. black widow all the way.
• writing: A. i was certainly not expecting a game with an "underwear mode" in the settings to be a serious drama about internalized homophobia and misogyny, but damn. it could have gone a bit harder with it in my opinion, but it comes through and i love the witches = lesbians metaphor in every work of fiction i see it in. overall, charmingly written with some surprisingly deep themes handled properly. the lighter moments dont always land for me but theyre fun too. its nice that its not just an angst machine as some works with these themes wind up being. im also thrilled with all of priyas routes, and as much as i love her i kind of like not having a traditionally happy ending for her, or at least not one thats easy to get.
• routes: priya > isolde
• gameplay: C. its pure VN. however, there are a lot of choices and each one changes the story significantly. its the best you can expect from a VN, though i cant put it any higher than this.
• art: A. its soft, its cute, its expressive, its got tons of character and there are a lot of CGs. its a little horny but its not blatant. theres nothing to complain about. UI design is fantastic as well.