Finally played the available content. Getting into this game was kinda slow for me, and I didn't like the early parts much: the whole high school prologue didn't hook me, and, while I liked Marie, she lacked screentime imo: she's barely there after the proposal; seeing more of their "preparing for the wedding" stage of life would make her death hit harder. However, the dev had the benefit of the doubt because I liked Alive, so I kept playing and finally got interested when Clara tried to kiss the MC. After that, I finally appreciated the company that the game's chars form, and played till the end with no regrets.
Early on, the girls who caught my attention were Marie and Anna. But Marie famously died, and Anna turned out to be a slutty SG, so I just went for the most logical options at the time and ended up firmly on Alice's path. Thus, NSL became one of those somewhat unique games where I don't pick the best girl (here, I now think it's Clara). I do think that Alice is a good choice however; the MC needs someone who can pick up where Henry left off and pull the MC out of his misery for good, and the stubborn, straightforward, and honest Alice is perfect for the role. Clara may be the better long-term option, but she was Marie's BFF. Marie's ghost would always haunt them.
Now, I think that swapping Alice for Felicity later on would be neat, but it'd be very OOC for this MC.
Other pros:
1) Henry. After Alive, the dev continues to give us refreshingly good MC's best friends. He's actually more level-headed than the MC - a rarity in AVNs.
2) Fast travel for the free-roams.
3) Dialogue writing. I actually feel these are living people speaking.
4) Mary's cameo; she mentions her husband, who may both be and not be the MC of Alive (she meets someone else in Alive's ending if, well, alive and unromanced iirc), so not that many choices from the previous game get excluded in canon.
I have my doubts about the further plot though; by ultimately joining the track team, the MC takes a huge risk, and I'm not sure how it can end well for him.
Is it paywalled btw? Because I can access it on your patreon but the fucking platform won't tell me if I have an active sub after I cancel it (before renewal). Hard to remember sometimes where do I chip in for a month.
