A lot of the reviews/discussions for this VN are years old, and due to its release on steam/switch I figured I'd give it a go and do a quick review since I just finished it!
Note: I played the fan translated 18+ version, so the h-scene stuff won't be on the new releases.
This VN is a eroge/slice of life for the entirety of it's common route, and switches into different genres during each girls route, which for me, was a very welcome change of pace due to its very very long common route. Each route focuses on one of the give female heroines and shows how Yuuji (the MC) "saves" them and fixes their psychological issues, while completely ignoring his own.
Yuuji is a very interesting character and is definitely not a just a "stand in for the player" which is good, unless you don't like the MC. The game does not fully delve into Yuuji except on makina's route, and even then it's just bits and pieces and doesn't explore yuuji's past very much. But if you're dying to get more info on yuuji play makina's route first. I was not particularly a fan of Yuuji, although he can be funny at times. I understand hes a military type, but his sexist streak (calling the girls "woman", telling them what to do, treating them all like morons, falling for amane during her route for being "convenient") annoyed me.
I particularly enjoyed michiru's route the most, because it felt the most real (other than the dual personality thing). What I mean by real is that it felt that Yuuji actually cared for her and the h-scenes felt natural, not shoehorned in. This route gave me the most feels by far, and if you can get past the reason for the multiple personalities, was very very entertaining. I felt Michiru evolved a lot as a character and even her base character (fake tsundere) was funny in itself. The route probably has the best good ending and the saddest bad ending in the game (to me)
Saachi's route went into pre-military Yuuji and was the "childhood friend" route. I liked saachi but I felt it took her too long to evolve and she stuck to her "taking all orders seriously" for far too long. Most of this route is basically Yuuji trying to figure out what orders to give her to make her normal again. I don't feel like Yuuji particularly loved her by the end of her route, but the gradual buildup of h-scenes was appreciated because it felt a little more natural than the others. The endings in this route were ok, but noting too special.
Yukinos route was probably my second favorite route She probably felt the most real of all the characters, even though she starts as the standard kuudere type. I don't like how they show a lot more in-depth parts of her personality (like how smart she is, trustworthy, Pervy) on other routes and not on her own. Yuuji makes a lot of dumb ass decisions in this route (taking yukino back to the same spot over and over again) but either way, it feels like they fall in love in this route and I appreciated that. Yuuji does one really sweet thing for her and it's probably one of my favorite parts in all of the VN. Other than what I mentioned above this route feels more based in reality and is a lot more action ortiented than michiru's route or saachi's route. I really liked the endings in this route and both good and bad felt fully fleshed out and not thrown in real quick.
Amanes route was.....interesting. while it's a complete rip off of a particular movie from 20 or 30 years ago, I felt it DRAGGED on. You do get introduced to yuuji's sister in this route and she is a great character. I just wish that the route was either shorter or just more happened. It's like tons of flashback and then BAM THE END. This was sad to me because I really liked her character in the common route and she is kind of set up to be the "main" heroine. Her reasons for "falling" for Yuuji are really dumb (opinion) and it doesn't feel like they love each other at all by the end of the route. Most of the good ending (super flash forward) was dumb and it didn't feel real at all. At least in her bad ending you get some good info, so it's definitely worth playing just for that. Her h-scenes were shoehorned in and they felt uncomfortable for me, especially after knowing why she was such a horndog in the first place. She had no character development at all and stays exactly the same from the beginning of the game to the end.
Makina's route was kind of fun for yuuji's backstory and psychology (somewhat) I didn't like the forced incest stuff (makina calling Yuuji papa, even though they are only a year apart). Her way of speaking was fun, and she has some of the best jokes in the game. Her h-scenes were the most shoehorned in, they felt completely unnatural and we're super awkward to say the least. She did evolve as a character quite a bit (although her speaking stayed the same). This route is one of the only ones other than yukinos that had a specific villian to overcome, and said villian did some seriously f-ed up stuff. Makinas endings were by far the worst in the game. This route was very long and drawn out. I never felt as if they fell in love at all. Yuuji just wanted to pay it forward and it never felt like he truly loved her, he just had a duty to fulfill.
That's it in a nutshell! I'd like it if people who played the all ages versions comment as well because I'd like to know the real differences between the games. Let's have a spoilery discussion below!
