What I'm Reading This Month

I haven't done one of these in a while (years, really), but I liked writing on-site reviews about the games I played. This was instrumental to me clearing my Steam backlog a while ago, but now it's getting big again...

My backlog of visual novels is ever growing, much like my collection of books in general. There's also a ton of indie adventure games I want to get to, and will probably be easier to clear than the text heavy ones. I've also been focused on Soul Hackers 2 at the moment, having previously finished Triangle Strategy, which I've been itching to get back to.

The story for that one is far more engaging than SH2, plus there's endless room for strategizing! And I love my SRPGs...

I may review and shout out some of my favorite books of the month, but ultimately this is going to be more for VNs and broader indies.

I was actually planning to read books by two sapphic authors whose work I enjoy and met via Kindle Vella (AC Adams and Nat Paga), but I keep getting distracted by other, older books I started years ago and suddenly remembered. I'm mostly guided by what strikes me on a whim, and I'd rather not rush read something. Reading is supposed to be fun!

And right now I'm reading Kara no Kyoukai (the Garden of Sinners) by Nasu, and Seventh Layer by Novectacle (love everything they do). The latter is a VN based on their main game, The House In Fata Morgana. It's a very casual and fun side story.

Both stories scratch two distinct needs for me at the moment; I've always loved the world and arc of KnK. The Fate series never appealed to me because they're very flashy and less mystery focused. I really want more stories like KnK in general, ideally sapphic. I think this is why I tend to gravitate towards VNs these days. They have more of what I want, though I don't need them to be romantic. Some people assume a sapphic story is going to be romance centric, which isn't always the case.

And speaking of sapphic...

I recently finished The Letter. I honestly skipped through a lot of it after a certain point, as it was getting long winded and I was rather impatient, haha. It had a good start, but more and more I just wanted to see my first ending. I have a lot of complaints about its branching system and the quick time events were frustrating from time to time.

But it did have a sapphic character, which I was pleasantly surprised to see. But as a whole, I don't know if I would recommend it? It's...complicated. I think it would've made for a better game and horror story if it wasn't so path focused. I'm struggling to get the last 60 achievements I need, and I just want to be done already! It's all optional, I know, but I'm a completionist.

This is partly why I started Seventh Lair, just to have something relaxing for a change. I want to play Rei in summer, so that will be my (maybe?) heavy game for the time. We'll see. I still need to play A Requiem for Innocence.

But that's enough from me for now. I'm a slow reader (blessing and a curse), so I may not update this more than once a month.