Kanon

    Experiencing Hisaya's and Maeda's writing journeys through Moon. and One hasn't been pleasant from a traditional point of view, but from an analytical one, it has pleased me beyond belief. Seeing the mixture of styles in Moon. and their separation in One has proved to me which of the two is more worthy, and Kanon further emphasizes that preference. Maeda has yet to take the reins in this project, being left with only 2.1 of the routes, while Hisaya takes the planning credit, most of the routes, and the "main" route of the package.

Nayuki

    While in likely every visual novel that allows it, I'd rather do the true route first, or at least the route of the titular heroine, in this case I'd argue that is far from a good decision. The common route in almost every corner pushes you to do Nayuki's route first, even so far as giving her the opening scene. The common route naturally flows into her route in a way that most visual novels don't try to accomplish, instead opting to throw heroines at you without clear direction, hoping you pick the correct route order or at least read your favorite one of the selection and move on to another game. 

    What ends up happening is Nayuki's route leaves a larger impression on the reader than it should, but it's well-deserved. Once her route starts, the development and chemistry between the two is already far established, so it can transition to its drip-feeding of hints and dreams, building up the eventual climax without much trouble or without wasting too much of your time. It's this kind of style that Hisaya is known for throughout his minor visual novel career, and one that he perfects in Kanon. Rather than opting for big reveals, or development through light-hearted slice of life sequences, Hisaya prefers mellow, almost bittersweet though certainly leaning sweet, moments of melancholy. Once coupled with the overall aesthetic and atmosphere of the game, one of shallow blues lit by bright snow, it comes together beautifully, with the soundtrack lending a more than appreciated helping hand. Nayuki herself, through her colors and demeanor, embodies the game, even if she clearly isn't its focus.

    Nayuki's relationship with Yuuchi is one more of memories than natural connection. They get along well, there's no doubt about that, but in a lot of ways they remind me of marriages in the past, where people simply got together for matters of convenience and growing up together rather than genuine connection. Even after they experience hardship I still find myself wanting to go deeper into each other's troubles, rather than repeatedly say they would protect/be beside each other for all time. There's sweetness in that for sure, but that's all it is. There's no particularly interesting flavors except a decent balance of sugar.

    It's here where I find the game differentiating itself from One the most. While One feels like a rushed doujin game, with barely any thought put into its setting, character designs, and almost every aspect of it oozing with money-grab, its relationships lacking in everything chemistry, Kanon is filled with, dare I say, soul. Regardless of how much parts of the game lack depth, they make up for it in sheer feeling. But, in a lot of ways, Kanon shares One's DNA. It feels like a soft reboot of One, with many of its elements swapped around, exchanged between the characters, put in other places, or swapped altogether. This is Nayuki's route in particular, since unlike Mizuka's route in One, them both being childhood friend routes, Nayuki's route is actually good.

    Alright, that's obviously a little blunt, but it gets the point across for the experience. Obviously, it must be said for fairness's sake that Mizuka's route was written by a young Maeda, while Nayuki's was written by the main writer and planner of the game. The difference in styles is one thing, but the contents is what I want the focus to be here. To be the starting route of the game, and I hate to say this, but Mizuka's is ambitious, but falls extremely flat on its face, while Nayuki's is more traditional but offers a well-rounded, well-executed experience. Rather than swinging hard on every ball, and ultimately striking out its first runner, Kanon makes a steady swing, not hoping for a homerun but instead a decent hit to the outfield.

    So, while at the end of the experience a reader's memory of Nayuki's route may end up foggy, as a short and sweet experience, I wouldn't dare describe it as forgettable. Instead, I'd say it's close to one of the most perfect and seamless usages of the common route, as if to compensate for its rather bland premise. While the other routes may trump Nayuki's in many ways, either through intrigue or emotion, its impression as the common route is everlasting. 7/10

Shiori

     From common and Nayuki's to Shiori's, my expectations were high. With the background knowledge that this was another of Hisaya's routes, I knew that those expectations could be surpassed, and they were. Shiori's route from the outset is full of intrigue, although their interactions are not interesting. However, if you stick through it, you can see their relationship steadily improving. Throughout the visual novel, this remains my favorite relationship, and my favorite progression. By the end of the route, there remains none of the awkwardness that was present initially, they constantly joke around and are serious with each other while implicitly knowing which statement is and isn't a joke. Every part of their relationship brims with realism, even if their circumstances seem outlandish.

    But even in the emotional parts of their relationship, they absolutely nail it. The depth that was lacking in Nayuki's route comes here in Shiori's, where we can see Yuuichi getting at his most introspective. Shiori herself comes to question Yuuichi's resolve many times, and through his interactions with the side character we come to understand Yuuichi internally much more than any other route. While Nayuki's route was mostly centered around her, Shiori's develops both characters at the same time. It's this that most makes me believe in the realism. Even here, they can joke with each other, while still coming to understand each other internally, unlike Nayuki's route. Their relationship isn't one brought by circumstance, but because they make up for each others faults, they understand themselves on a deeper level, and all of this happens through their natural chemistry with each other. As Yuuichi, the reader has to find Shiori, unlike Nayuki, which is available right at the start of the game. That in itself perfectly describes their relationship.

    This route, and another later, is hard to speak of without spoiling. Just the reveal of the plot itself is something I would consider to be a spoiler, so I'll refrain from speaking of it. Although, I will say it's handled very well, with an appropriate amount of buildup and pay off. In a lot of ways, Shiori's route resembles what I would say is the "the world is ending" mentality, where the characters see no future in their actions, so they act each day to their best, even if there's a darkness present within them. It's this depiction that makes their actions, while relatively simple and standard in the visual novel space, gripping. And even then, the reader is given bits of backstory and development, with their own reveals, that make the eventual ending destroy them much harder. It hurts. A lot.

    Shiori's route is, in many ways, the most that feels like a reboot of One. But it reuses those elements to a better fashion, without any of the fluff or bad execution. These elements stay exclusive to Shiori's route, without being present in any other, unlike One, where they are beat to death. Their chemistry, in the most surface level way, resembles One's Misaki route. They play off each other extremely well, their personalities matching the most out of the cast. They are on an equal playing field, with no one side teasing more than the other, where both get equal enjoyment. Out of all routes, Shiori's is the only one where I can see this being fully true.

    There's also the side character that gets development in the route, alongside Yuuichi. I obviously can't mention who they are, but I just want to say it's something I didn't expect, that regular side characters would be used to a route's benefit, and not as simple gag characters. It's fun when the entire cast is involved in something. 

    And while Shiori's route may be clouded by a future route that plays at similar heart strings, it still deserves its place at the top. In terms of relationship development, emotional payoff, and chemistry, this is where Hisaya reached his peak. The plot may not be as strong as one of the later routes, but it still more than holds its own weight. And while I may prefer that route ultimately, Shiori remains best girl. 8/10

Makoto

    Being Maeda's first route, I expected nothing, hoping he would improve from his past ventures in One. Sadly, while it's an improvement, a lot of the mistakes that One commits are still present. Inherently, it shares his style, in a way that doesn't benefit the experience. And once again, Maeda looks at the planning board and misinterprets Yuuichi's personality, turning him into what he ultimately isn't in Hisaya's vision, changing his personality entirely.

    I haven't spoken much about Yuuichi's character for this reason. Makoto is the perfect space to get into why he's inconsistent throughout the visual novel. It is entirely because Maeda looked at Ayu saying "Yuuichi is mean" and took that to heart. Maeda's interpretation makes Yuuichi into an asshole, plain and simple. Throughout Makoto's route he sexually harasses her (in ways that happen the same in another route, except Yuuichi acts the complete opposite way), instead of teasing her is outright vile towards her, and ignores her every innocent advance even if he has nothing to do (without any tact as is usually present in Hisaya's routes). Maeda once again, like One, decides the protagonist must be a horny eroge protagonist who is selfish and wants nothing to do with the heroine, until he does, at the very end. The protagonist is no man, but instead a little boy, who plays off his impulses and thinks not through his actions. The consequences for his doings are either not present at all or are immediate unearned forgiveness. Maeda gives me no reason to like his depiction of Yuuichi whatsoever.

    And it doesn't stop there. The formula he establishes in One of mostly having the route be boring and with tons of backloaded content, is thoroughly here. Though slightly blemished by the plot, as to keep the reader engaged, there still isn't much development emotionally until the very end. What this ends with is an ending that, while genuinely good, doesn't feel earned, and the route overall is hurt. Hisaya prefers the slow drip of information, while Maeda prefers to instant injection. Makoto's isn't the worst offender, however, so I somewhat forgive the route in retrospect.

    Although, with Makoto's route the game introduces magic into the mix. I don't mind this, to be clear. If it fits, and is used well, a softer kind of magic certainly has its place. Makoto's route uses these elements only in her route, and in no one elses. Instead, they introduce other magic. It's very strange, but it services the plot, so I can't complain.

    Makoto's route ends unmemorable, and even more so after you finish the whole package. Her addition isn't necessary and feels inserted, and Yuuichi acts off his rocker, but it at least isn't offensive. 5/10

Mai/Sayuri

    Oh boy, if you thought Makoto's route was mid, get ready for worse. Frankly, Mai is a repeat of Makoto's, except most mistakes are expounded upon, some are fixed, and new ones are added (or more aptly, taken from One). Yuuichi is not nearly as much of an asshole, and doesn't share those traits specified before, except certain scenes where he is, once again, reverted to an eroge protagonist for no reason.

    Mai's route starts off innocently enough... except it doesn't really start. Throughout most of the route all the characters do is have slice of life scenes that provide no fulfillment or development, and there is drip-feed of mystery. Instead, it's eating, eating, killing demons, sleeping, and the cycle repeats until the ending, once again backloaded, but to an even larger degree. Every single reveal is backloaded, with no plot present throughout the route whatsoever. There is no feeling of satisfaction in the ending, no feeling of a mystery being solved. Instead, it feels like an overtly emotional infodump that doesn't want to end, and when it does, you're dumped into Sayuri's route, which is basically content that should have been in Mai's route anyway. It's a bundle of messy and weird decisions that make no sense.

    And throughout it all there's a very strange air of sexism, borrowed 1:1 from Rumi's route in One. "Mai must become girly" is there up until the ending and after the ending. "Mai must appear a certain way to her pears" is present there too, just like Rumi. It's a mess of bad ideas brought about by its time and not made better by its writer. What makes it even worse is the fact that these themes are only present in this route. There is no overarching narrative here, it is just Mai's route that wants these things to be true.

    The magic, as well, is exactly like Makoto's, except circumstances make it even more inserted.

    So, no. Just no. On a first read I had forgiven this route a bit, and may have even been positive, but after the next route I could not forgive any part of it. 3/10

Ayu

    Ayu's route was one I had been excited for since seeing the opening. The imagery of her in wings and the subtle hints of something missing dropped in every route helped that build throughout the game. It did not disappoint.

    I don't have much to say on Ayu's route, but this doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it, far from it. It's the one that I enjoyed the most. Out of routes (I went and looked at the times) it nears one of the shortest, but that's exactly what makes it so special. It's so well-paced it impressed me. It doesn't try wasting your time whatsoever, and it doesn't hold the relatively lazy pacing of the rest of the game (which, isn't an insult, and for emotional romance games like these is usually a boon). And while the routes build themselves up within themselves, Ayu's route is special because it uses the whole game to build tension. Also, part of the reason it's so short, it doesn't need to waste time doing that either. It runs with the plot and that's great. It doesn't reach Shiori's depth, but that's because it doesn't need to. If it did, then the rest of the routes in the game would feel worthless in comparison. If Ayu's route had everything the game had to offer, it would be the only route you needed to play.

    But yes. If, in some other universe, where visual novels weren't so established as "every girl needs to have a route," then maybe Ayu's route could have been a perfect mix of elements from the whole game, culminating in a masterpiece. That isn't the case, though I'm still more than glad that we live in a universe where it's genuinely great. 8.5/10

Conclusion

    Hisaya's writing journey ends here, largely because he decided to leave the company and produce many doujins for his games without company legislature, all of which have been lost to time. Maybe I'll get my hands on some of those someday. Anyway, his next project was a wash produced by many random writers, and then his next one is a relatively recent game, one that I have no interest in. From now onwards, Key's writing is headed by Maeda, and later down the line by other writers as well. Air will be his first foray as a main writer, and his sections are extremely well-received, while the other ones... not so much. We'll see how that goes.

    Kanon, like One, is another mixed bag from the same team. Though, this bag is heftier, and contains more presents, better presents, than a load of coal with some rough diamonds. Happy holidays everyone.

Moon. & One ~To the Radiant Season~

Moon.

    For a team's first work and a company's second, it isn't as bad as you expect it to be... conceptually speaking, that is. Moon. starts off with exactly what you wouldn't expect from any of Maeda or Key's usual romps: a setting almost completely devoid of reality and school life, filled with mystery, and most of all, gloomy and bleak. It gives you only hints of whats to come, and it grips you with that alone. It's only then that things start to go downhill for the game, sadly.

    The gameplay is introduced to you early on after some introductions for the main trio. No bullshit, it's terrible. I seriously don't even know why it's there, the only reason I can think of is for padding time, and a couple moments where you can get a bad end if you don't take certain actions. There's barely any room for exploration, because you aren't rewarded for exploration. You can walk into rooms and examine every tile if you'd like, though you'll find nothing 95% of the time. And so for a system basically intrisincally tied to exploration for there to be none, you expect unclear destinations, to sort of give a point to the system. But, no, not that too. Corridors are narrow, destinations are usually trivial and spoken by the main character right before you're thrown into the gameplay system. This, coupled with its day-by-day routine system, completely breaks the story, and any replayability it may have had. This, on its own, impeded me from even trying to get any other ending except the True End. So, sadly, this isn't going to be a super complete review, although from what I've read those endings aren't worth seeing anyway.

    On that note, the story. Most of it is told in these destinations you're supposed to go, through your traditional sprite/CG and textbox system. You go through Ikumi's routine in the facility, which, as mentioned before, gets repetitive to the point of numbness. The pacing of the story is ruined. What I will say, though, is that the story itself, put in the toughest vacuum possible, isn't bad. It is backloaded to all hell, true, but it has a certain charm that can't be said to be present in the team's next work. But even then, it has issues. The Elpod sections, mainly, are absolutely awful. A great concept that could give way to great character development instead used to further push hentai scenes unto the player all of which are gratitious to the point of annoyance, a running theme with the game as a whole. It can be seen in the game's other hentai scenes, the ones that take place in Class B and C. They try to make this a part of the lore, but the intentions behind them are clear. Which, by the way, all have a weird air of scat and piss fetishes. Not my cup of tea.

    So let's say you ignore all of that. There's plenty of characterization in the other sections and bits of the game, right? Well, that's correct... to a certain extent. While the characters are given a fair amount of time to interact and flesh themselves out, they end up with no depth anyway. They are far too simple and one-dimensional from start to finish. Ikumi and the Boy are the only ones I'd say that stray from this a tad, and have chemistry to boot, but what they do have feels cut short. For a visual novel of this size, with this many opportunities, most of their day-to-day lives are spent running through similar dialogue that has been run through a thesaurus, with barely any change. 

    It's only toward the end that this changes, because it has that "this episodic show is ending so here's your two episode plot finale" NG. Lots of things happen in that ending plot-wise that breaks from their routine. But since it's only "two episodes" you're left with wanting more, not in a "I want a sequel" way but in a "that felt rushed" way. And this extends to the plot as a whole, obviously. They introduce and reveal concepts that aren't really addressed in the best manner, and are ultimately rushed through as well. Good concepts, in fact, like most of the visual novel, that are squandered.

    Just like the music and art, too. The music is surprisingly good and catchy even if the overall soundtrack is short and... repetitive. The CGs looks genuinely weird, but the sprite work is good, and it works with the 3D background well.

    To conclude: it looks good, sounds good, but ultimately tastes okay, and some bites taste awful. A cake that I can't call average as a whole, but slightly below that.

    If it had to be a numerical score: 4/10

One ~To the Radiant Season~

    Coming off of Moon., my expectations were fairly low. Looking at One from the outset, there wasn't much that interested me. The setting fit more with the Key staff's usual romps, sure, but it was that exact fact that turned me off so much. Moon. showed me that they could have done more, but reverting to what sold at the time is disappointing to my own tastes. But, keeping an open mind, I dived headfirst into solid fucking concrete.

    Mizuka's route is offensively bad. I can't even begin to describe how many boxes it ticks off on person-to-person emotion-to-emotion crimes it commits. The entire route is centered around the protagonist abusing the girlfriend he confessed to on a game that the boys had played on him. In every single way she is emotionally battered throughout the events of the game, and this escalates to her being physically and sexually abused. And even despite that, she still comes back to him, like a stockholm'd animal. It's disgusting from every level. It falls below anything Moon. had offered even in terms of rape hentai scenes, even if I didn't actually see any of that (might have been my version of the game). And then, on top of that, the plot centering the game feels the most wrong here. It's just there because it has to be, and for no other reason. It doesn't serve the relationship whatsoever. There are no reedeming qualities here. I don't know what Maeda was thinking when he wrote any of this. If this was standalone, it'd be an easy 1/10.

    Rumi's route is a standard fair. Almost too standard, it comes off as trite, and just there for the sake of it. And it's funny, too, because the chemistry they have in the common route completely disappears due to her becoming more "girly." There's lots of elements here that are problematic in that regard too, but I'd rather not dive into it. The protagonist actually acts like a normal human being and isn't outright an irreedemable assholely cartoony villain, so I guess that's good. The plot, again, is present here, but at least it's placed in a way that doesn't feel awkward. Though, as is a running theme with this game, the ending is good, but the post-credits scene ruins it. This is the best of Maeda's routes in this game by a mile, but it still isn't good by any means. 4.5/10.

    Akane's route is good. And it surprised me, too. Coming off of the previous two routes I fully expected absolutely nothing. Another game with some interesting characters squandered by the structure, plot, and terrible writers. But, no. Hisaya showed me that at least he could pour heart into this soulless piece of garbage. Although, I say only "good." Because Akane herself isn't that much of an interesting character, it's more the events surrounding her, and how it ties to the plot emotionally. It was more scraping the surface for the other two Hisaya routes rather than actually bringing things out of me. Weirdly enough, however, is that this is the only route where I can actually accept the post-credits scene. Both elements work, and only here. 6/10.

    Misaki is easily where the game peaks. It isn't a particularly high peak, because as is a running theme with both Moon. and One everything is underdeveloped, but it's enjoyable nonetheless. Off the bat in the common route Misaki's interactions were my favorite, but them showing a different more emotional side to her was something I didn't expect, and then using that to wring a couple tears out of me was more than enough to sell me. It taking place mostly on the rooftop, helping the atmosphere, and the descriptiveness of the text feeling slightly heightened really elevates it from the rest of the game. Her development is short, but it's sweet. But once again, good ending, and the worst post-credits scene. Not that it's any different than the others, but that taking in the context that it happens, and the development of Misaki, it doesn't make sense. Thank you, Hisaya, for saving this shit. 7/10.

    I expected a lot from Mio's route, and sadly those expectations weren't met. This route didn't play as much into the emotional factor that she couldn't speak, instead going into past meetings as children, and mementos from that as is common in romance games. It was underwhelming only for the reason that the previous route was great. Same post-credits ending problem. 5.5/10.

    Shiina's route. Oh boy. There's no way to sugarcoat this, it's grooming. Child porn. She's a fucking middle schooler, canonically underdeveloped, and acts half her age. Jesus Christ. Maeda, what the fuck. 1/10.

     Hikami's route... is not even a route? It barely exists, barely anything happens. It provides clues on the plot of the game... but it isn't anything you couldn't figure out yourself at this point in the game anyway. There's hints that they wanted to actually go the romantic way for the route, but it doesn't happen. It also just ends. Abruptly. And nothing is really explained at the ending. I'm not even giving this a score, honestly.

    Overall, you may have noticed I don't mention the protagonist much, and that's because he's basically just a self-insert. Maeda writes him as an outright asshole, Hisaya writes him as a more dense, confused, but when he realizes the fact, loving character. The common route depicts a mix of both, making me suspect different scenes were tackled by either writer.

    On that note, the lack of cohesion is apparent even going to the route order. There is no true route, no ending. You end the game on whichever route you do last. So, I played based on order of appearance, and since Shiina and Hikami don't appear unless you look for them, that's how it ended for me. To prevent my mistake, I suggest:

Mizuka > Rumi > Shiina > Mio > Hikami > Akane/Misaki

Concluding Thoughts

    I was going to write these reviews separately at first, but after finishing One for good I realized that comparing both games was a good exercise. While Moon. showed potential for both writers, One split them both into their separate fields, showing the strengths and weaknesses of both, while also putting them in a more neutral setting, where they could express themselves individually better. While it hurts to say this, especially with the Key catalog in my sights, Maeda did not prove himself whatsoever. Hisaya, on the other hand, showed competency, and because of this I'm convinced the good parts of Moon. were his doing. But in many ways, regardless of writing quality, One is a stepback. There isn't as much thought put into just about every area of it. The setting, soundtrack, atmosphere, art, and even the structure. Moon. feels like a budget title for its time, while One feels like a doujin title of its time. It's a much less ambitious game to its own detriment. So, I still prefer Moon. Even considering how One's peaks are higher than Moon.'s, it's lows are extremely low, ones that Moon. doesn't get close to touching.