Background
It has dawned on me that I have forgotten the common route that connects all the paths, so I thought I should cover it first.
General Thoughts
I will first talk about the first half which is introducing everyone, and the second half which is used to establish the story.
One of the most surprising parts is that the protagonist, Ryosuke Hino…has hopes and dreams. I know very high bar to clear, however the sheer amount that is just a nice guy blank slate or a backstory that serves to justify them being overpowered means that this actually makes the protagonist interesting. We see the POV character is interested in Architecture, and this actually drives some of his actions later on. Most importantly, this means that I can actually see myself falling for him.
Afterwards we are introduced to the characters basically in this order, I think.
Sora Ousaka is the shy, quiet lass who loves astrology.
Natsuki Segawa is an energetic lass who loves photography.
Azuma Morio is a figure of admiration and mature despite being airheaded.
Marika Shinozaki is the sweet childhood friend who recovered from an illness.
Nirasawa Shuuichi who is a childhood friend with a friendly fierce competitive streak with the protagonist.
Rikka Narusawa is cold and stoic while being good at the piano.
Misa Okihara is a knowledgeable and sisterly lass about marine life.
Touko Yukimura who is a bit of a rebel.
I felt that the introductions did a good job at establishing who everyone is and the type of interest and personality they have. So I have no issue with the first segment at all.
For the second segment we are introduced to the Tanabata festival, and the town’s unique celebration. This sets up the core driving force for most of the actions taken in the school segment.
For this segment I felt that it was alright, it did its job to make the introduced characters into a group. Narusawa-san is the only one that felt like she is literally dragged there by the party. This segment was not the most interesting since they still include more information for every character, and at this point I felt like the elaboration isn’t really necessary. This entire segment is basically the “checkbox” to decide whose route you are romancing.
My biggest issue is that the choices do not feel like they matter. Early on Shinozaki-san has a choice to wait for her or go home, regardless of what you choose you still wait for her. It is probably used to count which part to put the player on but why not just…skip it. As a result I wasn’t aware that these choices affect who we are pursuing later (since the outcome is exactly the same). I think it will be fine to skip it, so if we don’t wait for Marika we skip the entire segment, which makes more sense into the romance part since well we spend less time with her.
The group scenes however are great, and the conversation at the end paints a good picture of what to expect from each girl when pursuing them. All the silly games they play do help in creating the atmosphere.
Summary for the common route
I like the establishment of all the characters, as well as the story. I will appreciate if the game is not in fear that I will miss their brilliant writing.