izigame.me

I have recently beaten the third main boss and figured now would be a good time to give my first impressions.
Story: If you enjoy middle and high school drama, then I think you'll enjoy the story. From what I can tell, it's basically about a girl, Jala, going back to her hometown after leaving it 3 years ago and trying to make amends to all of her former friends and ex's. I don't know how it's going to go in the end as I've only beaten the third boss, but so far it doesn't seem that bad. The dialogue is funny, the voice acting is actually pretty good, and the overall story isn't super cringe-worthy compared to other similar games. It's something that you could actually picture happening in real life.
Gameplay: Call me pleasantly surprised. The combat is turn-based but with a unique twist with taunts and skills that do more damage based on taunts. The animation is good, the combat dialogue is witty and some of it made me chuckle, and the fights are actually pretty challenging. I am playing on hard mode and there have been a few fights where I really had to stop and think about what my next move should be, which is a good thing to have.
Of course, if you're not the type of person to enjoy a lot of challenge or you just want to play for the story, then there are multiple difficulty settings for you to choose.
Also, there's a lot of QTEs. Basically the entire game is QTEs, even the combat and mini-games. Think of South Park: The Stick of Truth, or Yakuza 7: Like a Dragon. During combat, you need to time the QTEs for extra damage and defense.
Luckily for anybody who has trouble with QTEs, there's accessibility options where the game will time it for you. Great for anybody who can't or don't care to do it.
Aesthetic: I love the graphics and art style. It looks very cozy yet energetic.
Message: This game is very queer, and it makes no attempts to hide that. You play as a bisexual girl, your main ex is a MtF transexual, and there's lots of messages about struggles that queer and discriminated people face. It's very blunt about it.
But compared to some other games that try to promote a similar message, this game does a good job of doing so while not being cringy or oddly pushy about it and also keeping the gameplay engaging. I especially love the dialogue between Jala and her family. The dialogue is well-crafted and designed so it feels like something that totally could happen in real life. And I'm sure some people have experienced or at least heard of some people going through the same struggles.
Overall: The game is very good. I came in here with pretty low expectations and was pleasantly surprised to find an actually decent story and good gameplay.
Is it worth the $30? I'm not sure yet. That's going to depend on how long the game is. Currently I'm at 4.4 hours and it feels like I'm half-way done but I could be wrong. I hope I'm wrong. It'd be a shame for this game to end so early.
Ultimately though if you like the message the game promotes, the high-school drama story, and the turn-based gameplay, I think you'll find yourself enjoying it.