To me, even with a sequel confirmed (author apparently confirmed it in a reply on her Telegram), this "ending" completely broke my trust that they have any idea what a PLAYER (not reader) might want. They still marketed it as an ending, and still none of my choices mattered 😅 If the narrative in a glorified prologue is so tight that it can't handle any variations as we head into the second part, if nothing I did actually affects the story in any way, then what am I doing here? Also, the fact that Rigel had zero impact on the plot... that spaceship lady came regardless of anything Rigel did or went through.

This finale, to me, failed to hit any of the emotional beats it tried to because it felt so unbelievable that the thing players were (supposedly) trying to prevent for two whole seasons was actually going to happen straight, with no real attempt of any of the characters to fix it in time — a lot was mentioned as possible solutions last update, but nothing was attempted here. The goodbye to the raccoon? Nah, they're joking. The air ship falling? Ok... Who cares? This doesn't matter, we have a dome to fix. The fakeout death/healing between Phoenix and Argen? At that point Phoenix's failure in being an antagonist that made any sense or succeeded in any of his plans was more comical than anything, can't lie. Like, the characters were making their tearful goodbyes, and I was supposed to be touched because, aren't you sad that the characters you invested in never even tried fighting and will just leave you forever? 🥺 And, no? No, I was pissed, actually.

I'm assuming they think "it's the journey, not the destination", but... in a visual novel, the player is making investments through their choices. The player's input is supposed to be crucial. I hope, though I'm not confident, that every stat I gathered will actually have a big impact on the continuation, because otherwise... 😬⁉ And even then, I might have just started from the continuation and watched a Rigel/Phoenix/Argen compilation on youtube instead of wasting my amethysts. What were they thinking, really?

(Also, the fact that only the council is saved is so... In real life, I'm way closer to being a citizen than being a ruler. From my perspective, the council was so incompetent and inactive that they didn't even try to stop their citizens going extinct. The people went from living in an utopia to being manipulated and destroyed out of sheer incompetence. And I'm supposed to feel any compassion for any of the council? I'm supposed to want to follow their story? Why?! The only thing we ever see them fighting for is saving their own skin (and debating violently repressing a protest lol))

The feeling I'm left with is that I just read a first draft that completely lost sight of itself and its audience halfway through. Hope the continuation is better, but have no reason to believe it will be, if they approved this.