"If this is the world as the divine intended... isn't it devious to want it to be different?"

The entire game is, like all of the dev's games, impeccably made - every moment of the game, starting from the ballerina on the start screen, is beautifully and carefully crafted. Moreso than a visual novel, or even a comic, it felt like I was watching an anime LOL While the first act of Melancholic Star was beautifully made, with a change in visual almost every line, this part adds ANIMATIONS on almost every line on top of that, somehow becoming even MORE of a visual marvel.

The writing is, in short, sheer poetry, simultaneously raw and elegant. As with all of this dev's games, their use of choices and text as part of the visual storytelling is pure inspiration. And something that I only noticed late in my playthrough of the initial Melancholic Star is that additional "secrets" are unlocked if you access the history - you can tell "who" is speaking at each moment, and you can also read the garbled text/text that appears in a different language at times.

===SPOILER===

The initial game was at times quite surreal, with a tale told in snippets that at times were difficult to parse in a "concrete" way, possibly because it was told from a child's POV. This game reframes a lot of the events from the original demo, giving you full context - Lily was a star, kidnapped and trapped in a tower, where they were molded into a "princess" and taken apart, harvested for their body parts after the people learned that their parts were valuable. They are lured to the window by Lilith, who promises freedom.

The beginning of Act 2 details the sacrifice of a "lamb" for the gods - confirming that Lily was never truly a "princess," beloved by the people - they were a sacrifice, torn apart for others. As you doubt whether the sacrifice is just, Lilith appears, extending a suspect hand - offering to guide Lily from the tower, granting them the freedom they crave. Even though Lily doesn't KNOW what they want - they just know that they don't want to suffer under the expectations placed upon them - "adding paragraphs to a script" without giving Lily the chance to write those paragraphs themself.

After that, the game picks up where Act 1 left off - Lily escapes the tower, to a place where they can be at peace and simply "dream" - an extension of their dissociation/escape from reality back in the tower. And at first Lily is happy - they make sweet treats and plush dolls - but inevitably they think back to the real world, the "city" - and they face conflicting emotions: anger at being used by the citizens and bitterness that no one cared for them. Yet there is lingering hope (I suppose that Bell is the hopeful voice here?) - a willingness to open their hollow heart. They fight between their hope that things will get better, that perhaps they should return, and their fatigue, their desire to protect themselves in this dream world, where they can simply sleep and rest.

The emotion and feeling presented here is multifaceted. On the one hand, it's very grounded in Lily's feelings and situation - their abuse at the hands of the people who raised them, their struggles with their gender and having parts of themselves both literally and metaphorically stripped away. Yet I also think that the emotions are also something that many people can understand - after being so hurt, the desire to protect yourself by retreating into yourself, away from anyone or anything that can cause you pain.

It's a poignant painting of someone who has been abused, abused so much that they simply don't want to be hurt anymore, they don't want to be robbed of  what makes them whole, robbed of everything until they finally fade away - even though they simply wanted to belong somewhere. Erasing themselves in an effort to be loved, without realizing that they never would be loved either way. A particularly heartwrenching scene comes when Lily recalls being taken apart for their "parts" - and at the end, the culprit remarks - "Do we even need... to keep it alive?" The "it" is only revealed if you go into the History, and it's heartbreaking - in the end, they didn't view the princess as a person, or even a girl, but as a "thing" to be cut up and used as they pleased.

As Lily ponders, still feeling lost, they come to a conclusion - that they do not want to be rescued, or perceived, that what they seek is within themself.  As they come to this conclusion a silhouette that appears to be a spindle appears on screen - perhaps suggesting that they are pricking their finger on the spindle like Sleeping Beauty, purposefully entering deeper into their "slumber" and self isolation, far from the outside world, by their own decision - embodying both the "wicked" Carabosse and the "good" Lilac fairy from the tale - until they can find their true self, unaffected by the gazes of others.

The section after that is particularly brilliant - as Lily tries to decide what they want, conflicting choices pop up on screen. After each selection, more choices pop up - some contradicting each other in irreconcilable ways, so you can't possibly pick between them - until the choices all become indecipherable. It's a fantastic way of communicating Lily's difficulty when making a choice, both in terms of visuals and gameplay. Lily then asks - "What do I wish for?" before Lilith gives the answer - "Stardust" - to be broken into fragments and reformed.

It's an ambiguous conclusion, one that feels both triumphant and tragic. On the one hand, I want to tell Lily that there is hope, that they should try one more time, that there are good people out there. Yet on the other hand, I applaud them - for finally realizing that they don't need anyone else, that they should try to focus on figuring out who they are and what they want. Still, Lilith's motivations are murky - being broken apart into stardust feels so harsh, so violent... but maybe that's what Lily needs?

Overall, this was simply beautiful, not just in terms of the art and execution but also in terms of the emotions and soul on display. Although my own experience is quite different from Lily's, I felt their emotion and pain in a very visceral and personal way that's hard to describe - it spoke to my soul, to be cliche about it. The first Melancholic Star was a game that really stuck with me, and I have a feeling that this one will as well.

Fantastic job to the dev!!! (I'm sorry that I wrote too much)

"Stardust. The remains of a broken wish washed away with the wind."

Taumi, not you randomly releasing an absolute BANGER, and also a very memorable experience!! I remember enjoying the prequel a whole lot, and now I'm happy I get to discover the sequel!

And of course, it was very cryptic: we do get a sense of the story, but clearly, this is a story meant to reach something in the player, deep in their heart, their wishes, their experience, rather than a story just to follow through. And every single time, it WORKS. Every single choice you made, from the music, the art, to the words and the effects on the text always seem to be the strongest ones to convey emotion. The solitude, the despair, the self-loathing, the confusion, the conflict between being appreciated by others and yet wanting solitude and to be away from the world... Truly, this is an emotional rollercoaster, as you touched on topics we all have experienced, although not necessarily in the same way of course, and yet, you still managed to detail a very specific experience, rather than a generic soulless one. Soul, soul, the game is filled with soul, and maybe that's why I have such a hard time dissecting it, finding points to underline and analyse, because in the end, I just felt the game deeply.

Also, more than feeling, I was also enchanted by the game, as if progressively won over by a spell, as if somehow Lilith was doing something right with me, I won't lie! I did catch up on some things I am curious about in terms of lore (Lily/Lilith, and Lily and Bell's discussion reminded me of an internal monologue, as if Bell was to reflect the "change" Lily is longing for in their seearch for freedom). The art participated in this enchantment: after all, it was GORGEOUS. The artistic direction of your games is always flawless, and here, I was just in awe: the animations looked amazing, the colour palette, the numerous illustrations... It literally felt like an animated storybook, the pages of which swing from the warmth of a childhood memory to the dark compressing feeling of something terrible is going to happen, but you don't know why. And yet, there is the emptiness of having made something major (escape from the tower), and yet, not having found the answers; of having escaped from the heat of the trauma, and yet, it still lingers, stings, and you blame yourself for not moving on.

The music choices too were amazing, and they really participated in making your game feel truly atmospheric. It really is a masterclass in setting atmospheres for a metaphorical story.

I'm sorry this comment is all over the place! Admittedly, my thoughts are confused, but I adored what you created. It was well crafted, well thought out, and so authentic, touching and raw. Thank you for creating it, it was inspiring!!