Azrael of the Critical Heaven (Free Novel Game) - Introduction and Review

This is a free visual novel game created by the doujin visual novel game circle "→Quantize_".
I heard good things about it in various places, so I became interested and decided to play it.
I enjoyed it very much, so I'd like to write a review and my impressions of the work.
I think it took me about four hours to complete the game.

Work summary

The protagonist is a young man named Souda Rihito, who has just started working for a construction company as a new member of the workforce.
I gradually learned the job while being guided by a woman named Remi Nagashima, who became my trainer at the company.
Gradually, he begins to see her not just as a senior colleague who is his mentor, but as a woman he finds himself attracted to.
You'll steadily climb the ranks at work and gradually be entrusted with more responsibilities.
Rihito is doing well both personally and professionally, but he begins to be plagued by a certain nightmare, which gradually starts to affect his reality.
The story is driven by mysteries such as why the character started having nightmares and what the content of those nightmares means.
The above is a brief summary of the story.

As a game, there is only one choice to make, but it is mostly a linear visual novel.
There aren't any complex choices to make, so you can really immerse yourself in the story itself.

The graphics and music are on par with those of paid games.
The music, in particular, was incredibly well-crafted; it went beyond mere background music and felt like a crucial piece in creating each individual scene.

Synopsis of the work (contains some minor spoilers)

When it comes to games like visual novels, where the story makes up a large part of the work, I always struggle with how to introduce them.
This is because the more you try to convey its merits, the more you inevitably have to mention the story's content, which ultimately annoys players who dislike spoilers.
I think that's the limit of my ability to make introductions.
However, I will try my best to convey the positive aspects without revealing any spoilers.

What I consistently felt while playing this game was the excellent pacing of the story.
For the first part of the process, you'll start with everyday tasks.
However, this part is not like "school life that has already become a part of everyday life," but rather "life as a new working adult who has just started working at a company," so it is not something that is familiar to them.
This part depicts the "everyday life" of the character as they step into a new environment, which makes the unfolding story interesting.
Since this is the protagonist's first job, they don't know exactly what kind of work they'll be doing.
In that respect, I felt that the player's perspective and the protagonist's situation overlapped, making it easier to feel a sense of immersion.

The everyday life segments are also handled smoothly and at a good pace.
While meticulously crafted, the story was never redundant, and I felt that the creators had made a conscious decision to include only the essential episodes.
Therefore, there were some scenes that felt a little too convenient, but I don't think this is a work that strives for realism in that regard, so I don't think it was a problem at all.
And even though it's a slice-of-life segment, unsettling elements are scattered throughout, leading up to the "development" part of the story's structure.

In the "development" section of the story's structure, the narrative shifts dramatically from everyday life to the setting of this work.
The unsettling atmosphere that had been present up to this point suddenly intensifies, and while the mystery is being solved, a harsh reality is thrust upon us.
This concludes the first half of the story; the second half will mainly focus on the "turning point."
Unlike the first half, the second half develops with a clear objective, allowing the story to flow more powerfully.
I find myself wanting to play through the game in one go, wondering what will happen next and what the ending will be.

Review (contains spoilers)

The following contains spoilers, so please be careful if you plan to play the game.

I had a lot of fun playing it.
The story shifts dramatically from a smooth and successful first half to a harsh situation, and I deeply empathized with the profound sense of loss the character experienced.
Even though the protagonist has very few days left, the days pass by quite quickly, giving the impression that the story is progressing.

The pacing was excellent from beginning to end, and I was able to read it without getting bored.
As I mentioned in the previous section, if you eliminate the convenient plot devices and try to introduce an unnatural level of realism, you can lose the flow of the story.
In that respect, I felt that this work dealt with that point in a straightforward manner, which I appreciated.
I particularly felt this way because, when they escaped from the cult, it happened to be the day the contracted doctor was there, and that the doctor was cooperative with Rihito's escape.

Although there were few characters, they were all very appealing.
Reimi was a nice woman with no unpleasant traits, and Az, though a bit cheeky, wasn't a bad person either.
The character wasn't overly complicated or twisted, so I was able to accept him without any difficulty.
思い出の中だけの存在だった沙百合が、その足取りを追うごとに、生きて存在する人間だと感じられるようになっていくのが感じられました。
The conversation with the adult Sayuri was only at the very end, so I think it was good that there were no unnecessary words.
Rihito's words seemed to be pure gratitude, without any romantic feelings, and I found them beautiful.
The language of lilies includes meanings such as purity and innocence, so I think it was a fitting message for Sayuri.

The way the subtle plot points were cleverly incorporated also showed a great deal of care and attention to detail.
This applies to the point card at the Chinese restaurant, as well as the escape from the fire at the end.
The story proves that the experience of working in that ideal world was not in vain, as it ultimately led to the escape from the real world.
I felt that this confirmed the meaning behind my choice of "affirmatively."

Individual analyses, etc. (of course, spoilers included)

Below, I will write about the parts that caught my attention individually.
I wondered if the episode where Furuhata entrusts Rihito with a small camera during their escape from the cult was really necessary.
However, if we try to end it with a happy ending, it would end up with the thought, "It's good that Rihito was saved, but there are still people suffering in the cult..." which would spoil the happy ending mood.
In that sense, I think that part was necessary to give the cult a proper send-off.
I think it was quite a gamble to hand over all the evidence I had gone to such lengths to gather to Rihito so easily, but it turned out to be a huge win.

Judging from the content, I think the movie "Evening Determination" that I went to see on my date with Reimi was based on "The Butterfly Effect."
There are some differences, but there are many similarities, so I thought that might be the case.
I got that idea because of the mention of parallel worlds and Az talking about the "butterfly effect" during the fire.
I really love "The Butterfly Effect," so I'm a little happy about this.

（Added on March 27, 2020：Postscript from the official websiteによると、やはり映画の元ネタは「バタフライエフェクト」だったとのことでした。）

It shares some similarities with Konami's PS2 game "Shadow of Memories," so there might be some elements from that game mixed in as well.