Hello! First of all, I want to say that I reeeeally appreciated this game! I think it is worth playing ^o^ I loved the overall story and the characters are so nice (love interests and side characters). It felt nice to have a strong and independent female lead (not a whining little damsel in distress). I enjoyed a lot the stubbornness of Tamara, it was both funny and cool.
I highly recommend this game (it may seem "old " when looking at the pictures but it is shouldn't be a barrier to play this game!!).
1. Which guy did you like the most and why?
I enjoyed both Mitra and Reksa stories (a lot less Rama, he is fricking me out lol). Both have their qualities and defaults. But even though I think Reksa story is the funniest and the more adventurous, I prefered the cute-and-loving-bird that is Mitra (cute and badass, with a big heart <3).
Tbh I found Reksa's possessive attitude funny, but it disturbed me a bit too xD. Thus, my heart fell for Mitra and not Reksa, but it was tight.
As for Rama, well... I felt empathy for him and understand his actions but he creeps me out too much xD However, his character is very well written and I felt really sad regarding how he evolves in the other routes...
2. Do you play a lot of otome/visual novels? What made you choose to play Nusantara?
Yeees, I love otome games and visual novels, and I play a lot of them. I'm a demanding person because I hate the whining MC that are just damsels to be saved. Thus, I chose to play Nusantara when I saw the MC was described as an independent girl. I was not disappointed!
3. Which element of the game would you say was the best and which ones would you say need work? Consider story, art, characters, music etc.
The things that this game have in plus are, from my point of view :
1. The animations of the sprites: I loved that in combats, dialogues, actually in every part of the game, the characters' sprites were moving. Even when there was only one line the character was moving (either changing posture or facial expression). Sometimes, it was just a half-second before a new dialogue, and it felt so dynamic!
It must be such work to do, I was so impressed and so satisfied! It gives a nice "real" aspect to the dialogues and the characters seem much more lively :D
2. The clearness of the actions: when I played the game, I never wondered 'Is the MC thinking or saying this?'. Indeed, the difference between when a character talks (written "..." or, thinks ( written (...)) or a description is made (no "..." nor (...)), is so clear that following the action is simple. I liked that a lot.
3. I appreciated discovering bits of Indonesian culture through the game. I'm a curious person and I enjoyed learning about different customs and habits of another population =) Moreover, it adds a sense of "reality" to the game.
4. The relations: the evolution of the relations between the MC and the love interest is soooo well written. It felt like a real relationship (first friends, then lovers). It is not just "oh gosh I have a crush on him at first sight" xD The relationships form and evolve naturally: by spending time together. It felt realistic and nice <3
Regarding the points that need some work, I would say that the art seems off sometimes. The sprites of the characters seemed different: for example, Mitra sprites are more "finished" than the ones of Purba. I guess that some have been re-done at some point but not the others? It's just a detail that I noticed, it's not flagrant ;-)
Otherwise, I felt like the sprites were worked on a lot: all of the characters have a lot of expressions and different body positions (even fighting sprites for some!). And the backgrounds: OMG, there were beautiful! I think that the backgrounds are an underestimated part of a game: I mean that sometimes you just don't pay attention to them but they can highly immerse you in the game (or not if there are not done well). Thus, for me, the backgrounds and the sprites are a huge plus of this game!
4. Do you have any other questions, comments or constructive criticism?
I just have a few constructive remarks:
I would have loved to be able to change the MC name. I feel like it would be more immersive ;) I don't know if there is a specific meaning to "Tamara"? Or is it just an arbitrary choice?
The second remark that I have is that the text box seemed too big to me. As I said, the backgrounds are beautiful but they were 1/3 covered by the text box. I think it would be better to have a thinner but longer text box, thus the backgrounds would be more visible ;) Such a waste otherwise!
Finally, I noted that sometimes the music just stopped after a few minutes. It felt strange to play without music all of the sudden xD I don't know if it is recurrent or just my old computer dysfunctioning?
Just a question: I didn't get about whom was the dream that Tamara had (when she's running after someone that is tortured)... Could you enlight my lantern, please?
I also want to point out that there are some scenes of "damsel in distress" but they did not feel strange or forced into the story. I mean: the MC is human thus less resistant than Avians and Komodos, so it felt normal to me that she is not able to fight on her own, or that she's asking for help in situations of danger.
My final note is that I really enjoyed playing this game. It was a nice discovery that I highly recommend :D Thank you for this game and I'm looking forward to your next ones!
(and sorry for the mistakes in my review, I'm actually a French speaker ^w^")