Sword of Asumi Reviews

I'm having very mixed feelings about this, as I get the impression that the writers attempted to create something interesting and unique but ended up with trouble to realize the initial concept. The premise and prologue are very intriguing, the concept seems exciting and I had the impression that a lot of thoughts went into the world-building after reading the Codex. However when the actual "mission" started, the genre just turned into normal slice-of-life and all of the suspense and urgency suddenly disappeared. Especially the romance felt incredibly unfitting and forced, not only is it extremely rushed and undeveloped (you can literally romance characters after knowing them for two days) but it's additionaly simply out of character for Asumi, considering her situation. The characters by themselves are pretty decent though, the dialogues feel rather awkward at times, but I found them likable regardless. I believe the plot would've been great if the romance got left out and instead there were more scenes of Asumi actually doing something to progress with the mission. Also I would've loved some more lore input, flashbacks or maybe some perspective changes to other relevant characters (such as Kami or the culprit) or anything similar to strenghten the mystery and tension. It's especially sad because the few actual action and suspense scenes are quite entertaining, the potential was definitely there. Altogether I still liked the general story, though I find it disappointing that a huge amount of it turned into boring and out of place slice-of-life, together with lack of depth in the writing. I did however quite enjoy the music and atmosphere, as well as the premise and world-building presented in the Codex. I'm mainly giving it positive ranking based on the fact that I bought it for less than a euro; it's a fun little experience but I cannot recommend it without at least 80% discount.