Some Thoughts on Chapter One of Eden's Garden

I'm not sure if this is the sort of post y'all are rocking with on this subreddit, but I figured that some other folks might be interested in sharing their thoughts on the newly released first chapter! I'm gonna lead this with what I think, but I really want to hear what everyone else has to say too :)

To be honest, going into it, my expectations weren't all that high. Especially in the character department, I was a bit underwhelmed by all the personalities in the Prologue and didn't really feel drawn to any characters. I'm absolutely ecstatic to say that this new chapter shot all my doubts dead in the water! Spoilers, of course, so go ahead and play the newest chapter for yourself right now you dumb procrastinators!

First up, I want to say that the fucking art was absolutely stunning. I have a few specific things I want to shout out:

• The art of the culprit during the Bullet Hell minigame, it was so expressive and dynamic
• The sprites of Wolfgang during his moment with Diana in the Boiler Room, he looked so tired and deranged
• I don't know if this counts in the art department, but I loved the white highlights on the sprites during the Trial. It really hit that cinematic vibe perfectly
• Last shoutout! There were two different CGs of Diana crying, and both of them were absolutely stunning. They conveyed all the emotions she was feeling, the guilt, the determination, the fear, everything! Both of the CGs managed to give off such incredibly different feelings, despite both having the same concept of "Diana Crying"

The other thing I really want to hit on is the characters. I said before that prior to playing, the characters kinda were a bit not it for me. I think that's not anything on the creators, it's more just a me problem---for example, characters like Jett and Cassidy still don't do it for me, but that's probably because both of them are more comedy-centric roles yet neither really strike my own sense of humor. I want to talk about the good things that I liked instead!

The characters I disliked the most, and I mean this in a positive way, were Wolfgang and Grace. I was already Wolfie's number one op after the prologue trial, I had his number from the moment Mr Lawyer over here was claiming that "murder" was like the worst thing ever. I'm not disagreeing with the concept that murder is bad, but the way Wolfgang went about it felt insanely dismissive to me, like he's supposed to be a lawyer! Hasn't he ever had to empathize with a defendant, viewing the case not as a "were they guilty" thing but as a compassionate and caring human being. Lowkey I fist pumped when I saw her was the first victim, hypocritical dunce. Grace, meanwhile, I just don't like how she treats people LMAO I love Grace as a character, but I love to hate her. I can't wait to see where she goes in the future, keep pissing me off queen xoxo

The main characters who grew on me this chapter were Damon, Kai, Eloise, and Eva. Damon, I think, had a really bad first impression going from the Prologue. Reading Chapter One, a lot of his more aggressive, antisocial behaviors became much more understandable to me. He comes across much more like a normal, regular human in a stressful circumstance than anything, his words twisted to make him appear malicious and a problem. I think this whole process of learning about Damon was excellently highlighted by Kai having a similar realization over the course of the chapter, going from being disgusted by the idea of sharing his room with him to thinking, wait, this guy ain't that bad at all! Eloise, I'm not gonna lie, she won me over the moment she had her little call out against Grace. Unexpected and sexy as fuck. Get her ass.

Eva I have the most to talk about! I'm fucking obsessed with her newly uncovered loser energy. It was so damn endearing. She was such a fucking loser and I loved every minute of it. With each and every passing scene she became increasingly more and more pitiful and loserly, and that kind of character archetype is my favorite thing in the world when it's done well. I first was convincing myself she was the culprit a bit after the whole Diana reveal happened, and was already feeling a bit down. But then, she started reacting to the accusations thrown her way... and man, she was so loserly. What a loser. I love her so much. The whole way down, dude, she just kept digging her whole deeper and deeper. The victim complex was so well done. Also, huuuuuuge kudos to her voice actress for just managing to convey all her loserly energy. I loved her so much. Wouldn't have had her exist in this story in any other way. Dare I say, she's my favorite Chapter One blackened I've ever experienced in a Dangan-verse story.

I know this is a bit long and I'm not really expecting anyone to read all of it, but I had a lot on my mind while playing/after finishing the chapter and I really wanted to just say it. Please share your own thoughts, I would love to see what y'all are thinking!