I really enjoyed the personal aspects of Grabiner's route. You can see a shift in his personality that you might not see if you played through different routes. :)

Just played the game for the first time, and I legitimately did not realize there was more than one major route until looking at the Discussions Man, that ending... Yeah, I don't know how the other storylines are gonna top that (if they even *can*)

Damien's route is.... interesting. highkey toxic, though I guess that's the point. I'm half-convinced he's meant to be a subversion of the typical bad boy tropes (and he is, unless you manage to get his ending). I had to try several times to get his ending tbh -- if you don't make him your priority over literally everything else (your friends, your school duties, basic decency) or if you have any kind of a self-preservation instinct, it's a route fail. He'll just melodramatically storm off if you're lucky, do worse if you're not.

Ellen's route is a thousand times better in Wolf Hall (not because of her, but because Wolf PC sets in motion something for her to deal with). I found her route a little bland here? She has some home struggles but all of that happens where we can't see it, we never meet any of her family (unlike the Dansons). I found her route a little lackluster here; she has very little to do and her personality gets to shine a lot more in Wolf Hall.

Virginia is ace, I don't remember much about her route because I did it years ago when the game came out and haven't yet replayed on Steam. This means that's she's hard to get though, since she's not interested in relationships as a rule and would rather have cake. I remember it being kinda cute, but not much in detail
Edit: Played it, and it is kinda cute, but you need to be both smart and weird to be able to navigate it successfully. Virginia struggles with her identity, both as a witch and what it means when she doesn't want to do certain things. The other routes kinda gave me the impression hers would be about her health, but that's not a big sticking point. You'll have the best time with her if you make her laugh and are okay with her asexuality.

Grabiner romance has some interesting points, if you can get over the creepy fact that an adult man in his mid-to-late 30s is romantically interested in a 16 year old. People love his route though, it is that sort of "dating your teacher" fantasy high school girls have, so if you're in that age bracket you might enjoy it. Honestly the "romance" part of it reads more like potential to possibly be romantic down the line, and he's dead set on keeping a distance so you'd need to put in some work to get him to give in.

Donald is best path, hands down. We stan a nice, supportive relationship. It's funny, it's sweet, it's drama free. Donald is a fun character in general, and he has the best "thinking of you" line at Christmas break. He has depth (more, I feel, than the girls) and if you get to know him, you find out he's not a jokester all the time, and why he ends up in detention so often. You can even get him to make up with Virginia. (also he's the only love interest that's actually useful lol If he likes you he'll invite you to do cute merit-earning activities with him which is pretty good if you're in the red)

Big Steve is second best. He's weird, his best friend is a rabbit plushy, you kinda wanna know what's up with him. Also Mr Hoppity gives you an easter present, which is very nice of him.

Originally posted by RedButterfly33:

Damien's route is.... interesting. highkey toxic, though I guess that's the point. I'm half-convinced he's meant to be a subversion of the typical bad boy tropes (and he is, unless you manage to get his ending). I had to try several times to get his ending tbh -- if you don't make him your priority over literally everything else (your friends, your school duties, basic decency) or if you have any kind of a self-preservation instinct, it's a route fail. He'll just melodramatically storm off if you're lucky, do worse if you're not.

Ellen's route is a thousand times better in Wolf Hall (not because of her, but because Wolf PC sets in motion something for her to deal with). I found her route a little bland here? She has some home struggles but all of that happens where we can't see it, we never meet any of her family (unlike the Dansons). I found her route a little lackluster here; she has very little to do and her personality gets to shine a lot more in Wolf Hall.

Virginia is ace, I don't remember much about her route because I did it years ago when the game came out and haven't yet replayed on Steam. This means that's she's hard to get though, since she's not interested in relationships as a rule and would rather have cake. I remember it being kinda cute, but not much in detail
Edit: Played it, and it is kinda cute, but you need to be both smart and weird to be able to navigate it successfully. Virginia struggles with her identity, both as a witch and what it means when she doesn't want to do certain things. The other routes kinda gave me the impression hers would be about her health, but that's not a big sticking point. You'll have the best time with her if you make her laugh and are okay with her asexuality.

Grabiner romance has some interesting points, if you can get over the creepy fact that an adult man in his mid-to-late 30s is romantically interested in a 16 year old. People love his route though, it is that sort of "dating your teacher" fantasy high school girls have, so if you're in that age bracket you might enjoy it. Honestly the "romance" part of it reads more like potential to possibly be romantic down the line, and he's dead set on keeping a distance so you'd need to put in some work to get him to give in.

Donald is best path, hands down. We stan a nice, supportive relationship. It's funny, it's sweet, it's drama free. Donald is a fun character in general, and he has the best "thinking of you" line at Christmas break. He has depth (more, I feel, than the girls) and if you get to know him, you find out he's not a jokester all the time, and why he ends up in detention so often. You can even get him to make up with Virginia. (also he's the only love interest that's actually useful lol If he likes you he'll invite you to do cute merit-earning activities with him which is pretty good if you're in the red)

Big Steve is second best. He's weird, his best friend is a rabbit plushy, you kinda wanna know what's up with him. Also Mr Hoppity gives you an easter present, which is very nice of him.

This was a very late response from me xD But i am thinking of picking it up again this week so this post was helpful ^^ I'll probably go for Grabiner and though i am definitely not in that age bracket ( I am 26yrs LOL) I am glad that when it comes to otome i am very good at roleplaying and feel like i am one with the character, so maybe i'll like it xD Who knows.