This review may contain spoilers
Good but not great. Would recommend but not a favorite.
The general overall story line was great. The characters and how they develop and grow fond of each other, was depicted well. From the get go, the tone of the series is generally realistic leaning towards the campy side (in a good way). Like I know going in, this was going to be somewhat of a fluffy series. A feel good one. One that makes you smile when one of the ML gets excited or nervous because of the other ML. I say campy because the whole driving force of the plot is structured behind the "video game" theme. Motives and directions were all guided by the constant ping of the game UI window. So imagine playing a dating sim - you get excited because your characters are falling for each other - thus, ultimately, you already kind of know what happens. Most people would play a sim game because they can control the outcome. Thus, similar in concept - the show is enjoyable because of this similar thought frame.
Then the last two episodes decided it wanted to try and be some boujee/intellectual show and the whole video game premise completely derailed the story, forcefully inserting itself as a deus ex machina - resetting - and then some random ass time loop by way of "The Lake House" but not really purposeful other than to add some tension and drama .... only to resolve itself literally 3 minutes later (like WHY even have that mess in it at all? Just make them run to each other...). The final two episodes really screamed it was trying too hard to be intellectual... the whole fate/destiny and even playing on portions on what I mentioned in the first paragraph (expectations/outcomes). Down to even the looming but unanswered question about happiness that the UI game prompt at the end sealed the deal on the show's misfired attempt to be this thought provoking show. It's not. Then the whole love theyself theme that popped up in the last three episodes just didn't fit in well with the overall structure because there was no foreshadowing of this theme and plot point. But since the characters are driven by plot, narrative, and emotion from the all knowing video game prompts - I guess these sudden introductions of tension points were acceptable. And the irony is that, that very thing is the show's own undoing. Sure - the overall concept of the show (video game) can be done. But not with how the show was set up and not within the time limitation and format (8 episodes and each episode being 40 minutes).
Overall, I enjoyed the romance. I enjoyed the show up to episode 6 and then later episodes - while not quite a train wreck - did rocked on the tracks wildly, making the show lose its composure. Watch it for the cute moments. However, if you are particular about plot, structure of a story, and a decent foundation in fantasy elements in a story - this show probably will turn you off. But just do what I did - ignore that part of the story and pretend it's just a contemporary show with no fantasy element. I know that defeats majority of the show's premise but that made it enjoyable for me. If I had that take the fantasy aspect into consideration this show would be like a 4/5 out of 10 for me.
Then the last two episodes decided it wanted to try and be some boujee/intellectual show and the whole video game premise completely derailed the story, forcefully inserting itself as a deus ex machina - resetting - and then some random ass time loop by way of "The Lake House" but not really purposeful other than to add some tension and drama .... only to resolve itself literally 3 minutes later (like WHY even have that mess in it at all? Just make them run to each other...). The final two episodes really screamed it was trying too hard to be intellectual... the whole fate/destiny and even playing on portions on what I mentioned in the first paragraph (expectations/outcomes). Down to even the looming but unanswered question about happiness that the UI game prompt at the end sealed the deal on the show's misfired attempt to be this thought provoking show. It's not. Then the whole love theyself theme that popped up in the last three episodes just didn't fit in well with the overall structure because there was no foreshadowing of this theme and plot point. But since the characters are driven by plot, narrative, and emotion from the all knowing video game prompts - I guess these sudden introductions of tension points were acceptable. And the irony is that, that very thing is the show's own undoing. Sure - the overall concept of the show (video game) can be done. But not with how the show was set up and not within the time limitation and format (8 episodes and each episode being 40 minutes).
Overall, I enjoyed the romance. I enjoyed the show up to episode 6 and then later episodes - while not quite a train wreck - did rocked on the tracks wildly, making the show lose its composure. Watch it for the cute moments. However, if you are particular about plot, structure of a story, and a decent foundation in fantasy elements in a story - this show probably will turn you off. But just do what I did - ignore that part of the story and pretend it's just a contemporary show with no fantasy element. I know that defeats majority of the show's premise but that made it enjoyable for me. If I had that take the fantasy aspect into consideration this show would be like a 4/5 out of 10 for me.
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