Situated in the Eawin Empire is the most important library; the Summit Library. A place of mystery, magic and secrets and of allies, enemies and possibly love. 

This review only covers chapter one of The Summit Library which is currently available.

The Story
You are a Keeper. You have been summoned by the head librarian Akhutai of the Summit Library to get to the bottom of a mystery. Magic in the library has become unstable, affecting the books and making some of the previous seekers ill who have come before in an attempt to find the reasoning behind the unstable magic at play.

Game-play & Features
I have to start by giving props to the opening. It welcomes the player into the game with a kind of trailer you might find for a movie at the very start, highlighting some characters and building up the mystery. Really a nice intro.
The menu screen shows some beautiful artwork of a map and notes laid out on a table lit by candlelight and some objects strewn around. Settings include an extras tab (which houses an art gallery with images you unlock of key moments as you play), and an epilogue you can unlock when finished the main story. Also there are settings for display, skip choices for text, hints off or on, text speed and audio controls. Also a load section for game moments you've saved.

You start the game by registering your name and preferred pronouns. Then it asks you to put in your character's height, skin color, unique features, eye color, hair color and hair length (I have to admit I have never been asked so many details about creating my character in a visual novel before). A nice touch that makes the game much more immersive. I also love how the characters in the game refer to you as your chosen name.
The text is easy to read and all the control options neatly laid out in the hud. The hud can also be hidden by pressing H to take screen-captures.

There is some spice to chapter one but nothing graphic or lewd. It is tasteful, playful and flirty. The developer has stated that in the future the game will feature more mature and intimate scenes and is intended for a 18+ audience. However the scenes will be optional and skippable without penalty to the main story.

The Visuals & Audio
The artwork is hand drawn (not AI) and well done. The backgrounds are the same and mesh well with the character art. To me the artwork makes this game feel like participating in a story book. Even as you traverse the hallways and go from one section of the library to another the artwork reflects your movements.
The soundtrack & ambient noises (a pen scratching on paper, the wind) are very well done. The soundtrack is mythical sounding and plays well to the mysteries of the library.
Overall Experience

I have to give props to Qkayoo studio for putting out such a great first taste of the Summit Library. What a great start to a wonderful visual novel.

Chapter one took me about under an hour and a half to complete. I did not realize when I started this game that it was only chapter one. The story is engaging and so well written. I highly recommend trying out the first chapter. I look forward to the rest of the story as it leaves off on an interesting cliff-hanger.

I am not sure if only chapter one is free or more of a prologue. But the writing, artwork and immersion combine to make a great visual novel and experience, one I would be more than happy to put forth my money to purchase for the complete experience. The difficult part is now waiting for chapter 2. 💗

Review originally posted on Steam

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