An Octave Higher

A spoiled and selfish noble unlocks their empathy and compassion through being forced to interact with the proletariat and discovering more about their world.  The game is a visual novel which signals, at each choice, whether it's increased your relationship with another character.  Am I talking about Cinderella Phenomenon or An Octave Higher?  Trick question, it's both.  The biggest difference is that Cinderella Phenomenon is based around fairytales while An Octave Higher is more politic.  It still takes place in a fantasy world, but a major focus - especially in the journey to the true ending - is the difference between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.  In some ways, this theme is handled well, for example, we see through the eyes of someone of each class, and someone more inbetween, which is a straightforward way to grasp this society on a wider scale.  In other ways it is handled badly, for example [Spoiler Alert] as in the "true" ending, when the former proletariat convinces the leader of the rebels that the poor should work their way out of poverty - completely ignoring that fact that this has been shown to be impossible for the vast majority, and she only got out due to a massive amount of luck combined with a skill she gained only due to her former life as a member of non-proletariat family.  [Spoiler Over].  That said, for the most part, it's an enjoyable journey.  I feel like the creators bit off more than they could chew, which is why the endings are unsatisfying and don't adequately address the questions raised, but the game overall is still pretty good.  Not as good as Cinderella Phenomenon.

I've owned the game for a while, but played it now because Steam encouraged me to with a spring event.  I'm a sucker for a badge.  I also started playing Science Girls!, for the same reason.  I'm still working my way through the Dark Parables series, and I just finished the first Crystal Story game, so I'll play the sequel soon.  I'm still playing Octopath Traveler and the Phoenix Wright trilogy, and I started Tales of Symphonia, so I'll probably only play shorter games until I'm done with one or more of those.