OK, first batch of comments.
First and foremost: what a wonderful game! I don't think I'll ever get tired of it. And it gets better every time you replay it, since you see little things you'd missed, and understand things better. As a matter of fact, I remember that I was very confused at first the first time around. I was unsure what I was supposed to do and what was going on. Obviously, it made more sense on subsequent playthroughs. As a matter of fact, there are lots of things whose significance you only realise when replaying the game, such as the picture of a tower that the game open on.
The graphic style is gorgeous, obviously. And it's not only about detail or nice colours – it's got
style. The animations (or lack thereof) are really disconcerting at first (even when you've already played the game), but I got used to it after a few minutes.
Another thing that I really love is the amount of work that's been done to get things right, historically and culturally. Finally a game where the French are actually played by French actors and where the cultural details are right! (Yes, I'm looking at you, GK3 and Broken Sword.) You're probably missing that if you're not French, but the actress who plays the engineer's wife is particularly great; she really is the perfect embodiment of the useless, dumb, self-satisfied
bourgeoise.
The historical mood is also perfectly captured. The newspaper is particularly interesting in that respect (and you get the new edition as the game progresses). You can feel (by reading it and in the train) that something is brewing – and yet the only thing people really seem to care about is the trial of
Mme Caillaux (that the two girls actually discuss while having tea, debating whether she is some sort of Mme Bovary).
And finally, even though the plot might be somewhat confusing at first, the characterisation is top-notch. Already you can feel who the various characters are, why they must be on the train, and what role they may play later.
Ok, that's it for the general comments. I'll post some little interesting details I've noticed later.
