the stopwatch is a cheap plastic thing from a cereal box probably but it works. that's the whole game right there. one second you're this washed up firefighter with a beer gut and a missing friend and the next you've got your hand frozen midair reaching for something you shouldn't. the cg hentai scenes hit different when the girl is literally a statue. you can just... look. for as long as you want. the corruption tag isn't lying either. first few times you use the watch it's almost cute. peek at a skirt. move a strand of hair. then by chapter three you're doing things that would make the guy from that one manga with the schoolgirls blush. and the game doesn't judge you which is somehow worse.

the visual novel parts between the time stops are actually trying to be a real story. something about a friend who vanished and a fire that happened years ago. i skimmed most of it. the dialogue has that translated feel where characters say things like "i am going to the store now for purchasing of items" and you just nod along. but then you get another choice and the domination path opens up and suddenly you're not just stopping time you're making them aware of it. that's when the game gets mean. there's a scene with a nurse that i had to put my phone down after. not because it was too much but because i realized i was grinning.

the art style is inconsistent. some cgs look like they were drawn by someone who really studied anatomy and others look like a first year art student's patreon. the stopwatch mechanic is literally just a button that says "stop time" and then you click on things. no puzzles no timers no consequences. except the choices do matter i think. there's a meter that fills up with something called "chaos" and i still don't know what it does after three playthroughs. maybe that's the point. the game's called In This Time and i keep thinking about that title. in this time you're a creep. in this time you're a hero. in this time you're just a guy who found a watch and ruined everything. the missing friend subplot resolves in a way that made me feel genuinely bad. then i reloaded and made worse choices.