[DanielMors]

Finished Akane's route yesterday, so now I have read all 5 routes. Even though I like the "old" Key style, I don't think I've enjoyed any route in older Key games as much as Rewrite's routes. Romeo really brought some fresh air into Key. And more of Ryukishi07 is always a good thing.

Thoughts in reading order:

Spoiler for Kotori:

I love Kotori, but I think I prefer her as a kind of sidekick. I like how she and Kotarou really feel like childhood friends, with old inside jokes only they understand, their brofist when she gets accepted into the club and stuff like that. The relationship presented in her route is not bad, but there are other pairings I prefer. Her route was interesting and emotional, and a good choice for the first playthrough. Her parents' last stand was a great scene, and Chibimoth is an awesome mascot.

Spoiler for Chihaya:

Sakuya's Chihaya's route was better than I expected. I was a bit annoyed by Chihaya in the common route, but she grew on me in her route. Sakuya is one of the most interesting characters of Rewrite, and the action scenes are great. I'd love to see an anime version of this route, if only to see the fights animated. The whole route felt like a complete game, with an insert song in the finale and a real endboss. Retrospective I really liked the ending, because all other endings were so damn sad, or bittersweet at best.

Spoiler for Lucia:

I don't really like Lucia. But damn, her route was good. My favorite route, in fact. I started laughing like a maniac when the message came out of the copier. I could almost her Ryukishi saying "Playtime's over" and laughing at me. I suspected that Lucia was Haruka pretty early in the story, but I never suspected that she was aware of that fact the whole time. Also, several times I thought we were close to the final, and then Ryu drops another bomb. The ending isn't exactly sad, but it hurts thinking about the fact that Lucia may never see the earth's surface again.

Spoiler for Shizuru:

Shizuru <3 She is so adorable. Her route is my second favorite, and her ending even my favorite of all five endings. It's so heartwrenching, but absolutely in-character for Kotarou. It helped having played Chihaya's route before, and the parallel between Kotarou and Sakuya was a nice touch. I also enjoyed their short appearance, and I loved how Sakuya showed Esaka that not all familiars are mindless weapons.
A great route overflowing with cuteness, a great finale (I almost cried seeing all characters disappear) and some kickass action scenes.

Spoiler for Akane:

Wow. Just wow. Sometimes I feared I had overlooked a choice and had reaced a bad end. There was some fucked up shit going on in this route, almost on the level of Lucia's route. And I enjoyed Kotarou and Akane's relationship far more than I expected. I never really cared for her in the common route, but those two shared such intimate moments, I couldn't help but fall in love with this pairing. Kotarou's breakdown after the 13th November and Akane's despair when she couldn't be sure anymore if she was still herself were extremely well written.
The highlight: Kotarou and Yoshino talking like friends.

Ranking:
Routes: Lucia > Shizuru > Akane/Chihaya > Kotori
Girls: Kotori > Shizuru > Akane > Chihaya/Lucia

I also really enjoyed Yoshino's character. I liked that he got a bit of characterization in every route, so after the five routes he really feels like a round character. Sunohara and the Little Busters boys got their development too, but not really outside their routes. I think prefer the approach Romeo took with Yoshino. Hopefully he plays a role in Moon and Terra, because I enjoy both his antics and his serious side.

A technical question:
Is it possible to copy my savegame? So far I read on my home pc, but I want to continue on my laptop. It would be a pain to skip through all five routes and most likely miss many of the sidequest during the mappie scenes.