Chaos;Child

The Good
Before I can rate the game, I need to describe its progression mechanics. Don't worry, it's a visual novel, so it won't take long:
The only interaction with the game are so-called delusions during which the protagonist daydreams about the current situation. At fixed points, the player can either choose a positive (usually involving some sexual innuendo), a negative (mostly something dark and violent) or no delusion. During the first playthrough, those interactions have no effect and the story is fixed to the common route. Afterwards four character routes can be reached by choosing certain delusions and after all four were read, the true ending is unlocked.

The common route is an enjoyable read: the basic mystery is fascinating and the characters are sympathetic. Even the main character, who starts out as the usual stupid idiot, becomes relatable quickly. For a visual novel, the game is dark, features explicit violence (mostly as text, but sometimes visually as well) and the usual Japanese goofiness is only present in the delusions.

I also have to applaud the English localization. I admittedly played with a fan patch which brushes the localization up, so I can't judge the original English version, but I encountered practically no typos, no creative grammar and even the text in pictures was translated. The only thing I missed were the Japanese honorifics which in my opinion should be present in an contemporary Japanese setting.

The Bad
Although I liked the common route, it also has its problems: it is way too long, too long-winded and introduces way too many overexplained twists towards the end. There is nothing more tedious than a twist presented on a silver platter which is afterwards explained for twenty minutes until the protagonist gets it as well.

But the real problem is everything after the common route. The first bad decision is the way they are reached: it makes no sense within the game world and therefore they are practically impossible to find without a guide. Even worse, if a route is locked in, the player has to skip all the way to a later chapter until the new content is unlocked. This easily adds three hours to the overall game time which is spent skipping over the same stuff over and over again.

If that hurdle is taken, the next low blow is the quality of said character routes: they are boring and, with one exception, have nothing to do with the rest of the game. They are only relevant because they reveal important background information about the characters. The true ending route is better, but introduces yet another tacked-on twist and leaves too many things unexplained.

The Bottom Line
In Steins;Gate, I hated the beginning and was absolutely enchained by the second half. Chaos;Child is the complete opposite: the beginning is very interesting, but it collapses toward the end. My advice; if you want to play the game, stick with the common route and appreciate its bitterweet ending. You won't get the whole picture, but it is not worth the effort.